War and Peace

I've recently been working my way through the 7 or so hours of Sergei Bondarchuk's 1965 version of WAR AND PEACE. A very odd and I think, very great pot boiler, occasionally brilliant although, in my view, not up to Tolstoy himself. But then, who is? But so much more intelligence and class than David Lean, probably the best of the Western big screen guys. Still I prefer Ellem Klimov and Alexi Gherman, to say nothing of Tarkovsky, Eisenstein, Pudovkin and even Abram Room, of the Russians I've seen. The bromides about epic stories and high concept themes abound in the tomes of critics like David Thomson, but the only film I've seen which combines a ground level view of human behavior and historical yarn is Klimov's COME AND SEE. This is the one film to wrap into your winding sheets. And in Bondarchuk you see a little influence of the long lamented European and American avant garde cinema, although briefly, as a kind of knowing nod to what he might have done more of if he hadn't lived in Soviet Russia. And yet the social tragedy which befell the people of Russia as a result of the 1917 revolution, probably mirrors the tragedy of the North and South American Indians when faced with European conquest. No civilization has arisen without the bloodshed necessary to establish custom, culture and finally, conformity. The early revolutionary days were filled with brilliant experiment and heady aesthetics, but although Bondarchuk made his film 15 years after the death of Stalin, I think he was making a film for a wide general audience, Russian style, which only means he didn't compromise as much as Hollywood has always demanded. And so you see a touch of Ed Emshwiller or Jordan Belson here and there, just to let you know he knew. Or did it come from Cocteau or Bunel? But if you haven't seen this film, get it on Netflix. I think the characterizations of Pierre and Natasha in particular, are worth thinking about. Personally, I'm more interested in life "as it seems to be" which is more the province of the humble cockroach, than the exalted eagle. Somehow there are more of us insects than there are fowl to peck us into submission. And I like the view from angleworm level. Whenever anyone starts talking about Stars and Heroes, I detest the race I belong to for its refusal to honor the simple joys and virtues available to (almost) everyone. But then I remember my own passion for recognition and find it predictable, all too human and contemptible.

Rob