War And Peace (2016) - General Discussion

[Ohwell]

I thought the ending was rushed and the loose ends were tied up rather quickly, but overall I enjoyed it.  I did feel bad for poor Sonya though. 

[Athena]

I enjoyed it. It did feel really rushed especially with all the couples trying to get together or not in the last bit. I thought Paul Dano really shone in the last arc. I can see the appeal of him as a character actor now.

 

I really liked how they did everyone's death, but I think it went a bit maudlin and cheesey with Andrei's.

 

The actor who played Nikolai looked gorgeous in that last scene with his hair all messy. Poor Sonya indeed. She is a fascinating character and was in the book too.

[waving feather]

The last 20 minutes of the show was definitely very rushed with many characters dying or getting together. But the director did the best with the script given. They should have made this into 10 episode series.

Still, this series is well-made with many good actors. I have always liked Pierre Bezukhov but Paul Dano did such a good job making people fall in love with the character. Just lovely work from him all around. I especially loved the little moments like the way he questioned the Frenchman who was in his mansion and his talks with the man from prison. Subtle yet impactful performance. I wasn't that impressed with Lily James though. She tends to overact many of the times and caused a weird atmosphere in her scenes (both with Andrei and Pierre). The chemistry was off in the 2nd last scene with Pierre and the awkwardness was mainly contributed by her.

Marya and Nikolai have fabulous chemistry though and as I've mentioned before I'm quite impressed with the actor playing Nikolai. His character is flawed and at times downright unlikeable but he was able to humanize him a lot.

Also, I absolutely adore the music of the series. It made up 50% of the enjoyment of the series for me. It's not a perfect series but amazing effort by everyone involved.

Edited February 10, 2016 by waving feather

[SlovakPrincess]

I actually gasped at the explosion that knocked Pierre flat.   

 

I can't believe even Pierre could be that clueless about war ... why, sure, I'll just march down to the front lines with no weapon!  And I'm gonna kill Napoleon!  Yeah!

I mean, I love the guy, but come on.  

 

Well, damn.   I actually felt pretty bad for old Anatole and Helene in the end.  

 

The Natasha / Andrei scenes at his sick bed were lovely.  

 

Oh, poor Sonya!

 

The Petya / Denisov scene was heart breaking.  

Edited February 10, 2016 by SlovakPrincess

[AllAboutMBTV]

I SO wish War and Hats had been 16 or 20 hours (and on commercial-free PBS) like an old-school Masterpiece Theater series like The Pallisers. (I completely understand that that would probably have been prohibitively expensive.) Still, I enjoyed it enormously. I've never read the book (it's now in my Amazon cart; I just have to pull the pistol trigger), but I'm sure this adaptation left out numerous subplots and juicy characters (and Tolstoy gassing on about peasant's rights and The Land). But the production design! Give them every award in the book.

 

Anatole and Helene got their just desserts in the worst ways, and yet the foolish, generous, optimistic Rostovs (well, the Count was all those things; his wife, not so much) end up doubly blessed with two of their children marrying into incredible wealth. (Although their youngest died, albeit nobly.) Poor Sonya! The Jane Austen character without the happy ending. (I loved the way Aisling Loftus spat "Yes, Countess" at her aunt when the latter made it clear that Sonya was to leave Nikolai alone so he could marry wealthy Marya.)

 

Speaking of Austen, at some point early on I realized War & Hats takes place at roughly the same time as all of Austen's novels. So this is what the Russian aristos were up to while Lizzie Bennet was fending off Mr. Collins and Anne Eliot was pining for Col. Wentworth.

 

If they'd done a fuller adaptation I wouldn't have to say, "More, please!" Or do Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin novels next -- all of them!

[MV007]

The climax was remarkably life affirming, including the virtue of forgiveness. It was all the more jarring for me when the sexual sins of Helene and Anatole were so unforgivingly inflicted upon them   Anatole's amputation, like most literary or dramatic amputations, is symbolic of castration. But inevitably it is the woman who faces the bloodiest retribution of all. 

 

To be fair, they weren't just sexual sins.  Helene used Pierre simply for his money and standing.  Anatole entered into a relationship with Natasha for the sole purpose of ruining her life.  Their motivations weren't sexual to me.

[FemmyV]

I loved the series, even though I had to go foraging through Torrent sites to get the second half, after History Channel dropped it. I'd never read the book, and now  I'm going to!

Paul Dano was great as Pierre — what a gifted actor. James Horton, Tom Burke -- *swoons* ... Lily James was lovely and did fine, although her true youth doesn't really come across, early on.

[lidarose9]

Well, I was bawling my head off by the end. I read this so long ago, I couldn't even remember who died and who didn't, so I was really pulling for good old Pierre, and I was SO relieved he got a happy ending. I thought it was beautiful, all of it. Yes, you could feel the plot threads pulling together here and there to wrap things up, and surely it could have done with another half hour, but they did magnificently with what they did.

 

For example, who's got the budget to burn down Moscow these days? The red glow in the distance was enough to get the message across. I was terrified for the escaping families. The Russian winter wasn't nearly brutal enough, but again, they were able to imply a lot with a little. I plan to watch the whole thing over again from the beginning.

[lidarose9]

I can't believe even Pierre could be that clueless about war ... why, sure, I'll just march down to the front lines with no weapon!  And I'm gonna kill Napoleon!  Yeah! I mean, I love the guy, but come on.  

 

Years ago I saw a very long Russian adapation of this novel, and the one visual image that stayed with me was Pierre (in this case rather chubby) wandering into the battlefield in his dress clothes, top hat and all -- like a hapless audience member searching for the theater's exit and instead finding himself onstage during the performance. He was overcome, baffled, just stood there, struck dumb as it all stretched out before him in a great long shot -- hillsides scattered with dead bodies, smoke, soldiers fighting, horses shrieking, blood everywhere, shells exploding... It was like he stepped into a parallel universe. This show's version didn't have the scope, but the war bits were definitely very good. I also gasped when the shell blew up the guy running in front of Pierre.

[Ohwell]

When Pierre's prisoner friend was shot when they were marching in the cold, I wish he had taken the dead guy's poor little dog with him.   

[SlovakPrincess]

When Pierre's prisoner friend was shot when they were marching in the cold, I wish he had taken the dead guy's poor little dog with him.

Me too, but I think going back to take poor little Shushenka away from her master's body would have taken energy Pierre didn't have ... and he likely would have been shot for going back instead of marching forward ... Edited February 11, 2016 by SlovakPrincess

[Knuckles]

I have reread War and Peace several times since I first read it in college, and it does repay rereading...that said, I think the director and producers did a wonderful job with the time limits imposed. The actors were a superb ensemble, and I was happy to be proved wrong...Lily James did a great, soulful job as Natasha...her work stands comparison with the earlier Audrey Hepburn Natasha. Few actresses manage that.

Was interested that the director left off the great line from the novel, that Tolstoy used as his summation..."to love life is to love god"...which may now be too politically charged to be included, but it was his final word on all that had gone on before.

[lidarose9]

I can't believe it! I found a clip of the battle scene from the old version of War & Peace from the 1960s that I was referring to above. Where Pierre just wanders into this battle. Supposedly there were 120,000 extras for this scene.

 

 

[Haleth]

Did Anatole die from his wounds?  If anyone mentioned it I missed it.  I was sad for Helene despite her abysmal behavior, but she should have known to lay low while obviously pregnant.  I was sorry Natasha's and Nicholai's dad didn't get to see them happy (and financially secure) at the end.  The last scene with everyone at the picnic was lovely.

[waving feather]

I was sad for Helene despite her abysmal behavior, but she should have known to lay low while obviously pregnant.

I agree. No one deserved that. What she should have done is just to disappear to the country side, give birth and give away the baby if she doesn't want it. But I would have felt sorrier for her if she hadn't asked Pierre to lie about not having consummated the marriage just so she could marry another man. Yes, their marriage was basically over but just another example of her not respecting anyone else feelings and doing whatever she wanted. Just basically taking advantage of Pierre because she knows how kind and forgiving he is.

[SlovakPrincess]

I think we were supposed to assume Anatole eventually died.

I did feel bad for Helene - her selfish behavior in using others and cheating repeatedly was egged on by her father (who apparently died offscreen or disappeared in the fourth installment) and her entire social circle. And then when she became an embarrassment to them - as a result of that same careless behavior - she was shunned.

I mean, Helene was a jerk, but today she could have just gotten a divorce or used effective birth control and this wouldn't have turned into a gruesome mess. Although, listening to the nice Italian man's instructions on drinking that stuff would have been key ...

Edited February 11, 2016 by SlovakPrincess

[brisbydog]

When Pierre ran into Stephen Rea in the last episode he told him both his children were dead, so yes Anatole died following the amputation

[Tyro49]

Although there was a happy ending, I couldn't help but feel a wave of sadness at the end: in just about 100 years all these families would be swept away, executed, arrested, exiled, etc.  Pierre didn't know what he was hoping for; too bad he couldn't have found another way.

I think I really will need to read the book, now.  Tolstoy didn't know what was coming, either.

[seacliffsal]

I've been to St. Petersburg a few times (yes, even when it was still called Leningrad...). The city underwent renovations for the 300th anniversary of the founding of the city (1703), and the city just dazzled after the cleanup. Catherine's summer palace suffered during WWII (as did many buildings-old and new), but they have recaptured it perfectly. The infamous amber room is found in this palace. Anyway, YES, the historic buildings really are amazing. Oh, and the Hermitage is the world's largest art museum-larger and more pieces of art than the Louvre.

Anyway, I watched all four episodes today (spring break...) and loved it. I had been recording on the History Channel, and they stopped showing this after the second episode, so I watched the last two episodes on demand (on lifetime).

[crowsworks]

On ‎3‎/‎3‎/‎2016 at 11:47 AM, Tyro49 said:

Although there was a happy ending, I couldn't help but feel a wave of sadness at the end: in just about 100 years all these families would be swept away, executed, arrested, exiled, etc.  Pierre didn't know what he was hoping for; too bad he couldn't have found another way.

I think I really will need to read the book, now.  Tolstoy didn't know what was coming, either.

It's like watching old movies from the thirties and see people happily going off to live in Europe or M shot in Berlin - So chic and continental and so soon to end.

[Calamity Jane]

On 2/9/2016 at 5:11 PM, SlovakPrincess said:

I actually gasped at the explosion that knocked Pierre flat.   

I can't believe even Pierre could be that clueless about war ... why, sure, I'll just march down to the front lines with no weapon!  And I'm gonna kill Napoleon!  Yeah!

I mean, I love the guy, but come on.  

Well, damn.   I actually felt pretty bad for old Anatole and Helene in the end.  

The Natasha / Andrei scenes at his sick bed were lovely.  

Oh, poor Sonya!

The Petya / Denisov scene was heart breaking.  

About wandering into a war - people from DC brought picnics to eat while watching the first Battle of Bull Run. It seems to have been a thing in the 19th century, as bizarre as it seems. 

[vavera4ka]

On ‎1‎/‎26‎/‎2016 at 12:40 AM, mizminnie said:

To be quite honest ....what sealed the deal for me was seeing Tom Burke's name in the credits. He is beyond amazing in The Musketeers ....which everyone should be watching because it's fun, swashbuckly and has the most awesomest forway bromance EVA!

I would watch Tom Bur read the phonebook ...but of course he is also great as the devilish Dholokov. So this should tide me over until BBC deigns tp air SEASON 3 of THE MUSKETEERS.

Hulu suggested Musketeers and I then I went on IMDB to see where else I can see Tom Burke. So the yellow brick road took me to War and Peace.

Never read it (even though it was a school program reading) but wrote a composition on it... somehow lol we were pretty resourceful LOL

what I still can't find an answer to is was it Tom Burke singing or was it dubbed? it sounded perfect. I mean his Russian in the song. The duet later was adorable but the Russian was cringy. When Dolokhov was singing my first reaction was that Burke is "lypsincing". 

only info I found was Guardian ripping the show a new one for sudden Russian singing from characters. 

if Lily James wasn't "dubbed" why would Tom Burke be, right? But if it is him... damn that man is more talented than I thought.