Greetings from Lithuania.
"War & Peace" (2016) is a good mini-series, definitely worth watching if you haven't read a book or watched any previous adaptations. I loved music (amazing), costumes (amazing), cinematography (sometimes stunning) the most - those are the highlights of this adaptation.
The leading lady Lily James was just OK in my opinion, but this is not a strongest aspect of this series, although if i understood the whole story and point of it correctly, she is the central figure of it, the one which faces War & Peace times and is changed by them. Although you can see how this naive and very optimistic young woman changes during the events, it's sadly wasn't the best casting choice in my opinion. Paul Dano was OK to, but no awards will shine in leading acting department, Greta Scacchi and Jim Broadbent were the highlights of acting.
Overall, "War & Peace" has some pacing problems, and there are some long scenes that drags in the middle of show. Overall acting isn't superb in this show and the scope - well i think to film this kinda epic you have to go big, or don't go at all. It is a very good thing that they ever tried and they succeeded in general, but this show does not rank among the best i've ever seen by far. That said it is not a bad show by any means - it's a good one, and the fact that it was filmed in my native Lithuania probably adds one point to a 8/10 overall score. Worth watching for great craftsmanship and magnificent story, which now i will definitely witness by watching legendary "Voyna i Mir" (1966) by Sergey Bondarchuk.
"War & Peace" (2016) is a good mini-series, definitely worth watching if you haven't read a book or watched any previous adaptations. I loved music (amazing), costumes (amazing), cinematography (sometimes stunning) the most - those are the highlights of this adaptation.
The leading lady Lily James was just OK in my opinion, but this is not a strongest aspect of this series, although if i understood the whole story and point of it correctly, she is the central figure of it, the one which faces War & Peace times and is changed by them. Although you can see how this naive and very optimistic young woman changes during the events, it's sadly wasn't the best casting choice in my opinion. Paul Dano was OK to, but no awards will shine in leading acting department, Greta Scacchi and Jim Broadbent were the highlights of acting.
Overall, "War & Peace" has some pacing problems, and there are some long scenes that drags in the middle of show. Overall acting isn't superb in this show and the scope - well i think to film this kinda epic you have to go big, or don't go at all. It is a very good thing that they ever tried and they succeeded in general, but this show does not rank among the best i've ever seen by far. That said it is not a bad show by any means - it's a good one, and the fact that it was filmed in my native Lithuania probably adds one point to a 8/10 overall score. Worth watching for great craftsmanship and magnificent story, which now i will definitely witness by watching legendary "Voyna i Mir" (1966) by Sergey Bondarchuk.