Some of the weird experimental touches don't fully work here, whereas a lot of the more artsy, out there stuff in the earlier parts did work for me. However, it does work as a mostly satisfying conclusion, with a few excellent sequences. I was worried I'd be restless and bored during this final part, having watched all 4 in one day, but thankfully that was not the case.

War and Peace Leo Tolstoy' best work-and it's also my favorite tome. After poring over the weighty tome, I couldn't help trying to review it by the way of movie. However, after watching American and BBC' s mode, I suppose this movie should be the best one which lives up to even Tolstoy himself ' expectation (if he could watch it). Admitted America' s War and Peace is pretty grand, but it is less amazing comparing with its Soviet Union's counterpart which took 5 years to finish production and cost over $560 million.... No pain no gain: This movie still won Oscar during the cold War because its amazing production could devastate the political wall mounting between the two super powers. Again, Russian director and actors made use of their best understanding of their domestic classic and created a piece of art work, a masterpiece in front of our audience. There I have to say that it is the power of loyalty to art instead of to business. Only in this way, this movie could be made;only in his way, Shawshank could be classic.... All right, let's back to the point:why do I say this movie must be a masterpiece: First, I have to admit that the cast of the movie is perfect: Admitted the actors performing Andrei, Pierre and Helen are no longer young, but they do have the same or similar bearing comparing with these characters in the tometome:The actor performing Pierre is the director of the movie. He is quite similar to Pierre himself as he is overweight, idealistic, kind, and is sometimes embarrassed simultaneously. Mr. Bondarchuk also acts as a round peg in a square hole in this movie, which is especially Pierre' s trait. Moreover, Tikhonov acts a superficially remote and abstinent while innately patriotic good young man-Andrei. He must be the perfect actor in performing Andre. Anatolia Ktorov is also perfect in performing an impatient and strict old-styled aristocrat. What does a truly Russian old-fashioned aristocrat look like? He shouldn't be the rude Russian farmer in American War and Peace movie. Rather, he should be thin and has an aquiline nose;he should be strict with his kids and be stubborn ;he should be smart and prospective when he observes the current national situation.... All in all, he should be aristocratic. A lot of people tend to compare Hepburn with Lyudmila Saveleva, who performs Natasha in this movie. I have to say that Saveleva is perfect in showing another same Natasha.The reason why I think so is not only her competitive beautiful appearance, but also her enthusiastic and sometimes still a little childish behaviors-she is only a debutante who is not bond with any mundane rules and regulations;she only her intuition and acts as a free bird.... All in all, that's what Lyudmila has shown in front of us, which is rear to be seen from other actresses.... Secondly, this movie well shows the Russian Spirit. What does it mean? Russian Spirit? Something abstract and ethereal? Yes, it's really hard to explain what a nation' spirit means or looks like. However, through the movie, we can see some snippets giving us a hint: When the people from other countries are confined into the house on snowy chill days, Rostov' family instead hang out but sleighs and have a great time. In the war place, Russian soldiers are faced with death in the same way of gambling-even they lose they won't spit their fate;death and hurt is like something happens every day. In this way, we can imagine how bold and unconstrained the Russian are. Third, the episodes delineating wars are really grand. Imagine:the Soviet Union prepared 695 ancient canons and 587 contemporary canons for the wars. They also ran off 16600 grenades and 20900 pairs of clothes. They even established a contemporary fake big Moscow to show the fires Moscow. All in all, it's an epic.... Finally, Tolstoy's conception of history is shown totally in this movie, too: He doubted it is heroes who create the history. Rather, he thought the heroes ideas couldn't penetrate into the lower classes and couldn't change the war. So that's why though Kutuzov is self-knowing while Napoleon is not, they all can't act as they one who stop the history but they have to act. Instead the soldiers fighting hard and exhausted horses are truly heroes through the history.... So that's what I want to say about this movie. I really wanna know guys what you are waiting for? Just sit down and watch this series patiently. Only in this so called ''should be condensed'' way,a classic weighty tome can be showed perfectly. Only these patient and sagacious men can grasp the opportunity to appreciate this artistry, this feast of aesthetics....

Here we have "Voyna i mir IV: Pierre Bezukhov" from over half a century ago or in words that everybody understands the fourth chapter of Sergey Bondarchuk's take on Leo Tolstoy's world famous novel "War and Peace". The fourth of four chapters, so this is how it all ends. But first things first: Bondarchuk is director, writer and lead actor in here. It's not the only chapter from this quadrology that is named after a character, but this time it is named after Bondarchuk's character himself. I got to see this one today on the occasion of Bondarchuk's 100th birthday (obviously not alive anymore),which means he was 47 when this was released, probably 46 or 45 when it was made. He does look younger though, sometimes a lot younger, has a bit of a boyish face I would say. Anyway, as you can see, his character here is named Pierre, which is admittedly a bit confusing because this is such a typical French name and not a Russian name like Pjotr, especially because it is the Soviets and the French going against each other in here in terms of the war mentioned in the title. What can also be added here is that Bondarchuk's character is not as much of a lead in here as you could think with this being named after him. I watched the third chapter the previous weekend and he was also already the lead there too, about as much as he is here, even if said third chapter was not named after him. But it would have been too much maybe to name two chapters after the character and I can also kinda see their point that war was more in the center of the third movie than anything or anybody else. There are contradictory statements about the running time here and I did not check the clock either at the cinema today, but it is safe to say that this is between 95 and 100 minutes long. Maybe there are also different versions out there, although I kinda doubt. One thing safe to say is that this film is not the shortest nor longest from the quadrology. Of course, you will also find several cast members and characters here from the previous films. The one that stands out the most and also had the second most screen time probably is Lyudmila Saveleva's Natasha Rostova, who is considered maybe the most epic character from Tolstoy's work. She also had her own movie, the second before with a love confession at the end of this second movie, the action switched to Bezukhov for the two following films. I cannot talk about differences and parallels between this take by Bondarchuk and the original because I have not read the book. As for Rostova, she is mostly included because of her relationship with a certain prince whose health is getting worse and worth and who may be about to die. Another character that can be mentioned is Rostova's mother who is only included in one scene here really (the second film started with her and her daughter) and seems to go insane. At least that's how I understood it. So Rostova is also definitely struggling with the health of those very close to her, but for that she seems pretty normal and also seems to be ready to enter into a relationship with Bezukhov at the very end, the man who has been crushing on her for a while, but apparently he first had to prove himself for Mother Russia before he could get the girl. But what a prize she is. Saveleva/Rostova is among the most stunning I have ever seen on the screen and I have seen many. That much is safe. The acttress is also still alive today, even if retired now, but her last performance is from over a decade ago in another miniseries. She did not enjoy the most prolific career as you could think after her performances in this one, but I am still glad they picked her as she was a complete rookie when she was selected to play this kinda legendary character. Okay, you can certainly cut the "kinda".

No a few words on the story here and this film in particular. Maybe my low rating surprised you a bit, but let me say that I already was not too impressed by installments two and three, so probably it is safe to say that the entire series is not really to my liking. I still see why some appreciate it and actually many do if we take a look at the really high ratings these four films got here on imdb. I also see though that the number of votes went down quite a bit as the story progresses. This fourth installment even stays in triple-digit territory now. Kinda fitting that like 25% of audience members, maybe even more, left the movie long before it was over. And who know how much the remaining 75% liked it. I know I didn't. The one thing i realls struggled with in the first half is how Bezukhov is depicted as so courageous, such a hero now, which just did not fit the character as he was shown here at all in my opinion. Like how he saves the French general, then immediately afterwards still protects the idiot who almost shot the general and saves two lives this way. Next up is the scene with the kid in danger of dying in the fire and he saves that life as well. And he does all that while being so humble about it. There are maybe two more examples when his character acts much more heroic than he should have. Or how, most of all, it needs half a dozen French soldiers to stop him in a fight. I mean he is not a small guy, but still. He feels definitely more chubby than muscular. Maybe Bondarchuk simply should not have cast himself for the character here. I struggled hard with seeing him like that. Another problem I had here was the idea of who is up against whom and who prevails. I mean the French successfully conquer Moscow, which to me kinda feels the war is over and France won, right? They lead the prisoners of war through the cold and bleak landscapes and kill those who cannot walk anymore. Like the winner's side would. And then, in the last 20 minutes, the tables are turned completely and Mother Russia prevails with the guy who initially decided to give up on Moscow being there again in the center of it all and feels like a huge leader. What was everything before that then, an alternate reality? I just don't get it. It should never be required to read a book in order to understand a movie, but here it feels this way. Another example would be the story in-between with the Soviet boy who has warmed up to the French prisoner boy. No clue where this fit in and what it meant. Not one bit. Or also with Bezukhov's character in what seemed for a while like his final scene. He seems to go crazy too, screams like a madman (also does not fit as he was always so restrained and calm before that) and eventually, he is shown all healthy on a carriage or so in posh clothes as he is heading towards Rostova. As if nothing happened before. Real challenge to grasp all of that. If there is anything positive I can say here, then it would be that the costumes are really good. Just like in the previous installments. As for the narration, I am glad it was not too frequent in this final chapter because I did not like it that way, but here the quantity is tolerable and I am indifferent about it. So yeah, all in all, I give this final chapter another thumbs-down. However, you don't need my (negative) recommencation because most likely you have see at least two (like myself),probably three chapters from this little series and can very well decide for yourself if you want to keep going or not. I personally am glad this is over and I am a bit surprised that this is connected closely to an Oscar win. Or actually not because technically there is nothing wrong with it and it probably got the right campaign too back then, but I wwas just not emotionally invested in this entire thing at all. Watch something else instead.