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War and Peace

War and Peace

Movie · 1956 · 15 people

King Vidor directed War and Peace (Guerra e pace in Italian), a 1956 American-Italian epic historical drama adapted from Leo Tolstoy's 1869 novel. Produced by Dino De Laurentiis and Carlo Ponti for Paramount Pictures, it runs about 208 minutes and counts among the big screen epics of the 1950s.

The story is set in Russia during the Napoleonic Wars. Audrey Hepburn plays the young Natasha, Henry Fonda is Pierre and Mel Ferrer is Andrei; Hepburn and Ferrer were married from 1954 to 1968. The cast also includes Vittorio Gassman, Herbert Lom, Oskar Homolka, John Mills, Helmut Dantine and Anita Ekberg in one of her first breakthrough roles. Nino Rota wrote the score, conducted by Franco Ferrara, and Jack Cardiff was the cinematographer. The screenplay was a joint effort by Vidor, Bridget Boland, Mario Camerini, Ennio De Concini, Ivo Perilli and Mario Soldati, among others.

The film opened on August 21, 1956 to a mixed reception. Critics objected to how much of the novel was cut and to 50-year-old Fonda playing the 20-year-old Pierre. It still earned three Oscar nominations, for director, color cinematography and color costume design, and won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film. It was shown in a King Vidor retrospective at the 2020 Berlin Film Festival.

DirectorKing Vidor
Production companyParamount Pictures Corporation

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Cast

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Guido Celano Guido Celano Actor · died at 83 Audrey Hepburn Henry Fonda Mel Ferrer Vittorio Gassman Herbert Lom Oskar Homolka Anita Ekberg Helmut Dantine Tullio Carminati Milly Vitale May Britt Jeremy Brett John Mills Anna Maria Ferrero

Through different eyes

AI-assisted editorial takes written from different viewer perspectives. They are not reader reviews; those are below.

Cinephile Looks at script, editing and directing choices; keeps a distance from formula films.

King Vidor's adaptation shows both the strength and the limits of Hollywood's large-scale epic approach. Passed through many writers' hands, the screenplay tries to squeeze Tolstoy's vast novel into a running time that, long as it is, still proves too tight; as critics of the time pointed out, much of the novel is left out, and you can feel the patchiness of a script with too many authors. There is a debatable casting decision as well: 50-year-old Henry Fonda playing the 20-year-old Pierre strains credibility. On the other hand, Jack Cardiff's color photography earns its Oscar nomination for color cinematography. A flawed but visually striking epic that conveys the novel's grandeur more than its depth.

Family Viewer Asks whether the whole household can watch it; cares about humor and heart.

It's a big 1950s studio film, the kind that generally won't cause problems when watched with the family and grandparents. But it is very long and slow-paced, which makes it an endurance test for children. Since it's set during the Napoleonic wars, there are battle scenes too. A good family-evening choice for high-schoolers, especially those reading the novel; splitting it over two sittings is easier.

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