War and Peace (1966) Voyna i mir
War and Peace (1966)
DVDRip | MKV | 680x418 | x264 @ 1095 Kbps | 6h 43mn | 4,96 Gb
Triple Audio: Русский AAC 2.0/1.0 @ 160 Kbps, English and Français - each AAC 2.0 @ 160 Kbps
Subs (13): Русский, English, Français, 日本語, Svenska, 中文, Nederlands, Português, Deutsch, Español, Italiano, العربية, Ελληνικά
Genre: Drama, Romance, War
DVDRip | MKV | 680x418 | x264 @ 1095 Kbps | 6h 43mn | 4,96 Gb
Triple Audio: Русский AAC 2.0/1.0 @ 160 Kbps, English and Français - each AAC 2.0 @ 160 Kbps
Subs (13): Русский, English, Français, 日本語, Svenska, 中文, Nederlands, Português, Deutsch, Español, Italiano, العربية, Ελληνικά
Genre: Drama, Romance, War
Director: Sergey Bondarchuk
Writers: Sergey Bondarchuk, Vasiliy Solovyov
Stars: Lyudmila Saveleva, Vyacheslav Tikhonov
A Russian Prince experiences battle against Napoleon and a troubled relationship with his father and wife. Finds acceptance of her death and eventually his chance of true love. A spoiled, high-society fickle young woman loves and her years of unhappiness. A Count illegitimate, idler son reflects on politics and friendship. Experiences his first and hopeless love, is forced into a marriage with serious consequences and finally survives Napoleon invasion of Moscow and its aftermath.
IMDB - Won 1 Oscar + Another 7 wins
If you can find it, watch it.
Admittedly, the 7 hour plus running time is pretty daunting, but consider the source material. This film deservedly won the best foreign picture Oscar when it was finally released in the U.S. The fact that a Soviet film was able to garner such an award during the height of the Cold War is a testament to its greatness.
There are 3 intermissions to this, the Pangaea of all epic films, and each section draws the viewer in more than the last. The spectacle will blow your mind in a way that digital effects never will be able to do. To actually see the Red Army (and what looks like all of it) marching in costume over the expanse of miles into the distance will change any prior notions of spectacle you held. Ben-Hur, The Ten Commandments, whatever awed you before is chicken feed compared to the brutal grandeur of Bondarchuk's recreation of The War of 1812.
There are beautiful interludes of excellent acting amidst extremely costly sets–it's a shame I don't know Russian because those subtitles chew up a lot of exquisite scenery. The characters are fully developed, the direction is inspired (no run-of-the-mill static camera work in any of this).
They showed this in 70mm at The Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood last year. Before that it was 10 years without a screening in the U.S. We can't afford to let this shimmering prize of film history lapse. In a theatre, or if it is ever issued on DVD, this movie will deeply reward all those who watch it. There was nothing as grand as War & Peace before; there will be nothing on its scale ever again. Treasure this masterpiece…if you can find it.
(click to enlarge)
War and Peace (1966) Voyna i mir
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