"War and Peace": costumes of the main characters in three film adaptations of the novel

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

The other day on Russian television the screening of the film ended "War and Peace", based on the most famous work of Leo Tolstoy. The British film adaptation was preceded by several more versions of the famous epic. This review brings together the most iconic characters from the 1956, 1967 and 2016 film adaptations. It is interesting to observe how the costumes of the actors conveyed the mood of the early 19th century.

Natasha Rostova

When Audrey Hepburn (Audrey Hepburn) was approved for the role of Natasha Rostova, she tried to attract the famous French fashion designer Hubert de Givenchy to create her image. However, he considered the creation of a cinematic costume beneath his dignity and refused. Then Maria de Matteis became the costume designer. She brilliantly coped with the task and received an Oscar for the best costumes.

19-year-old debutante Lyudmila Savelyeva could not understand why director Sergei Bondarchuk approved her, and not famous actresses, for the role of Natasha Rostova. In the film, Lyudmila Savelyeva was fresh, pure, naive - exactly the way the director wanted her to be.

Conceiving outfits for the last on-screen Natasha Rostova, dressers did not deviate from the fashion of that era and created beautiful outfits for actress Lily James, corresponding to that time. But Natasha Rostova's hairstyle was sometimes too modern.

Helen Bezukhova (Kuragina)

Actress Anita Ekberg was a true beauty queen (she won the Miss Sweden title). Her overly frank behavior, bright accessories, sometimes exotic outfits do not quite correspond to the image of Helen Bezukhova, which was created by L. N. Tolstoy.

Irina Skobtseva became the perfect embodiment of Helen. Outfits of the early 19th century, hairstyles were in perfect harmony with the mood of the actress, her charm. The only drawback is the age of the actress. She was almost 10 years older than her character.

The performance of the British actress Tuppence Middleton (Tuppence Middleton) has been criticized by the audience. Ellen Kuragina (Bezukhova) in her performance turned out to be too simple. Moreover, she is wearing a dress that is more reminiscent of the outfit of the 1920s, but not the Empire style of the early 19th century.

Andrey Bolkonsky

Audrey Hepburn's husband Mel Ferrer played Andrei Bolkonsky in the 1956 adaptation of the novel. Film critics consider the resulting image not the best. In the Soviet film adaptation in the role of Prince Sergei Bondarchuk saw Innokentiy Smoktunovsky, but he refused the role, since he was involved in another project. The director did not at all perceive Vyacheslav Tikhonov in the role of Bolkonsky. But the then Minister of Culture Yekaterina Furtseva forced the actor to be approved for the role. However, Tikhonov proved with his game that he was better than the rest of the contenders. And the military uniform suits him very well. Andrei Bolkonsky as British actor James Norton is considered by some to be too pretentious. But his costumes are fully consistent with that era.

Pierre Bezukhov

In the 1956 film adaptation of War and Peace, the actor Henry Fonda, who played Pierre Bezukhov, was in his sixties. The director of the 1967 film, Sergei Bondarchuk, played the role of Pierre Bezukhov himself. To do this, he had to gain 10 kg. British actor Paul Dano had no idea about War and Peace until he was invited to audition. The costumes of all the actors are quite consistent with the literary image of Pierre.

Anna Pavlovna Sherer

According to many critics, the best image of Anna Pavlovna Scherer was Gillian Anderson. The owner of the salon and, as they would say now, the socialite showed herself in all her glory. But the brilliant revealing outfits did not fit the era of the early 19th century. They were too open and overtly sexual. Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy became an iconic figure not only in Russian, but also in world literature. The writer himself formulated for himself life manifesto, which is still relevant.