“Considering its cost and the vast effort that went into its making, such a film can be made only once in our time. The wonder, indeed, is that it was made at all.”
– Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
“Exhaustive, spectacular, often dazzling in its ambition and faithfulness to Tolstoy, the movie is still regarded as one of the wonders of epic cinema.”
– John Hartl, Seattle Times
“It is no exaggeration to say that Sergei Bondarchuk’s 1960s adaptation of the Leo Tolstoy novel “War and Peace” is a singular feat of filmmaking that can never be repeated.”
– Joshua Barone, New York Times
“Stands head and shoulders above its contemporary cinema, a triumph of unmatched scale that makes visible the fire and madness raging in a work of great literature that many look at as impenetrable.”
– Charles Bramesco, Vox
“An epic as huge as Russia itself, Sergei Bondarchuk’s adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace remains to this day the most ambitious film you’ll ever see.”
– Bilge Ebiri, Vulture
NEW RESTORATION!
Friday, June 14 – Monday, June 17
1966 • dir Sergei Bondarchuk w/Sergei Bondarchuk, Lyudmila Saveleva, Vyacheslav Tikhonov • 422 min • DCP
At the height of the Cold War, the Soviet film industry set out to prove it could outdo Hollywood with a production that would dazzle the world: a titanic, awe-inspiring adaptation of Tolstoy’s classic tome in which the fates of three souls – the blundering, good-hearted Pierre; the heroically tragic Prince Andrei; and the radiant, tempestuous Natasha – collide amid the tumult of the Napoleonic Wars. Employing a literal cast of thousands and an array of innovative camera techniques, director Sergei Bondarchuk conjures a sweeping vision of grand balls that glitter with rococo beauty and breathtaking battles that overwhelm with their expressionistic power. As a statement of Soviet cinema’s might, WAR AND PEACE succeeded wildly, garnering the Academy Award for best foreign-language film and setting a new standard for epic moviemaking. – Janus Films
NEW RESTORATION!
Friday, June 14 – Monday, June 17
1966 • dir Sergei Bondarchuk w/Sergei Bondarchuk, Lyudmila Saveleva, Vyacheslav Tikhonov • 422 min • DCP
At the height of the Cold War, the Soviet film industry set out to prove it could outdo Hollywood with a production that would dazzle the world: a titanic, awe-inspiring adaptation of Tolstoy’s classic tome in which the fates of three souls – the blundering, good-hearted Pierre; the heroically tragic Prince Andrei; and the radiant, tempestuous Natasha – collide amid the tumult of the Napoleonic Wars. Employing a literal cast of thousands and an array of innovative camera techniques, director Sergei Bondarchuk conjures a sweeping vision of grand balls that glitter with rococo beauty and breathtaking battles that overwhelm with their expressionistic power. As a statement of Soviet cinema’s might, WAR AND PEACE succeeded wildly, garnering the Academy Award for best foreign-language film and setting a new standard for epic moviemaking. – Janus Films
See the Calendar page for a complete list of showtimes →