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War and Peace (1966)

Brian McP

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Title: War and Peace

Genre: War, Drama, History, Romance

Director: Sergey Bondarchuk

Cast: Sergey Bondarchuk, Lyudmila Saveleva, Vyacheslav Tikhonov, Oleg Efremov, Vasili Lanovoy, Anastasiya Vertinskaya, Anatoli Ktorov, Irina Skobtseva, Antonina Shuranova, Oleg Tabakov, Vladislav Strzhelchik, Nikolay Trofimov, Irina Gubanova, Aleksandr Borisov, Angelina Stepanova, Nikolai Rybnikov, Eduard Martsevich, Sergey Nikonenko, Nonna Mordyukova, Georgi Millyar, Boris Zakhava, Boris Smirnov, Kira Golovko, Viktor Stanitsyn, Giuli Chokhonelidze, Jean-Claude Ballard, Семен Свашенко, Nikolai Tolkachyov, Viktor Murganov, Yelena Tyapkina, Sergei Yermilov, Mikhail Khrabrov, Pyotr Savin, Daniil Netrebin, Aleksey Glazyrin, Nikolai Khryashchikov, Andrey Smirnov, Larisa Borisenko, Vladimir Seleznyov, Stanislav Chekan, Vladimir Mashchenko, Vladimir Prikhodko, Ivan Zhevago

Release: 1966-03-14

Runtime: 422

Plot: Seven-hour epic based on the eponymous book by Leo Tolstoy. Two main story-lines are complex and intertwined. One is the love story of young Countess Natasha Rostova and Count Pierre Bezukhov, who is unhappy in his marriage. Another is the "Great Patriotic War" of 1812 against the invading Napoleon's Armies. The people of Russia from all classes of society stand up united against the enemy.

 

Brian McP

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The fact that this epic has been restored is cause enough for celebration -- according to the press kit for the restoration, sad to read that no 70mm materials in 2:20:1 ratio have survived and that it is now a 35mm restoration and the aspect ratio is 2:35:1
https://s3.amazonaws.com/criterion-...74-/War-and-Peace_press-notes_r4_original.pdf

I read that and thought immediately of "The Alamo" and what RAH has gone through to have MGM let him restore the picture -- still the restoration in 4k of what has survived is eyepopping:



Have to admit though, not crazy about the new poster -- the artwork of the 1968 US is the best artwork for this movie and wished Janus got permission to use it as it probably would strike a chord with kids these days who would love this movie, well used to binge watching these days, the 7 hours would be pretty routine -- also the sight of this movie back in big theatres would be sensational.
 

Brian McP

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Out of curiosity, the Russico dvd set from the early 2000s, pretty good considering what they had to work with -- was that 16x9 version of the 2;20;1 70mm surviving prints?
 
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richardburton84

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Hopefully will be made available on blu ray. So far I have not heard any rumors though.

Considering Janus is the distributor for this restoration, I think a Criterion Blu-ray is all but guaranteed, plus I think it was hinted at in the New Year’s Drawing. While I’m not counting on it, it might even get announced today. I also can’t help but wonder if they were able to interview the late Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov for such a release.

Edit: This New York Times article just about confirms Criterion is working on this:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/15/...latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront
 
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Jim*Tod

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The Russico dvd was mastered in PAL and looked OK on a standard def (i.e cathode ray) set, but looks sketchy on an HD set. It does have great sound. A new blu ray would be a day one purchase for me. I saw a rare 70mm print of the Russian version at AFI Silver about a decade ago... the whole thing in one day! Truly remarkable.
 

Tommy R

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I read the book about 5 years ago, and I bought the 50’s Hollywood version afterwards on DVD (before it was released on Blu-Ray) and I still haven’t watch it, lol! I have heard that this Russian one is considered the definitive version, and would buy it blind if it comes to Blu.
 

jlp_nyc

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Just saw parts 1-3 of the restored version at the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center, NYC (seeing part 4 tomorrow). It's eye-poppingly effective (especially on the big screen); Part 3 ("The Year 1812") with its staggering, sweeping yet intense scenes of the Battle of Borodino left the sold-out audience stunned into momentary silence at the end credits. When I got home I fired up the RUSCICO DVD set I've had for years and sampled the same scenes - as you might expect, there's no comparison: they look washed out, blurry and in need of serious color correction. I'm definitely going to snap up a Criterion blu edition of the restoration as soon as it's available - even with some inherent limitations in the source elements, the restored version (both image and audio per the Russian-language blurb at the beginning of each part) was a revelation for me.
 

TJPC

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I went to see this in parts with my mother when it was in first run. We loved the film. It has nothing to do with the quality of the movie at all, but my clearest memory is of a middle aged couple who attended at least two of the parts. She sat absolutely quietly and did nothing, while her partner snored very loudly, especially during the battle scenes!
 

TJPC

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I read the book about 5 years ago, and I bought the 50’s Hollywood version afterwards on DVD (before it was released on Blu-Ray) and I still haven’t watch it, lol! I have heard that this Russian one is considered the definitive version, and would buy it blind if it comes to Blu.
Incidently, the huge book is divided into alternate chapters and parts dealing with what happens in peace time and at the home front vs the battle field. My wife was reading it when we got together at my suggestion and getting very bogged down, especially at the technical details of the battles (“Andre ordered his left flank into position with his right cavalry”. etc.)

I suggested she skip all the details and chapters dealing with the fighting all together. She did so, and really enjoyed the book and felt as if she missed nothing! I guess you could call her experience Tolstoy’s “Peace”.
 

bujaki

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Magnificent film in my estimation, but the book is infinitely superior. I've actually read it twice. I wish I could read it in Russian.
 

Tommy R

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Magnificent film in my estimation, but the book is infinitely superior. I've actually read it twice. I wish I could read it in Russian.
I’ve been making on and off efforts to learn Russian for the last 14 years, mostly off but have made my bigger strides the last couple years. I’ve learned quite a bit but still consider myself a beginner for sure. I even bought a Russian copy of War and Peace, and funny enough the entire first paragraph or two are in French! Thumbing through it it seems to have a lot more French in it that my English version had, which I found maddening enough when I read it. lol!
 

TJPC

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Since the time of Peter The Great, the Russian aristocracy followed French fashions and mostly spoke French. Russian was considered the language of the peasants. It was one of the reasons the other classes considered them to be outsiders.
 

RolandL

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