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IMDbPro

Guerre et Paix

Original title: War and Peace
  • 1956
  • Tous publics
  • 3h 28m
IMDb RATING
6.7/10
11K
YOUR RATING
Guerre et Paix (1956)
Official Trailer
Play trailer3:18
1 Video
74 Photos
Period DramaWar EpicDramaRomanceWar

Napoleon's tumultuous relations with Russia, including his disastrous 1812 invasion, serve as the backdrop for the tangled personal lives of two aristocratic families.Napoleon's tumultuous relations with Russia, including his disastrous 1812 invasion, serve as the backdrop for the tangled personal lives of two aristocratic families.Napoleon's tumultuous relations with Russia, including his disastrous 1812 invasion, serve as the backdrop for the tangled personal lives of two aristocratic families.

  • Director
    • King Vidor
  • Writers
    • Lev Tolstoy
    • Bridget Boland
    • Robert Westerby
  • Stars
    • Audrey Hepburn
    • Henry Fonda
    • Mel Ferrer
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.7/10
    11K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • King Vidor
    • Writers
      • Lev Tolstoy
      • Bridget Boland
      • Robert Westerby
    • Stars
      • Audrey Hepburn
      • Henry Fonda
      • Mel Ferrer
    • 81User reviews
    • 34Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 3 Oscars
      • 6 wins & 13 nominations total

    Videos1

    War and Peace
    Trailer 3:18
    War and Peace

    Photos74

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    + 68
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    Top cast99+

    Edit
    Audrey Hepburn
    Audrey Hepburn
    • Natasha Rostova
    Henry Fonda
    Henry Fonda
    • Pierre Bezukhov
    Mel Ferrer
    Mel Ferrer
    • Prince Andrei Bolkonsky
    Vittorio Gassman
    Vittorio Gassman
    • Anatol Kuragin
    Herbert Lom
    Herbert Lom
    • Napoleon
    Oscar Homolka
    Oscar Homolka
    • Field Marshal Kutuzov
    Anita Ekberg
    Anita Ekberg
    • Helene Kuragina
    Helmut Dantine
    Helmut Dantine
    • Dolokhov
    Tullio Carminati
    Tullio Carminati
    • Prince Vasili Kuragin
    Barry Jones
    Barry Jones
    • Prince Mikhail Andreevich Rostov
    Milly Vitale
    Milly Vitale
    • Lisa Bolkonskaya
    Lea Seidl
    • Countess Rostov
    Anna Maria Ferrero
    Anna Maria Ferrero
    • Maria Bolkonskaya
    Wilfrid Lawson
    Wilfrid Lawson
    • Prince Bolkonsky
    • (as Wilfred Lawson)
    May Britt
    May Britt
    • Sonia Rostova
    Jeremy Brett
    Jeremy Brett
    • Nikolai Rostov
    Patrick Crean
    • Denisov
    Sean Barrett
    • Petya Rostov
    • Director
      • King Vidor
    • Writers
      • Lev Tolstoy
      • Bridget Boland
      • Robert Westerby
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews81

    6.711.3K
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    Featured reviews

    TheVid

    King Vidor's masterful version is simplified and stagey, but still beautifully done.

    This film version of Tolstoy's novel nicely captures the essence of his story. The VistaVision, Technicolor photography by Jack Cardiff give the the set pieces the look of a classic painting. Nino Rota's lavish score perfectly compliments the visuals. The casting is superb; and even though Fonda is physically wrong in the critical role of Pierre, his dignified persona makes up for it. Hepburn, as ever, is radiant as Natasha, and hits her marks perfectly. Anita Ekberg's superstructure alone brings Helene to life; Ferrer, Homolka and Mills are all, likewise, wonderful in this. The largely underappreciated Herbert Lom is absolutely brilliant as Napoleon. Practically speaking, this is a notable film adaptation of an enormous literary work, inspite of any comparisons one would care to make between the book and the movie.
    Leendert_Wagenaar

    Misses the essence of the book

    Quite a disappointing story about some people that get involved with each other. This makes the movie some swooning story about love (one might say it becomes some sort of Jane Austen story, which is not altogether bad, but has nothing to do with Tolstoy) It fails to capture the book's most beautiful moments: -Rostow's 'tremendous courage' when he flee-ed from advancing enemy forces after being wounded by his own horse. (Which showed the stupidity of war) -Pierre's duel (which is included, but not in very satisfying way (for instance, it misses Pierre's certainty that he would die in the duel and his flirt with death)) and the following conversion to freemasonry

    What is worse, the film goes against the spirit of the book, when it emphasis's the prophesying moments. (While the book shows the exact counter case: the complete unpredictability where things would go next) Although I wouldn't name this a good effort to make a film out of 'War and Peace', I don't think it can be done in any satisfying way.
    kinolieber

    Gorgeous to look at / Dreadful to hear

    As another IMDb'er has mentioned, this film is one spectacular visual moment after another, but unfortunately with really terrible sound. The reason for the bad sound is that the film was produced at Cinecitta studios in Rome and at that time, all films there were shot without live sound. Everything was dubbed later: dialogue, music and all ambient sounds. In addition, recording facilities in Italy were primitive (this was only 11 years after the catastrophe of WWII), resulting in the canned quality of most of the dialogue. (One of the reasons Antonioni's films were such a breakthrough in the following decade was his use of live sound recording and location shooting).

    Anyway, War and Peace is a most worthwhile film experience for Vidor and Cardiff's Technicolor Vistavision visuals, for the screenplay which is often quite beautifully written, and for many fine performances from some exceedingly charismatic film actors, especially the astonishing Audrey Hepburn. There are close-ups of her that will make your heart stop.
    8MOscarbradley

    Vidor's unjustly over-looked version of Tolstoy's novel

    Perhaps the best you can say for Vidor's long, (200 minutes), but surprisingly compact version of Tolstoy's novel is that it is no disgrace despite being 'internationalized' for mass consumption. (It's got an Italian producer, was filmed in Italy, an American director and a large cast from all over the place, leading in some cases to some very unconvincing dubbing). But it's also largely intelligent, well enough acted, particularly by Audrey Hepburn who is an enchanting Natasha, and visually splendid. No less than eight writers worked on the script which fails conspicuously to translate Tolstoy's 'grand ideas' into anything other than Readers-Digest form but then even Bondarchuk's even longer Russian version didn't quite manage the leap from page to screen. You may be forgiven, then, for thinking you are watching nothing more than a grandiose soap-opera even if it's a cut above run-of-the-mill historical 'soap-operas'. But in an age when three-hour-plus epics were ten-a-penny it didn't catch on and come Oscar time it was largely over-looked. (The even bigger but vastly inferior "Around the World in 80 Days" took Best Picture while "War and Peace" failed to snag a nomination in that category). But it is worth seeing if only for Hepburn's under-rated performance and for Henry Fonda, too old and miscast as Pierre, but bringing his liberal gravitas to the part, all the same.
    7Panamint

    Well-made 1950's movie

    Beautiful movie to look at (Cinematography Oscar nom was well earned). Fine epic movie score. Good direction and editing. Some of the best costume work ever put on film. No one even today could do a finer job of costuming.

    Mel Ferrer is nowhere near the same league as Omar Sharif was in "Zhivago". Sharif was great, Ferrer just average. Ferrer is a major drawback. In contrast, Fonda displays tremendous acting ability (not having read the book I can concentrate on his performance rather than whether he looks the part). Hepburn is perfection and she delivers a great acting performance.

    Yes it is a 1950's style movie, which of course has some dated aspects. However, in the case of costume, cinematography and some of the acting you couldn't see better in a film of any era. This is an impressive effort all-around.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Audrey Hepburn's character was supposed to be thirteen when the movie begins. She was twenty-seven when this movie came out.
    • Goofs
      The marching band in the opening parade are all playing modern musical instruments.
    • Quotes

      Prince Andrei Bolkonsky: There must be something you want to do.

      Pierre Bezukhov: I want to discover... everything! I want to discover why I know what's right and still do what's wrong. I want to discover what happiness is, and what value there is in suffering. I want to discover why men go to war, and what they really say deep in their hearts when they pray. I want to discover what men and women feel when they say they love.

    • Crazy credits
      Closing credits epilogue: The most difficult thing - but an essential one - is to love Life, to love it even while one suffers, because Life is all. Life is God, and to love Life means to love God. Tolstoy "WAR and PEACE"
    • Alternate versions
      Two different versions of the main titles exists. Both of them in English. In the one, the credits are set against a neutral background, in the other against details of a painting of Napoleon in front of his troops.
    • Connections
      Edited into L'Excellente Aventure de Bill & Ted (1989)
    • Soundtracks
      Grande Valse Brillante
      (uncredited)

      by Frédéric Chopin (Waltz n°1 in E flat major)

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    FAQ20

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • December 14, 1956 (France)
    • Countries of origin
      • Italy
      • United States
    • Official site
      • arabuloku.com
    • Languages
      • English
      • Russian
      • French
    • Also known as
      • War and Peace
    • Filming locations
      • Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy(Studio)
    • Production company
      • Ponti-De Laurentiis Cinematografica
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $6,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross worldwide
      • $24,874
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 3h 28m(208 min)

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