The Insane Production Behind War and Peace

Sergei Bondarchuks version of War and Peace is a film like no other, made at the height of the Soviet film industry with the full backing of the USSR. This Goliath of a film was made to show the world that the Soviets could make a film on par, if not better than anything the west could hope to produce.

Chapters-
0:00 Introduction
1:17 Stalin and the death of Soviet cinema
2:22 Khrushchev and the revival of Soviet cinema
3:16 1956 War and Peace
4:42 Origins of the production
5:57 How Sergei Bondarchuk came to direct War and Peace
8:06 Writing the script
10:56 Props
13:17 Costumes
15:31 Casting
18:05 Extras
19:00 Makeup
19:31 Locations
23:59 Battle of Borodino and other battle sequences
27:38 Soviet Red Army Extras
30:35 Budget
31:23 Complications when filming
34:28 Conclusion

Footage used from:
War and Peace (1966)

   • Joseph Stalin (Documentary footage)  

   • Stalin in colour, footage  

The Fall of Berlin (1950)

   • Khrushchev's U.N. Outbursts - Decades...  

   • Kruschev at the United Nations, 1960  

Les Sovietiques (18th November, 1968)

   • Khrushchev Does America (full length ...  

   • Видео  

War and Peace (1956)

   • Soviet Congress Criticises Stalin Aka...  

Woina I Mir (1966)

Making War and Peace (1969)

Fate of a Man (1959)

   • "War and Peace" Wins Foreign Language...  


Additional information used from:
Woina I Mir (1966)

Making War and Peace (1969)

Les Sovietiques (1968)

Interview with Anatoliy Petritsky (2019)

Interview with Fedor Bondarchuk (2019)

Cold War Classic (2019)

Essay on War and Peace by Ella Taylor

Catalogue of when films were released in the USSR (Russian) https://www.kino-teatr.ru/box/history...

Interview on War and Peace (Russian) https://www.mk.ru/culture/2011/09/20/...


Music used in order of appearance:
Symphony No.38 in D Major

Soviet March Reprise - Red Alert 3 Soundtrack

Propaganda Tune - Metro 2033 Soundtrack

Russian Dance

1812 Overture

1812 Overture - Short version