Really enjoyed this Andrew Davies-penned adaptation of Tolstoy's novel about the French invasion during the Napoleonic wars of the early 19th century.I love costume dramas, and this one has a fine cast, but what I love most about it are Lily James' and Paul Dano's performances. Paul Dano plays Pierre, who is at the center of the story, and who is perhaps a character who is somewhat aubiographical. Pierre is a self--effacing sort, and the "natural" (illegitimate) son of a wealthy nobleman. Unexpectedly, Pierre inherits his father's title and estate. This sudden change in his circumstances is a bit overwhelming for Pierre, and he is persuaded to make a marriage to a woman who is beautiful, popular and well-connected, but who does not love Pierre and only agrees to marry him because he is rich and she has no money of her own.
The woman Pierre does love is named Natasha. They have been part of the same social set since Pierre was a child, and she eventually meets and falls in love with Andrei, Pierre's great friend.
Meanwhile, Russia fights Napoleon as an ally of Austria. Later, Napoleon invades Russia. The war is a frightful experience for all of Pierre's friends. Pierre himself, although once an admirer of Napoleon, has changed his opinion and goes to the battlefield, hoping for a chance to assassinate the French general. Instead, he becomes a prisoner of war and is forced on a death march led ed by the French army. Pierre is rescued by Russian soldiers, but so many of Pierre's acquaintance have perished or lost their property that Pierre's world after the war is shrunken and somber. Pierre's attempts to grapple with first, social justice in his own country and in the larger world, and his struggle the assimilate the trauma of the war, are at the heart of this novel.
As the miniseries ended, I found myself feeling that there was something so familiar about this story - and then I realized that it reminded me of Voltaire's Candide.
The woman Pierre does love is named Natasha. They have been part of the same social set since Pierre was a child, and she eventually meets and falls in love with Andrei, Pierre's great friend.
Meanwhile, Russia fights Napoleon as an ally of Austria. Later, Napoleon invades Russia. The war is a frightful experience for all of Pierre's friends. Pierre himself, although once an admirer of Napoleon, has changed his opinion and goes to the battlefield, hoping for a chance to assassinate the French general. Instead, he becomes a prisoner of war and is forced on a death march led ed by the French army. Pierre is rescued by Russian soldiers, but so many of Pierre's acquaintance have perished or lost their property that Pierre's world after the war is shrunken and somber. Pierre's attempts to grapple with first, social justice in his own country and in the larger world, and his struggle the assimilate the trauma of the war, are at the heart of this novel.
As the miniseries ended, I found myself feeling that there was something so familiar about this story - and then I realized that it reminded me of Voltaire's Candide.
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