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Amazing! Colossal! And it’s good, too! ‘Gone With the Wind’ is a tempest in a teacup compared to this jaw-dropping adaptation of the Tolstoy classic: seven hours of artful splendor, passionate characters, map-altering politics and the biggest, most spectacular battle scenes ever filmed. Sergei Bondarchuck has it all in control; the new restoration gives Soviet show color and clarity we’ve never seen before. Two discs, four parts, no waiting. Cover charge may apply.

War and Peace

Blu-ray

The Criterion Collection 983

1965-67 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 422> min. / available through The Criterion Collection/ Street Date June 25, 2019 / 49.95

Starring: Lyudmila Savelyeva, Vyacheslav Tikhonov, Irina Gubanova, Antonina Shuranova, Sergei Bondarchuk, Oleg Tabakov, N. Tolkachyov.

Cinematography: Anatoli Petritsky, Aleksandr Shelenkov

Film Editor: Mikhail Bogdanov, Gennadi Myasnikov

Original Music: Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov

Written by Sergei Bondarchuk and Vasili Solovyov

from the novel by Leo Tolstoy

Directed by Sergei Bondarchuk

Thanks to the streaming of miniseries and the...

Oleg Tabakov, a Russian actor and theater director who for decades was one of the most revered figures in Russia's theater and film communities, has died. He was 82.

The Moscow Art Theater said Tabakov died Monday of an unspecified illness at a Moscow hospital. Tabakov led the theater for the last 18 years.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has extended condolences to Tabakov's family.

Born in the Volga River city of Saratov, Tabakov joined the Sovremennik theater after graduating from a Moscow theater school in 1957. He performed in both classic and modern productions and also became widely popular as...

Exclusive: Call for directors, producers and sales agents to give their films for free to festivals in troubled Ukraine.

Cannes’ Thierry Fremaux, the Berlinale’s Christoph Terhechte and Venice chief Alberto Barbera are among 92 people working at 60 festivals in 38 countries to have answered a call to show solidarity with their Ukrainian festival colleagues.

Speaking exclusively to ScreenDaily, the initiative’s coordinator, Warsaw Film Festival director Stefan Laudyn, explained: “When we heard the news from Ukraine, after a quick email and SMS exchange with Sara [Norberg of Helsinki Iff ¨Love & Anarchy¨], Tiina [Lokk of Black Nights F], Tudor [Giurgiu of Tiff/Cluj] and the Stefans [Uhrik and Kitanov of Febiofest and Sofia Iff], we decided to prepare a letter of support and sent it to our friends at film festivals worldwide.”

In the letter, the six festival chiefs called on directors, producers and sales agents to give their films “willingly and for free to all film festivals in Ukraine” and also not to charge any screening fees from Ukrainian festivals this year.

In addition, they asked national...

During the opening prologue to "Taking Sides", the latest effort by director Istvan Szabo ("Sunshine"), a philharmonic orchestra is performing a Beethoven symphony in a magnificent Berlin hall as the sound of explosions from overhead fighter planes intrude upon, but fail to drown out, the concert.

It's a sequence that effectively sets up the conflict between artistic expression and political responsibility that serves as the picture's running theme.

But though studiously crafted and boasting a pair of contained but commanding performances by Harvey Keitel and Stellan Skarsgard, the film, adapted by Ronald Harwood from his acclaimed play of the same name, is dramatically flat.

Especially coming off the epic sweep of "Sunshine", there's a boxed-in staginess and overly measured pace that tend to hold any lasting emotional resonance at bay.

Still, as intellectual exercises go, "Taking Sides" provides ample food for thought in addition to the rock-solid acting and should have little trouble lining up distributors.

Keitel is Maj. Steve Arnold, a hard-nosed military man assigned to the American Denazification Committee in postwar Berlin.

His immediate task at hand involves one Wilhelm Furtwangler (Skarsgard), the esteemed conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra who had opted to remain in Germany after Adolph Hitler took power in 1933 rather than voluntarily going into exile.

While he steadfastly maintains that he remained politically autonomous when it came to his dealings with the Nazi regime and was even on the record as having helped secure shelter for several Jewish musicians, the Fuhrer's favorite conductor, in the eyes of Arnold, has a lot to answer for.

Aided by a pair of morally conflicted researchers -- including a young German Jewish lieutenant (Moritz Bleibtreu) who lived with relatives in America during the war and a young German woman (Birgit Minichmayr) whose freedom-fighting father was killed by the Nazis -- Arnold is determined to prosecute the seemingly weak-willed Furtwangler by any means necessary.

The two men make for dynamic ideological sparring partners.

Keitel (who happens to play a Nazi in "The Grey Zone", another Toronto International Film Festival entry) impresses with a performance that threatens to push the dramatic envelope before pulling back just in the nick of time, while Skarsgard, in the quieter of the roles, nevertheless makes his case compellingly heard.

Providing a bit of a comic respite in between the heated interrogations is Oleg Tabakov as Russian Col. Dymshitz, who repeatedly attempts to make a deal with Arnold to stop the trial and let Furtwangler conduct in East Berlin in exchange for several other musicians.

Taking place extensively in an old building formerly occupied by the Nazis that has seen its share of mortar shells, the German production bears Hungarian Szabo's customary attention to visual detail.

But despite all the good efforts, screenwriter Harwood, whose "The Dresser" made a more fitting transition to the screen, never succeeds in extricating the production from its fixed proscenium setting.

TAKING SIDES

Maecenas, MBP, Paladin Production and Studio Babelsberg present

Little Big Bear Filmproduction in association with Jeremy Isaacs Prods., Twanpix, Satel and France 2 Cinema

Credits:

Director: Istvan Szabo

Screenwriter: Ronald Harwood

Producer: Yves Pasquier

Executive producers: Rainer Mockert, Rainer Schaper, Jacques Rousseau, Maureen McCabe, Jeremy Isaacs, Michael Von Wolkenstein

Director of photography: Lajos Koltai

Production designer: Ken Adam

Editor: Sylvie Landra

Costume designer: Gyorgyi Szakacs

Cast:

Maj. Steve Arnold: Harvey Keitel

Wilhelm Furtwangler: Stellan Skarsgard

Lt. David Wills: Moritz Bleibtreu

Emmi Straube: Birgit Minichmayr

Col. Dymshitz: Oleg Tabakov

No MPAA rating

Color/stereo

Running time -- 105 minutes...

During the opening prologue to "Taking Sides", the latest effort by director Istvan Szabo ("Sunshine"), a philharmonic orchestra is performing a Beethoven symphony in a magnificent Berlin hall as the sound of explosions from overhead fighter planes intrude upon, but fail to drown out, the concert.

It's a sequence that effectively sets up the conflict between artistic expression and political responsibility that serves as the picture's running theme.

But though studiously crafted and boasting a pair of contained but commanding performances by Harvey Keitel and Stellan Skarsgard, the film, adapted by Ronald Harwood from his acclaimed play of the same name, is dramatically flat.

Especially coming off the epic sweep of "Sunshine", there's a boxed-in staginess and overly measured pace that tend to hold any lasting emotional resonance at bay.

Still, as intellectual exercises go, "Taking Sides" provides ample food for thought in addition to the rock-solid acting and should have little trouble lining up distributors.

Keitel is Maj. Steve Arnold, a hard-nosed military man assigned to the American Denazification Committee in postwar Berlin.

His immediate task at hand involves one Wilhelm Furtwangler (Skarsgard), the esteemed conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra who had opted to remain in Germany after Adolph Hitler took power in 1933 rather than voluntarily going into exile.

While he steadfastly maintains that he remained politically autonomous when it came to his dealings with the Nazi regime and was even on the record as having helped secure shelter for several Jewish musicians, the Fuhrer's favorite conductor, in the eyes of Arnold, has a lot to answer for.

Aided by a pair of morally conflicted researchers -- including a young German Jewish lieutenant (Moritz Bleibtreu) who lived with relatives in America during the war and a young German woman (Birgit Minichmayr) whose freedom-fighting father was killed by the Nazis -- Arnold is determined to prosecute the seemingly weak-willed Furtwangler by any means necessary.

The two men make for dynamic ideological sparring partners.

Keitel (who happens to play a Nazi in "The Grey Zone", another Toronto International Film Festival entry) impresses with a performance that threatens to push the dramatic envelope before pulling back just in the nick of time, while Skarsgard, in the quieter of the roles, nevertheless makes his case compellingly heard.

Providing a bit of a comic respite in between the heated interrogations is Oleg Tabakov as Russian Col. Dymshitz, who repeatedly attempts to make a deal with Arnold to stop the trial and let Furtwangler conduct in East Berlin in exchange for several other musicians.

Taking place extensively in an old building formerly occupied by the Nazis that has seen its share of mortar shells, the German production bears Hungarian Szabo's customary attention to visual detail.

But despite all the good efforts, screenwriter Harwood, whose "The Dresser" made a more fitting transition to the screen, never succeeds in extricating the production from its fixed proscenium setting.

TAKING SIDES

Maecenas, MBP, Paladin Production

and Studio Babelsberg present

Little Big Bear Filmproduction

in association with Jeremy Isaacs Prods.,

Twanpix, Satel and France 2 Cinema

Director:Istvan Szabo

Screenwriter:Ronald Harwood

Producer:Yves Pasquier

Executive producers:Rainer Mockert, Rainer Schaper, Jacques Rousseau, Maureen McCabe, Jeremy Isaacs, Michael Von Wolkenstein

Director of photography:Lajos Koltai

Production designer:Ken Adam

Editor:Sylvie Landra

Costume designer:Gyorgyi Szakacs

Color/stereo

Cast:

Maj. Steve Arnold:Harvey Keitel

Wilhelm Furtwangler:Stellan Skarsgard

Lt. David Wills:Moritz Bleibtreu

Emmi Straube:Birgit Minichmayr

Col. Dymshitz:Oleg Tabakov

Running time -- 105 minutes

No MPAA rating...

During the opening prologue to "Taking Sides", the latest effort by director Istvan Szabo ("Sunshine"), a philharmonic orchestra is performing a Beethoven symphony in a magnificent Berlin hall as the sound of explosions from overhead fighter planes intrude upon, but fail to drown out, the concert.

It's a sequence that effectively sets up the conflict between artistic expression and political responsibility that serves as the picture's running theme.

But though studiously crafted and boasting a pair of contained but commanding performances by Harvey Keitel and Stellan Skarsgard, the film, adapted by Ronald Harwood from his acclaimed play of the same name, is dramatically flat.

Especially coming off the epic sweep of "Sunshine", there's a boxed-in staginess and overly measured pace that tend to hold any lasting emotional resonance at bay.

Still, as intellectual exercises go, "Taking Sides" provides ample food for thought in addition to the rock-solid acting and should have little trouble lining up distributors.

Keitel is Maj. Steve Arnold, a hard-nosed military man assigned to the American Denazification Committee in postwar Berlin.

His immediate task at hand involves one Wilhelm Furtwangler (Skarsgard), the esteemed conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra who had opted to remain in Germany after Adolph Hitler took power in 1933 rather than voluntarily going into exile.

While he steadfastly maintains that he remained politically autonomous when it came to his dealings with the Nazi regime and was even on the record as having helped secure shelter for several Jewish musicians, the Fuhrer's favorite conductor, in the eyes of Arnold, has a lot to answer for.

Aided by a pair of morally conflicted researchers -- including a young German Jewish lieutenant (Moritz Bleibtreu) who lived with relatives in America during the war and a young German woman (Birgit Minichmayr) whose freedom-fighting father was killed by the Nazis -- Arnold is determined to prosecute the seemingly weak-willed Furtwangler by any means necessary.

The two men make for dynamic ideological sparring partners.

Keitel (who happens to play a Nazi in "The Grey Zone", another Toronto International Film Festival entry) impresses with a performance that threatens to push the dramatic envelope before pulling back just in the nick of time, while Skarsgard, in the quieter of the roles, nevertheless makes his case compellingly heard.

Providing a bit of a comic respite in between the heated interrogations is Oleg Tabakov as Russian Col. Dymshitz, who repeatedly attempts to make a deal with Arnold to stop the trial and let Furtwangler conduct in East Berlin in exchange for several other musicians.

Taking place extensively in an old building formerly occupied by the Nazis that has seen its share of mortar shells, the German production bears Hungarian Szabo's customary attention to visual detail.

But despite all the good efforts, screenwriter Harwood, whose "The Dresser" made a more fitting transition to the screen, never succeeds in extricating the production from its fixed proscenium setting.

TAKING SIDES

Maecenas, MBP, Paladin Production and Studio Babelsberg present

Little Big Bear Filmproduction in association with Jeremy Isaacs Prods., Twanpix, Satel and France 2 Cinema

Credits:

Director: Istvan Szabo

Screenwriter: Ronald Harwood

Producer: Yves Pasquier

Executive producers: Rainer Mockert, Rainer Schaper, Jacques Rousseau, Maureen McCabe, Jeremy Isaacs, Michael Von Wolkenstein

Director of photography: Lajos Koltai

Production designer: Ken Adam

Editor: Sylvie Landra

Costume designer: Gyorgyi Szakacs

Cast:

Maj. Steve Arnold: Harvey Keitel

Wilhelm Furtwangler: Stellan Skarsgard

Lt. David Wills: Moritz Bleibtreu

Emmi Straube: Birgit Minichmayr

Col. Dymshitz: Oleg Tabakov

No MPAA rating

Color/stereo

Running time -- 105 minutes...

During the opening prologue to "Taking Sides", the latest effort by director Istvan Szabo ("Sunshine"), a philharmonic orchestra is performing a Beethoven symphony in a magnificent Berlin hall as the sound of explosions from overhead fighter planes intrude upon, but fail to drown out, the concert.

It's a sequence that effectively sets up the conflict between artistic expression and political responsibility that serves as the picture's running theme.

But though studiously crafted and boasting a pair of contained but commanding performances by Harvey Keitel and Stellan Skarsgard, the film, adapted by Ronald Harwood from his acclaimed play of the same name, is dramatically flat.

Especially coming off the epic sweep of "Sunshine", there's a boxed-in staginess and overly measured pace that tend to hold any lasting emotional resonance at bay.

Still, as intellectual exercises go, "Taking Sides" provides ample food for thought in addition to the rock-solid acting and should have little trouble lining up distributors.

Keitel is Maj. Steve Arnold, a hard-nosed military man assigned to the American Denazification Committee in postwar Berlin.

His immediate task at hand involves one Wilhelm Furtwangler (Skarsgard), the esteemed conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra who had opted to remain in Germany after Adolph Hitler took power in 1933 rather than voluntarily going into exile.

While he steadfastly maintains that he remained politically autonomous when it came to his dealings with the Nazi regime and was even on the record as having helped secure shelter for several Jewish musicians, the Fuhrer's favorite conductor, in the eyes of Arnold, has a lot to answer for.

Aided by a pair of morally conflicted researchers -- including a young German Jewish lieutenant (Moritz Bleibtreu) who lived with relatives in America during the war and a young German woman (Birgit Minichmayr) whose freedom-fighting father was killed by the Nazis -- Arnold is determined to prosecute the seemingly weak-willed Furtwangler by any means necessary.

The two men make for dynamic ideological sparring partners.

Keitel (who happens to play a Nazi in "The Grey Zone", another Toronto International Film Festival entry) impresses with a performance that threatens to push the dramatic envelope before pulling back just in the nick of time, while Skarsgard, in the quieter of the roles, nevertheless makes his case compellingly heard.

Providing a bit of a comic respite in between the heated interrogations is Oleg Tabakov as Russian Col. Dymshitz, who repeatedly attempts to make a deal with Arnold to stop the trial and let Furtwangler conduct in East Berlin in exchange for several other musicians.

Taking place extensively in an old building formerly occupied by the Nazis that has seen its share of mortar shells, the German production bears Hungarian Szabo's customary attention to visual detail.

But despite all the good efforts, screenwriter Harwood, whose "The Dresser" made a more fitting transition to the screen, never succeeds in extricating the production from its fixed proscenium setting.

TAKING SIDES

Maecenas, MBP, Paladin Production

and Studio Babelsberg present

Little Big Bear Filmproduction

in association with Jeremy Isaacs Prods.,

Twanpix, Satel and France 2 Cinema

Director:Istvan Szabo

Screenwriter:Ronald Harwood

Producer:Yves Pasquier

Executive producers:Rainer Mockert, Rainer Schaper, Jacques Rousseau, Maureen McCabe, Jeremy Isaacs, Michael Von Wolkenstein

Director of photography:Lajos Koltai

Production designer:Ken Adam

Editor:Sylvie Landra

Costume designer:Gyorgyi Szakacs

Color/stereo

Cast:

Maj. Steve Arnold:Harvey Keitel

Wilhelm Furtwangler:Stellan Skarsgard

Lt. David Wills:Moritz Bleibtreu

Emmi Straube:Birgit Minichmayr

Col. Dymshitz:Oleg Tabakov

Running time -- 105 minutes

No MPAA rating...