War and Peace (2007)

That was an excellent one.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace is a masterful magnum opus, with a riveting if very long story with many themes, interesting sense of history and very memorable characters brilliantly written. But because of the book's mammoth length, incredibly rich detail and the many characters that need a lot of development despite being one the greatest novels ever written it's also one of the hardest to adapt, word for word and detail for detail being almost impossible when adapted.Of the major versions, the best version is the 1972 mini-series with Anthony Hopkins, not only an ideal adaptation of the book and as faithful as one could get but also brilliant in its own right, one of the best the BBC ever produced. The 1966 Russian one directed by Sergei Bondarchuk, while not as accessible, is a close second, a towering achievement and contains the best battle and ballroom scenes of all the War and Peace adaptations. The 1956 King Vidor film has a number of good things, like the production values, the music score, Audrey Hepburn and some of the supporting cast but the sound quality and two male leads are very problematic and the story is not as riveting as it could have been. Any version of War and Peace does deserve a pat on the back for even attempting to adapt the work, and although this 2007 mini-series was underwhelming and my least favourite of the adaptations it is not exempted from that.The mini-series does have a fair number of virtues, first and foremost the exquisite production values, the amount of detail in the lavish décor and settings is jaw-droppings, the costumes are rich in colour and detail and the whole mini-series is beautifully photographed, especially in the ballroom scenes. The music score positively soars with elegant lushness, the ballroom scenes are gorgeously romantic (though the Bordachuk version's ballroom scenes still has the ones here beat) and there are some impressive supporting turns. Ken Dukan is deliciously serpentine as Anatoli, Benjamin Sadler is appropriately roguish as Dolokhov, Malcolm MacDowell makes for a chillingly arresting Bollonsky, Violante Placido's Helene is delightfully wicked and played with relish and Brenda Blethyn is marvellous. Vladimir Ilin is a very memorably forthright Kutuzov.Clémence Poésy doesn't fare as well, her portrayal of Natasha is the least successful of the four adaptations, the problem is not that she's necessarily physically wrong but more that her performance is both melodramatic and anaemic and the character is written as a spoilt brat with not an awful lot of charm. Alessio Boni is sometimes successful at bringing out Andrei's tragedy, but generally his performance is rather stiff and his chemistry with Poésy rather cold. Alexander Beyer is attractive but rather too dour as Pierre, a character that is quite complex but written too much of an idiot here. Ana Caterina Morariu is also so bland it got irritating, Platon is pretty wasted and this is the War and Peace with the least interesting and one-dimensional Napoleon (the Napoleons of the other adaptations succeeded in bringing the character humanity, but here he's a broadly played caricature which was avoided before).While War and Peace (2007) looks ravishing, the writing is less so. The script sounded underwritten and awkward, and very rarely delves into the depth of Tolstoy's writing and the points he's trying to make, the events are there but in very condensed and on-the-surface form. The story is written and adapted in a very rushed way and with not much emotional impact or substance at all, melodramatic soap-opera is what it's been described as and that's apt, while of all the adaptations of War and Peace this is the only one where the battle scenes (like the French Army's retreat, powerful in the other three versions but treated in a rushed indifferent fashion here) lack power, intensity or any kind of emotional connection. The CGI did strike me as unnecessary, and while they didn't hinder the scenes that badly they also added little and the quality was only standard, nothing to go wow over.All in all, definitely worth seeing for anybody considering themselves completests of War and Peace or Tolstoy, but for me it was underwhelming and the weakest version. 5/10 Bethany Cox

But it was pretty ridiculous and melodramatic. And the acting was terrible, especially in the main roles. I think Natasha's character was the worst, just a silly girl, and I could not figure out why she was considered so special and the actress was feeble in this role. And Pierre-he went from a drunken dolt to a noble Count or whatever, just by his father dying? All of a sudden he was wise and great, etc.The scenery and costumes were good anyway.And it was a way to pass some hours. But the script was sometimes ridiculous. The characters not believable; Andre's sister such a martyr to that lunatic father of hers. Andre and Natasha of course getting together again and the references to her constant suffering when she was fool enough to fall for that treacherous prince. Just a mess of a script and performances. And then Pierre's cruel selfish wife dying to make it convenient for Natasha after Andre dies...I just did not see Natasha as such a prize that she should fell man after man.

War and Peace is one of those detailed and never ending novels I have always postponed to read (and I really was, especially as a young girl, an extreme Reader! To be frank I started it and never went further the 30th page!). Thanks to this mini TV series, I have finally got the story, although the adaptation (according to those who have read the book) is not as detailed and sticking to the original. BUT---THANKS GOD it is not ;-) In fact, this very well built TV adaptation has a very, very good rhythm and you never get bored. Many thanks to the screen writers and to the director (I clap my hands). Very good photography, and very authentic characters (I hardly cry by watching movies and here I did ;-). 4 Russian good/aristocratic Families and their ups and downs through war and peace ages. The second episode is the spring of the series as there, taking advantage of peace, a lot of romances are consumed. Love is in the air! Although someone has criticized this TV version, I really appreciate the international casting and production. The mix is very good and well organized, the costumes and sceneries are nice and cared to detail. There are all the ingredients for a great movie work, because it goes under your skin, and you are still permeated with the atmosphere and the characters (all very fascinating) far beyond the "END". So, what do you expect more?

It's difficult to adapt one of the greatest books ever written.Exhibit A: this miniseries. As far as adaptations go, this one at least doesn't desecrate the classic story it tells - but it doesn't do it justice either.There is a bit in the novel when Natasha talks about colors he associates with people's personalities and describes a man he doesn't like as "grey". That's, in a nutshell, the problem with this adaptation: it's not awful or despicable, but it's banal, mediocre, forgettable. In a word, grey.Casting is a major issue. Alessio Boni is flat and doesn't convey the steely charisma and the stern moral strength of prince Andrej: the character is softened to the point he loses any edge, so he comes across as a wimp. Alexandr Beyer as Pierre is better but still dour, without the pleasant naiveté, the simple-minded bonhomie and the inner fire the part needs. Clemence Poesy is pretty, but to express Natasha's charm and joy to live she resorts to perpetual smirking. Sorry miss, but I knew Audrey Hepburn, and you are no Audrey Hepburn.Secondary players fare a bit better, like Andrea Giordana as the decent count, Valentina Cervi as shy princess Mary, Elodie Frenck as frail Lise, Dmitri Isayev as Natasha's likable brother Nikolaj. Violante Placido is fetching as the shallow Helene, and, although she isn't particularly good, she is maybe the only character who lacks depth, so Placido's performance doesn't do much damage. Malcolm McDowell plays Andrej's unsympathetic father and, while he is fine when the prince is required to be bitter and unpleasant, he VISIBLY does not get the character's few softer moments, which granted him depth.Direction is lackluster: emotional scenes are either overdone or trivialized; there are clumsy narrative crutches such as abrupt voice-overs.See the 1956 version instead, with the delightful Audrey Hepburn as Nathasha, Henry Fonda as Pierre and Mel Ferrer as Andrej. It's not perfect, but it definitely beats this one.4/10