War and Peace [Criterion Collection] [3 Discs]

Overview

Russian director Sergei Bondarchuk's epic version of Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace (Voyna i Mir) was the most expensive European film ever made for many years. It certainly had one of the longest gestation periods, with Bondarchuk spending seven years filming the project (the actors noticeably age from scene to scene). In relating Tolstoy's complex tale of Napoleon's invasion of Russia, Bondarchuk helmed some of the most graphic battle scenes ever seen, one of which runs nearly 45 minutes. So many horses were killed in these sequences that the film was loudly boycotted in some American cities by the ASPCA. While Bondarchuk is slavish to the source material, he does make a few Hollywood-like concessions to popular appeal; his leading lady Lyudmila Savelyeva looks exactly like Audrey Hepburn, the star of King Vidor's 1956 filmization of the Tolstoy novel. Originally clocking in at 507 minutes, War and Peace was pared down to 373 minutes for American consumption. It became a surprise theatrical hit, and a ratings bonanza when it was telecast on the ABC network in four parts from August 12 through 15, 1972. A big film, to be sure -- but few modern critics consider Bondarchuk's War and Peace a great film, citing its many deadly dull passages and its sappy, operatic finale. The dubbed American version is narrated by Norman Rose. The full Russian-language version with English subtitles is now available on video.

Product Details

Release Date:	06/25/2019
UPC:	0715515230919
Original Release:	1966
Rating:	NR
Source:	Criterion Collection
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen, Color]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	7:02:00
Sales rank:	1,650

Special Features

New interviews with cinematographer Anatoly Petritsky and filmmaker Fedor Bondarchuk, son of director Sergei Bondarchuk Two docimentaries, from 1966 and 1969, about the making of the film Television program from 1967 on actor Ludmila Savelyeva, featuring Sergei Bondarchuk New program with historian Denise J. Youngblood (Bondarchuk's "War and Peace": Literary Classic to Soviet Cinematic Epic) detailing the cultural and historical contexts for the film Janus Films rerelease trailer

Scene Index

Disc #1 -- War and Peace (Criterion Collection) - Andrei Bolkonsky
1. A Simple Thought
2. Opening Credits
3. Saint Petersburg, 1805
4. Differences Of Opinion
5. Introspection
6. Reckless Behavior
7. Name Day
8. True Hussars
9. Life And Death
10. A Father's Love
11. March Into Austria
12. Heavy Losses
13. Battle Of Schöngraben
14. Praising Tushin
15. Trapped
16. Kutuzov's Predition
17. Battle Of Austerlitz
18. Peace At Last
1. Homecoming [8:36]
2. Humiliation [3:38]
3. Duel [7:12]
4. Denial [1:42]
5. Arrival And Departure [8:37]
6. Changed Men [3:14]
7. Hollow [3:42]
8. In Bloom [5:17]
Disc #2 -- War and Peace (Criterion Collection) - Natasha Rostova
1. Opening Credits [3:09]
2. Flirt [4:34]
3. New Year's Eve [13:19]
4. In Love [3:54]
5. Proposal [8:39]
6. Predetermined Path [2:08]
7. Wolf Hunt [7:59]
8. Inimitably Russian [11:37]
9. Lost And Lonely [6:33]
10. Mummers And Troikas [1:52]
11. A Vision [1:30]
12. Source Of Sorrow [3:55]
13. Eyes On Another [5:25]
14. French Entertainment [4:44]
15. Dangerous Affair [4:38]
16. Thwarted Plan [3:34]
17. Confrontation [2:36]
18. Free Once More [1:27]
19. Compassionate Soul [4:33]
20. Border Crossing [1:40]
1. Bondarchuk And Tolstoy [10:43]
2. Historical Detail [9:37]
3. Filming [9:28]
4. Postproduction [5:02]
5. Past And Present [13:40]
Disc #3 -- War and Peace (Criterion Collection) - The Year 1812/Pierre Bezukhov
1. Opening Credits [3:06]
2. Blissful Ignorance [2:28]
3. Brashness Of Youth [5:03]
4. No Comfort [4:50]
5. Passing Of A Prince [5:08]
6. Faithful Pierre [3:37]
7. Kutuzov In Command [6:04]
8. Ostentatious Observer [4:00]
9. The Holy Mother Of Smolensk [3:39]
10. No Game [8:04]
11. Battle Of Borodino [15:51]
12. Complete Disorder [10:00]
13. Mortally Wounded [5:53]
14. Moral Victory [3:48]
1. Opening Credits [2:53]
2. Fateful Decision [3:14]
3. Staying Behind [4:13]
4. Occupation [6:42]
5. Shared Humanity [2:44]
6. In Flames [2:41]
7. Sad Reunion [2:30]
8. Looting [11:32]
9. A Different Reality [1:19]
10. Condemned [7:31]
11. Folk Wisdom [4:28]
12. Final Declaration [8:46]
13. No Settlement [3:54]
14. Cruel Captors [6:07]
15. Partisans [7:15]
16. Doomed Charge [3:29]
17. Abandoned Army [3:48]
18. Horsemeat [2:03]
19. Joined In Song [3:40]
20. Victory At Last [2:21]
21. Happiness [5:14]

Menu

Disc #1 -- War and Peace (Criterion Collection) - Andrei Bolkonsky
   Play The Movie
   Chapters - Part One
   Chapters - Part Two
   Cold War Classic
   Subtitles
      Subtitles: On
      Subtitles: Off
Disc #2 -- War and Peace (Criterion Collection) - Natasha Rostova
   Play The Movie
   Chapters
   Supplements
      Woina I Mir
         Play
         Index
      Anatoly Petritsky
      Fedor Bondarchuk
      Les Soviétiques
   Subtitles
      Subtitles: On
      Subtitles: Off
Disc #3 -- War and Peace (Criterion Collection) - The Year 1812/Pierre Bezukhov
   The Year 1812
      Play The Movie
      Chapters
   Pierre Bezukhov
      Play The Movie
      Chapters
   Supplements
      Making War And Peace
      Janus Films Rerelease Trailer
   Subtitles
      Subtitles: On
      Subtitles: Off