War and Peace, Part IV: Pierre Bezukhov (1967) User Reviews

"What do you feel in your soul, deep in your soul?"

[ackstasis · 9/10 · 15 July 2008]

I must admit I was surprised when, following Russia's so-called "moral victory" at the Battle of Borodino, Part Four of Sergei Bondarchuk's 'War and Peace (1967)' opened proceedings with Field Marshal Kutuzov's reluctant retreat and Napolean's march onwards into Moscow. One suspects that the narrator's patriotic speech at the end of '1812' was perhaps a little premature, as Russia never seemed more vulnerable and defeated than the moment when French troops sidle casually into the nation's deserted capital. While it suffers from the unfocused and disjointed narrative also present in Part One, the final instalment of Bondarchuk's epic accomplishment is a brilliant and satisfying conclusion to a great story; as a proud nation is brought to its knees, the emotional register frequently strikes its maximum. 'War and Peace IV: Pierre Bezukhov (1967)' is arguably the picture's most important segment, when the story's primary characters place everything on the line for the future of their beloved Russia.

First and foremost, Part Four is a visual masterpiece, and Bondarchuk once again places his mark on the film with an assortment of dramatic episodes that are staggering in their intensity and attention-to-detail. During the burning of Moscow, as Pierre Bezukhov (Bondarchuk) attempts to rescue a young girl from a fiery inferno, the characters are almost completely obscured by the blustery splinters of ash that gust across the screen. I have no doubt that the filmmakers destroyed an entire village (which they probably built themselves) in order to achieve this remarkable set-piece, and the sheer intensity of the raging red flames often gives one the impression that Pierre has, with the arrival of the French, unexpectedly descended into the sweltering pits of Hell. Later, following the withdrawal of the invading army, Bondarchuk counterpoints these visions with another sequence, an awesome, seemingly-endless overhead tracking shot of the lines of weary soldiers stumbling through a bitter snowstorm.

Part Four of 'War and Peace' provides the ultimate test for many of the story's characters. Prince Andrei (Vyacheslav Tikhonov), who was wounded at the Battle of Borodino, must finally accept his impending death, and his final departure is preluded by an eerie dream sequence, in which Andrei wakes to observe a procession of indistinct faces marching past, the exodus of a lifetime of people, places and memories. Natasha Rostova (Lyudmila Savelyeva), now an emotionally-mature young woman, must accept her past mistakes and make peace with the man whose love she had betrayed. Pierre, who had previously expressed his complete disinterest in the war at hand, must choose to defend his beloved Fatherland, even if it may cost him his life. The picture's eventual conclusion, though certainly sad, strikes just the right note of bittersweet, and we feel as though we've just completed something very special. The overriding emotion is one of hope: wars will come and go, but life goes on, and life is the most important thing of all.

Powerful war

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 6 June 2019]

Of all the adaptations of Leo Tolstoy's masterpiece 'War and Peace' (all ranging from above watchable, though the 2007 adaptation was disappointing, to outstanding), the not always perfect but still towering achievement that is Sergei Bondarchuk's adaptation is second best. Best being to me the 1972 mini-series, do think that 'War and Peace' lends itself better to a mini-series than to a film due to its length and complexity.

Bondarchuk's adaptation is extremely long and might be something to be split over a few nights rather than see it in one sitting, but is quite an experience and one of those that fits under the category "unlike anything you've seen before". One of those experiences that is a must see, for anybody wanting a faithful adaptation in cinematic form and done incredibly well Bondarchuk's version is an absolute must. This final part in particular is worth it, being the most searingly intense and most emotional of what came before as well as being very important for the story and character development.

It may lack the book's sharp bite again at times, though with what is going on on screen there is really not an awful lot of time for that, and occasionally the acting is histrionic but not majorly.

This 'War and Peace' though is a visual marvel. The scenery and period detail is spectacular and gives a sense of time and place far better than any other version of 'War and Peace' and the cinematography is inventive and enough to take the breath away. The snowstorm tracking shot is indeed not one to forget and does hit hard. The scope and spectacle is also enormous and that is apparent throughout, the aforementioned burning of Moscow, especially with the inferno, is really quite extraordinary and stayed with me for a long time on an emotional level.

Music score again chills the bone, not only music that was emotionally powerful and beautiful to listen to but also gave a sense that the story was set in Russia in the way that few of the other versions, only 2016's, managed to achieve. The script is thoughtful and the story is compelling and with a lot of recognisable elements in detail and spirit. Bondarchuk's direction is again remarkable and Pierre, also played by Bondarchuk (there is no sense of him biting off more than he can chew with giving himself a lot to do, far from it), is at his most powerful and relatable here.

All the characters have come on a lot in development, Natasha being a strong example. None are caricatures, even Napoleon.

Overall, really powerful stuff and Tolstoy and Russian literature fans should make every effort to see it. 9/10

Full of sound and fury, signifying a lot

[gizmomogwai · 9/10 · 4 July 2019]

War and Peace Part IV, Pierre Bezukhov, might as well be called the "Fire and Ice Edition" given the prominence of the depiction of the great Fire of Moscow as well as some great (but unfortunately brief) shots of "General Winter." Like Part III, the spectacle is grand and sweeping: According to The Criterion Collection, the fire scene had to be planned for 10 months and shot with helicopters and six ground-level cameras. If no one got killed making that scene, that's an achievement.

Aside from the sheer elaborateness of the production, director Sergei Bondarchuk once again justifies this with artistic vision: Even the shots of Napoleon looking over his conquered Moscow (pre-fire) are impressive and inspiring. The shot of Napoleon riding out of Russia are dynamic but moody and convey that sense of despair and defeat. The end cinematography of the Russian landscape is great, though it's a direct callback from Part I. Andrei's dream sequences are also artistically masterful.

Part IV is short by itself while covering a lot, but it still wraps things up a satisfying note. It captures that homecoming feeling after a war; Pierre seeing the grown Natasha (with flashbacks to their memories of each other), has that "V-J Day in Times Square" kissing sailor image written all over it. The full seven-hour experience can leave any viewer feeling exhausted but mightily impressed.

A good concluding chapter

[Jeremy_Urquhart · 8/10 · 21 July 2020]

Some of the weird experimental touches don't fully work here, whereas a lot of the more artsy, out there stuff in the earlier parts did work for me. However, it does work as a mostly satisfying conclusion, with a few excellent sequences. I was worried I'd be restless and bored during this final part, having watched all 4 in one day, but thankfully that was not the case.

Does not go out on a high note

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 3 October 2020]

Here we have "Voyna i mir IV: Pierre Bezukhov" from over half a century ago or in words that everybody understands the fourth chapter of Sergey Bondarchuk's take on Leo Tolstoy's world famous novel "War and Peace". The fourth of four chapters, so this is how it all ends. But first things first: Bondarchuk is director, writer and lead actor in here. It's not the only chapter from this quadrology that is named after a character, but this time it is named after Bondarchuk's character himself. I got to see this one today on the occasion of Bondarchuk's 100th birthday (obviously not alive anymore), which means he was 47 when this was released, probably 46 or 45 when it was made. He does look younger though, sometimes a lot younger, has a bit of a boyish face I would say. Anyway, as you can see, his character here is named Pierre, which is admittedly a bit confusing because this is such a typical French name and not a Russian name like Pjotr, especially because it is the Soviets and the French going against each other in here in terms of the war mentioned in the title. What can also be added here is that Bondarchuk's character is not as much of a lead in here as you could think with this being named after him. I watched the third chapter the previous weekend and he was also already the lead there too, about as much as he is here, even if said third chapter was not named after him. But it would have been too much maybe to name two chapters after the character and I can also kinda see their point that war was more in the center of the third movie than anything or anybody else. There are contradictory statements about the running time here and I did not check the clock either at the cinema today, but it is safe to say that this is between 95 and 100 minutes long. Maybe there are also different versions out there, although I kinda doubt. One thing safe to say is that this film is not the shortest nor longest from the quadrology. Of course, you will also find several cast members and characters here from the previous films. The one that stands out the most and also had the second most screen time probably is Lyudmila Saveleva's Natasha Rostova, who is considered maybe the most epic character from Tolstoy's work. She also had her own movie, the second before with a love confession at the end of this second movie, the action switched to Bezukhov for the two following films. I cannot talk about differences and parallels between this take by Bondarchuk and the original because I have not read the book. As for Rostova, she is mostly included because of her relationship with a certain prince whose health is getting worse and worth and who may be about to die. Another character that can be mentioned is Rostova's mother who is only included in one scene here really (the second film started with her and her daughter) and seems to go insane. At least that's how I understood it. So Rostova is also definitely struggling with the health of those very close to her, but for that she seems pretty normal and also seems to be ready to enter into a relationship with Bezukhov at the very end, the man who has been crushing on her for a while, but apparently he first had to prove himself for Mother Russia before he could get the girl. But what a prize she is. Saveleva/Rostova is among the most stunning I have ever seen on the screen and I have seen many. That much is safe. The acttress is also still alive today, even if retired now, but her last performance is from over a decade ago in another miniseries. She did not enjoy the most prolific career as you could think after her performances in this one, but I am still glad they picked her as she was a complete rookie when she was selected to play this kinda legendary character. Okay, you can certainly cut the "kinda".

No a few words on the story here and this film in particular. Maybe my low rating surprised you a bit, but let me say that I already was not too impressed by installments two and three, so probably it is safe to say that the entire series is not really to my liking. I still see why some appreciate it and actually many do if we take a look at the really high ratings these four films got here on imdb. I also see though that the number of votes went down quite a bit as the story progresses. This fourth installment even stays in triple-digit territory now. Kinda fitting that like 25% of audience members, maybe even more, left the movie long before it was over. And who know how much the remaining 75% liked it. I know I didn't. The one thing i realls struggled with in the first half is how Bezukhov is depicted as so courageous, such a hero now, which just did not fit the character as he was shown here at all in my opinion. Like how he saves the French general, then immediately afterwards still protects the idiot who almost shot the general and saves two lives this way. Next up is the scene with the kid in danger of dying in the fire and he saves that life as well. And he does all that while being so humble about it. There are maybe two more examples when his character acts much more heroic than he should have. Or how, most of all, it needs half a dozen French soldiers to stop him in a fight. I mean he is not a small guy, but still. He feels definitely more chubby than muscular. Maybe Bondarchuk simply should not have cast himself for the character here. I struggled hard with seeing him like that. Another problem I had here was the idea of who is up against whom and who prevails. I mean the French successfully conquer Moscow, which to me kinda feels the war is over and France won, right? They lead the prisoners of war through the cold and bleak landscapes and kill those who cannot walk anymore. Like the winner's side would. And then, in the last 20 minutes, the tables are turned completely and Mother Russia prevails with the guy who initially decided to give up on Moscow being there again in the center of it all and feels like a huge leader. What was everything before that then, an alternate reality? I just don't get it. It should never be required to read a book in order to understand a movie, but here it feels this way. Another example would be the story in-between with the Soviet boy who has warmed up to the French prisoner boy. No clue where this fit in and what it meant. Not one bit. Or also with Bezukhov's character in what seemed for a while like his final scene. He seems to go crazy too, screams like a madman (also does not fit as he was always so restrained and calm before that) and eventually, he is shown all healthy on a carriage or so in posh clothes as he is heading towards Rostova. As if nothing happened before. Real challenge to grasp all of that. If there is anything positive I can say here, then it would be that the costumes are really good. Just like in the previous installments. As for the narration, I am glad it was not too frequent in this final chapter because I did not like it that way, but here the quantity is tolerable and I am indifferent about it. So yeah, all in all, I give this final chapter another thumbs-down. However, you don't need my (negative) recommencation because most likely you have see at least two (like myself), probably three chapters from this little series and can very well decide for yourself if you want to keep going or not. I personally am glad this is over and I am a bit surprised that this is connected closely to an Oscar win. Or actually not because technically there is nothing wrong with it and it probably got the right campaign too back then, but I wwas just not emotionally invested in this entire thing at all. Watch something else instead.