War and Peace (1956)

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Movie
German title war and peace
Original title War and Peace
Country of production USA ,
Italy
original language English
Publishing year 1956
length 208 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director King Vidor
script Bridget Boland
Robert Westerby
King Vidor
Mario Camerini
Ennio De Concini
Ivo Perilli
Gian Gaspare Napolitano
Mario Soldati
production Dino De Laurentiis / Paramount
music Nino Rota
camera Jack Cardiff
cut Leo Cattozzo
occupation

War and Peace (Original title: War and Peace ) is an American - Italian literary film adaptation from 1956 , which was directed by director King Vidor based on the book War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy . Henry Fonda , Mel Ferrer and Audrey Hepburn play the leading roles. The film is one of the most successful epic films of the 1950s.

action

Russia, at the beginning of the 19th century: Andrei Bolkonski and Pierre Visitow, both members of the Moscow aristocratic class , are friends. Pierre, the only but illegitimate son of a Russian count, cannot find the right path in his life and is addicted to drinking and gambling. But Andrei is not happy either: Although married to one of Moscow's most desirable women, he feels her attachment and constant social obligations as a nuisance and feels hindered in his development opportunities. That is why the upcoming war against Napoléon Bonaparte is the longed-for opportunity for him to break out. As an officer, he goes to Austria with the Russian army to meet Napoleon and his troops. He meets the famous ruler for the first time in the Battle of Austerlitz .

Pierre, whose father has since passed away and left him all his fortune, spends a lot of time with the cheerful Rostov family in Moscow. The youngest daughter, the youthful, fun-loving Natascha, has special feelings for Pierre, which are expressed in mutuality, but initially only in friendship. Pierre marries the beautiful young Elena Kuragin. But this marriage soon turns out to be a serious mistake, since she only chose him for his money and is cheating on him with the easy-going Dolokhov. After a duel with Dolokhov, Pierre separates from Elena, but the marriage does not end in divorce. Andrei is alone again: his wife died giving birth to his son. While staying as a guest at the Rostov family estate, he falls in love with Natascha and she with him. But according to Andrei's stubborn and grouchy father, they are only allowed to marry after a year so that they can reconsider the correctness of their connection. Andrej travels to Tilsit with the Peace Commission .

Meanwhile, Elena Kuragin's brother Anatol, a notorious heartbreaker , is turning Natascha's head. Since he cannot hope for any understanding from her family, he secretly wants to flee with her and pretends to want to marry her. Pierre is able to prevent the action, however, and has Anatol disappear from Moscow. Natascha had previously broken the engagement in a letter to Andrej's sister, which hit Andrej hard inside.

Bonaparte, who stands on the border with Russia , rejects the tsar's request for retreat, which Andrei brings him as envoy, invades Russia and marches as far as Moscow. The residents fled beforehand, including the Rostovs. In order to leave the conquerors as little as possible, the city was set on fire. Pierre wants to bring himself to a drastic act and shoot Napoleon from an ambush, but hesitates at the last second. He is arrested while trying to help a defenseless woman. Among the fellow prisoners there is also a simple, forcibly recruited Russian soldier, a former farmer named Plato, who, despite his blows of fate, has not lost his faith and can still see positive aspects in life. He can give Pierre new courage. The Russian winter hit the Napoleonic troops hard. Bonaparte has to give up and start marching back. The prisoners of war, including Pierre, are dragged along on the arduous march. The Russian army, which so far has only withdrawn for tactical reasons, is now constantly attacking the weakened Napoleonic army. In such an operation, under Dolokhov's command, Pierre is freed. He is reconciled with Dolokhov, who asks for forgiveness. On this occasion, Pierre learns that Elena has died.

Natascha finds Andrej, whom she discovers in a hospital in the hinterland, seriously wounded and dying at the Battle of Borodino . Before he dies, he forgives her. The Rostovs return to the ruins of their home in Moscow. Pierre arrives there too. He and Natascha, who have matured from naive girl to young woman, discover their love for each other and go into a new life together.

  • Audrey Hepburn and Mel Ferrer while filming "War and Peace" in 1955

Remarks

The film was shot in Vistavision format and in Technicolor . The shooting took place in the Cinecittà studios near Rome . The Battle of Borodino was staged in the valley of Montelibretti , 60 km from Rome. About 10,000 Italian soldiers were employed as extras .

Around the same time, MGM , David O. Selznick and Michael Todd also wanted to produce the material, but De Laurentiis managed to get them all to retreat after he managed to get Audrey Hepburn to star. To get her, he gave her then-husband Mel Ferrer the role of Andrei, although director King Vidor disagreed with it. Ferrer also played his role quite woodenly in the opinion of the critics.

Awards

criticism

  • Lexicon of international film : Tolstoy's novel from Russian society at the time of the Napoleonic Wars, staged with great effort and excellent actors. Although a bit too smooth and lacking artistic form, the film impresses with its remarkable performance in the presentation of an abundance of individual fates and crowd scenes.

"Great battles and great feelings"

- Cinema :

literature

Further reading: Vincey "The Brothers of Christ in Russia" ( ISBN 3-8334-1061-2 ). In this book, eyewitnesses describe what became of the 'Children of 1812', the main characters in the film, and who is behind names like Visitov or Rostov.

Web links

Commons : War and Peace  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ War and Peace. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed December 6, 2016 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  2. ↑ WAR AND PEACE Cinema . Retrieved February 22, 2018.