Natasha and Andrei dance
Same scene, two versions of War and Peace.
Hollywood, circa 1956. Ferrer and Hepburn were married in real life at the time:
Here’s the Russian version made in the 1960s, which I saw in movie theaters long ago. I found it a mixed bag, and extremely long; it’s over seven hours, and I saw it in segments. But the length and scope allowed the filmmakers to take their time with scenes such as this one. I also found the actor who played Andrei to lean too heavily towards the reptilian and repellent. Natasha was excellent, though:
The famous “Natasha’s Dance” that some refer to, is when she is in a rustic cabin after a hunt and intuitively breaks into a folk dance to a peasant band’s music, thus showing that she is connected to true “Russianness” in spite of her aristocratic and Europeanized upbringing.
Yes im trying to remember who tikhonov reminds me of
The fellow who played colonel green on original star trek phillip pine
Maybe he was closer to the russian archetype of the character but it is distracting
The Russian movie was split into 4 episodes, so the length was not an issue. As it was a prestige piece for the Soviet propaganda, no expense (money, soldiers for extras, horses) was spared on the battle scenes, still some of the most powerful in movie history.
Vyacheslav Tikhonov was not very happy about his role as Prince Andrei, in part because the actor himself was of a very modest background and had trouble acting as a refined aristocrat and an officer. Nevertheless, on the whole it was a very remarkable movie
Interesting tikhnonovs most famous role was as stierlitz the russian bond who inspired…putin
Yes, SS Standartenfuhrer Stierlitz aka Colonel Isayev, a fictional Soviet spy inside the Nazi security headquarters ))) He has become a folk hero, a meme, a protagonist of many jokes. Tikhonov’s best role, possibly because he was not talking much but was acting only with his eyes.
Very nice to see the ballroom dancers choreographed so well; but did the men really whirl around with swords unsecured like that? very dangerous on a crowded unchoreographed floor!
This video came up via my autoplay; here is the poster’s description (I think he may be Russian as a lot of the comments are in that language):
Dmitri Shostakovich’s The Second Waltz is undoubtedly one of the best known waltzes in general. But who knows The First Waltz of him? When there is the waltz No. 2 it should be also the waltz No. 1. Some people consider as waltz No. 1 the waltz theme included in Jazz Suite No. 1 next to the waltz No. 2. But others believe that the waltz No. 1 is in the music Shostakovich wrote for the movie “Golden Mountain” by Sergei Yutkevich from 1936. And this one slitely worked over by me I used as cover making this video. I hope you like both, the music and the video.
Making the clip I used scenes from movies: “War and Peace” from 1966 by Sergei Bondarchuk, “The Leopard” (Il Gattopardo) by Luchino Visconti from 1963. Anna Karenina by Maurizio Millenotti from 1997, Anna Karenina by Joe Wright from 2013, Fanfan & Alexandre by Alexandre Jardin from 1993, War and Peace, TV series from 2007, and War and Peace (Andrei and Natasha) BBC TV-Series from 2016.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7Kh8ys735g
@AesopFan – The sword is in a metal scabbard. Do a stop at 1:38 and you can see the flanges of the end cap. If scabbarded, you’ll get a light whap as the gear isn’t heavy, maybe 2-3lb total.
I spent a lot of time wearing scabbarding for sword and dagger. Here is a similar sword and scabbard (actual Russian circa revolution). The sword’s weight depends from the first loop attached fairly tight to the waist, the second prevents twisting around so the draw is readily available. So, while it spins out, it’s not flailing around.
Well done!!
Now let’s do “Joe and Vlad dance”….
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And for afficionados of Churchill…
“Making history with Winston [‘History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it’] Churchill”—
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/magazine-life-arts/2838794/making-history-with-winston-churchill/
H/T Powerline blog.
Timed out. Look at 1:45 in the first and 2:45 in the second clip and you’ll see they’re respecting Covid distancing. 🙂
I love War and Peace, book, movies. The 1966 Russian version is a gem of cinematography
Thank you all for this wonderful conversation about one of my favorite movies. Thank you AesopFan for posting that wonderful video!
A latter member of the family featured
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serge_Wolkonsky
War and peace signifies a fulcrum of russia turning away from the west
Never mentioned here, I am a Napoleonic war gamer and have the entire 1st Western Army of Borodino finished as well as a Pierre Bezukhov in a white top hat to keep my artilleryman amuzed.
I re-read War and Peace a few months ago. Prince Andre, as described by Tolstoy, is a proud, highly intellectual man who comes across as a cold fish.
I actually and of my own free will, while in high school, read War and Peace, after watching the Russian version of the movie. It aired on TV, in two parts, as I remember, and I was mesmerized. One of the fascinating aspects was that we didn’t really ‘know’ any of the actors – they were all Russian and to us, unknown. They were the characters they portrayed, without any attached baggage. I do remember reading that the actress who played Natasha was only a young teenager at the start of filming, and as the project took at least six years to finish – she grew to an adult in the course of it.
I remember the Natasha-Andrei waltz sequence as being especially mesmerizing – the sheer exuberance of spinning and circling the floor, and finally rising to the ceiling – such perfect happiness and joy!
The BBC version of a couple of years ago was, I think, a bit more true to the ages and appearance of the characters. Andrei was a bit of a stiff, cold fish, Pierre plump and awkward. Natasha impulsive … and all very, very young.
Sgt. Mom:
Speaking of movies, waltzes, and rising to the ceiling:
I suppose the Russian cast had to be better in their roles than Henry Fonda. However good Fonda may have been with Katherine Hepburn, did he really have onscreen “chemistry” with young Audrey? But maybe Pierre and Natasha didn’t have much “chemistry” either.
Aldaily directs our attention to a Hedgehog Review article:
“Is it possible to imagine the ballet world without a primary teleology of aesthetic perfectionism and a baseline of low self-worth?”
I haven’t read it. “Teleology” is a bad sign.
Big thanks to AesopFan for video. Very well done (HT Anne). As is often the case in movies with a waltz, the female dancers look like they’re having fun, enjoying themselves.
This enjoyment of dancing seems to be usually missing in a lot of ballet, where the dancers are working on making their difficult, unnatural, but lovely movements look easy, and their acting is so often to express emotions other than enjoyment of the dance.
Tom Grey:
That’s a relatively new development in ballet, I’d say post-1980s. There used to be tons of enjoyment.
However, many classic ballets are tragic and not about the joy of movement at all. Within them, though, there are portions that are fun. But you have to watch the full-length ballets to see that.
If you want enjoyment, there’s always this: