War and Peace (1972) Parts 4 to 7

 Episode Four- A Letter and Two Proposals

It’s easy to imagine the narrative of part 4 re-worked for a sitcom as it deals with two young people whose elders are attempting to push them into marriage which, in different ways, neither is ready for. Yet in the end the choices they make are unexpected. The intelligent Pierre is ultimately railroaded into an engagement proposal he doesn’t even actually make; rather it’s Vasili Kuragin who congratulates him and his own daughter Helene on it! He is less successful though with his son Anatole whom he tries to interest Maria Bolkonskya in only for the marriage to be rejected by her. While the episode starts with alot of material that seems like old fashioned frippery, it’s very cleverly constructed contrasting the two situations and held together by Basil Henson’s wonderfully arch expressions.

War and Peace (1972) Parts 1 to 3

Let's get epic...

Leo Tolstoy’s novel War and Peace has become shorthand for a story that is almost impossible to get through. It is the sort of enormous novel you start reading with intent multiple times but never finish. I’ve never even tried to read War and Peace so I decided to watch an ambitious attempt to bring the epic to life that was shown by the BBC across twenty episodes totalling fifteen hours weekly from late September 1972. It took several months because this is not some eight part Netflix sensation to be binged in one night that’s for sure!

Three years in production including twelve month's location filming the serial includes battle sequences, a large cast, a zillion extras and a timespan to match the novel. Shot in what was then Yugoslavia (using members of that country’s territorial army) and the UK it is nowadays best known as featuring Anthony Hopkins in his breakthrough role. The adaptation is by Jack Pulman and has a theme tune of the Russian Imperial anthem yet everyone speaks English of course! The serial was prestigious enough to even get its own Radio Times Special magazine (a rare honour) clips of which are scattered amongst these posts. 

It’s a series like no other with a considerably larger budget than other historical dramas of the day- compared to say Elizabeth R’s tight direction which hides a small number of extras, War and Peace literally has armies at its disposal. The scope of the outdoor scenes and the battles is immense, as well mounted as any feature film of the day. If some of the interiors can seem a tad stagey there is a rich cast to draw on and some sparkling performances to enjoy

For all its ambition the series wasn't an instant classic receiving a mixed critical reception at the time. It’s been called too slow or even dull and criticised for casting some actors who were too old for the characters they were portraying. Poor Morag Hood came in for particular criticism as the then nearly thirty year old had to initially appear as a thirteen year old. It is said the battle sequences plod – though some have pointed out this is a more accurate representation of the realities of warfare. At a time when a prestigious production like this might be expected to pull in ten to twelve million viewers it drew half of that and some episode fell below two million. It probably didn’t help that the first episode is largely talky and frivolous and it may have been advantageous for the events of part two to be shown first.

So how does this epic, now more than fifty years old, pan out? Only one way to find out..

Scans from the Radio Times Special publication which accompanied the serial.