USSR (1968): Drama/War

Co-written and directed by Sergei Bondarchuk (who also appears as Pierre Bezukhov), this film is an eight-foot-tall chorus girl... (as the old quip went) ...big, beautifully put together, but useless. Useless is perhaps a bit too harsh. For lovers of historical (especially Napoleonic) epics this is a field day (almost literally), and readers of the novel will find the narrative of the film punctilious to the point of slavishness. However the film is far from being above criticism. I will make these comments as brief as the film is long.

Two things get my goat about this so-called "super-production": The first is that the cinematography alternates between genius and vodka-induced tremor. Some of the close-ups of Natasha even suffer from poor steadiness and off-centre composition. The "hand-held" look was, I'm certain, not a stylistic device in those days. As well, the battle scenes suffer from some vehicle mounted shots that look as if the camera was placed in a moon buggy driven by an epileptic. On the other hand, the scenes of Pierre standing in a desolated Moscow surrounded by whirlwinds of ash, apocalyptic bells pealing in the background, are so sublime it makes one weep with pleasure. Why the inconsistency?

The second is that the soundtrack to this film has got to be the most irritating compilation ever released. Has anyone out there bought it? Vladimir Ovchinnikov's score is occasionally chilling, awesome and appropriately represents the motifs of the main characters, but no single track ends naturally! Instead we get fades into horses hoofs, marching soldiers or the next track which tramples over the emotional atmosphere just constructed. How about a re-release which gives the score some dignity instead of just mimicking the narrative of the film?

Otherwise, stick with the King Vidor version. Hey, it's shorter at least.. (jeffbertucen, IMDb)

· Best Foreign Language Film 1968: (USSR) (Mosfilm)

· Art Direction/Set Decoration 1968: Mikhail Bogdanov, Gennady Myasnikov - Art Direction, G. Koshelev, V. Uvarov - Set Decoration

2 nominations, 1 Award