The greatest Russian movie isn't even Russian.

[rah]

I hope the version of War and Peace that you listed wasn't the 1956 Hollywood debacle with Henry Fonda.

[Boris Godunov]

Battleship Potemkin and Alexander Nevsky are both better than Dr. Z.

[Dinner]

I believe there was a communist era Russian version of War & Peace. I've read the book (beginning to end) when I was in Kosovo but I never saw the movie though friend of mine said the Russians did a version which just couldn't be done in a capitalist society simply because of shear cost. I was told that the Russians used real armies to recreate the Napoleonic battles. When the battles between the Russian and French armies were recreated they were filmed with literally tens of thousands of men charging across the battle field. There was no CGI in those days so if you wanted to make it look real then you had to get 50,000 men to do so.

[rah]

I believe that would be the version from the late 60's. Yes, there was one battle scene that used over a 100K men. I never saw that one from start to finish, but what parts I saw were far superior to the 1956 version. I had a lot of Russian history and literature classes in college and I have to admit that "War and Peace" was one of my least favorites.

[Jon Miller]

War and Peace was awesome.

JM

[rah]

Actually I preferred some of the other classics. The Brothers Karamazov, Anna Karenina, and even Crime and Punishment (if you ignore about 150 pages in the middle )

[Boris Godunov]

I've been wondering why there hasn't been any good historical fiction/movies made about the Time of Troubles, which is one of the most fascinating periods in Russian history. Seems like it would ripe for dramatic exploitation. A mentally deficient Tsar, a Tsar who may have murdered a young prince to clear his way to the throne, three pretenders claiming to be the prince and rightful Tsar, wars with Poland-Lithuania and Sweden, famines, etc. Good stuff.

[rah]

And don't forget the ever colorful RASPUTIN. And yes, that is the time period that really sparked my interest in Russian History.

[onodera]

I've been wondering why there hasn't been any good historical fiction/movies made about the Time of Troubles, which is one of the most fascinating periods in Russian history. Seems like it would ripe for dramatic exploitation. A mentally deficient Tsar, a Tsar who may have murdered a young prince to clear his way to the throne, three pretenders claiming to be the prince and rightful Tsar, wars with Poland-Lithuania and Sweden, famines, etc. Good stuff.

Figures someone with a nickname like yours would want a movie about the ToT. There was one made about a year or two ago. Found it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1612_(film)
It's terribly cheesy, though.
There's also an opera set in the ToT. You must know its name.

[onodera]

And don't forget the ever colorful RASPUTIN. And yes, that is the time period that really sparked my interest in Russian History.

Either you are trolling me, or I have to post a smiley in reply.

[monolith94]

Indeed, I watched Voyna i mir (1967), in a marathon showing at the MFA theater in Boston. We watched two parts in the morning, had lunch, and finished the massive movie in the afternoon. It was pretty badåss.

[rah]

Either you are trolling me, or I have to post a smiley in reply.

Hmm, I always considered that there was enough evidence to support that he played at least a minor roll in that period. Some will support that it was a major role.

[Boris Godunov]

Figures someone with a nickname like yours would want a movie about the ToT. There was one made about a year or two ago. Found it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1612_(film)
It's terribly cheesy, though.

Unicorns? Ugh, no thank you.

There's also an opera set in the ToT. You must know its name.

Technically, now that I think about it, isn't that pre-ToT? I think the ToT is considered 1605-1613, between Godunov's death and Romanov's accession.

[onodera]

Hmm, I always considered that there was enough evidence to support that he played at least a minor roll in that period. Some will support that it was a major role.

What period? We are talking about the Time of Troubles here.

[rah]

I thought that was the time of the fall of the tsars in the early 1900's