In 1805 St. Petersburg, Pierre Bezukhov, illegitimate son of a rich nobleman, is introduced to high society. His friend, Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, joins the Imperial Russian Army as aide-de-camp of General Mikhail Kutuzov in the War of the Third Coalition against General Napoleon Bonaparte. Part one of the four-part adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's 1869 novel.
Direction
Bondarchuk's camera swarms through balls like a drunk aristocrat.
Production
15,000 soldiers, real locations, absurd Soviet resources.
Cinematography
That 10-minute ball sequence? Pure flowing champagne.
Director
Sergey Bondarchuk
Ludmila Savelyeva
Natasha Rostova
Sergey Bondarchuk
Pierre Bezukhov
Vyacheslav Tikhonov
Andrei Bolkonsky
Viktor Stanitsyn
Ilya Andreyevich Rostov
Kira Golovko
Countess Rostova
Oleg Tabakov
Nikolai Rostov
Sergei Yermilov
Petya Rostov (uncredited)
Irina Gubanova
Sonya
Anatoli Ktorov
Nikolai Andreyevich Bolkonsky
Antonina Shuranova
Princess Mariya
Anastasiya Vertinskaya
Lisa Bolkonskaya
Boris Smirnov
Prince Vasili
Irina Skobtseva
Hélène
Vasili Lanovoy
Anatol Kuragin
Oleg Efremov
Dolokhov
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
SU
