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War and Peace, Part I: Andrei Bolkonsky

Original title: Voyna i mir I: Andrey Bolkonskiy
1965 · 2 h 27 min
Directed by Sergei Bondarchuk · Russia / USSR · Soviet Poetic Cinema
HistoryRomanceWarDrama

Where to watch in the United States: Stream: Criterion Channel, HBO Max. Streaming data from JustWatch via TMDB; availability changes.

Cast

Lyudmila Saveleva Sergey Bondarchuk Vyacheslav Tikhonov Viktor Stanitsyn Kira Golovko Oleg Tabakov

Credits

Written by: Lev Tolstoy

Plot

In 1805 St. Petersburg, Pierre Bezukhov, illegitimate son of a rich nobleman, is introduced to high society. His friend, Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, joins the Imperial Russian Army as aide-de-camp of General Mikhail Kutuzov in the War of the Third Coalition against General Napoleon Bonaparte.

Sinekatalog’s take

The first chapter of a gigantic Tolstoy adaptation sets up its aristocrats and soldiers with remarkable scale and patience. Sweeping camerawork and huge battlefield crowds are the draw, while the human drama builds more slowly. For viewers with time and appetite for epic literary cinema, it is a monumental opening.Sinekatalog’s own editorial review – not a user or critic quote.

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Ratings

IMDb: 8.1 / 10 (2,678 votes)
IMDb rating and vote count from the IMDb ratings dataset (October 2026). Scores change over time.

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