War and Peace 2007 - I want!

[dangermousie]

How come I never knew of the existence of 2007 English-language miniseries adaptation of War and Peace? I need to get my hands on it asap. I don't think it will be as amazing as the 1960s Soviet adaptation (because how could it be? Also, hearing the characters speak English will be pretty odd) but W&P is my total weakness. I loved it since I read it when I was 12, skipping all the 'war' parts but devouring the 'peace' ones.

Here, have a Natasha/Andrei MV. Of course, I was a Natasha/Andrei shipper. Was there anyone who wasn't?

I remember having fun discussion why Andrei >>>> Pierre with my Mom who told me having a crush on Prince Andrei was a part of her growing up too :P (I have no problem with the novel ending btw because I found it realistic but ugh, Pierre. Go fight with a bear, or something).

Here is one of my favorite scenes from the book (see quote above). They didn't do a bad job of it at all, though they didn't do it as well as it was in the book, of course, because that was one of the ultimate most romantic scenes of mine.

Князь Андрей облегчительно вздохнул, улыбнулся и протянул руку.
- Вы? - сказал он. - Как счастливо!
Наташа быстрым, но осторожным движением подвинулась к нему на коленях и, взяв осторожно его руку, нагнулась над ней лицом и стала целовать ее, чуть дотрогиваясь губами.
- Простите! - сказала она шепотом, подняв голову и взглядывая на него.
- Простите меня!
- Я вас люблю, - сказал князь Андрей.
- Простите...
- Что простить? - спросил князь Андрей.
- Простите меня за то, что я сделала, - чуть слышным, прерывным шепотом проговорила Наташа и чаще стала, чуть дотрогиваясь губами, целовать руку.
- Я люблю тебя больше, лучше, чем прежде, - сказал князь Андрей,
поднимая рукой ее лицо так, чтобы он мог глядеть в ее глаза.
Глаза эти, налитые счастливыми слезами, робко, сострадательно и радостно-любовно смотрели на него. Худое и бледное лицо Наташи с распухшими губами было более чем некрасиво, оно было страшно. Но князь Андрей не видел этого лица, он видел сияющие глаза, которые были прекрасны.

V.v.v. spoilery (can one really spoil W&P though?)

And another fave scene - Natasha and Andrei first meet at the ball:

Comments

[octavia-b.livejournal.com]

I remember the 60's Russian mini as it was shown on our foreign language tv station a number of times in the late 80's, so I grew up with it. I can't see the links you posted though - I'm just seeing white space. Waaaah! I remember loving that series, and it inspired me to read the book a number of times.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Hmm, weird, they show up for me.

[octavia-b.livejournal.com]

I worked it out - I needed to upgrade Firefox!

[cleobulle.livejournal.com]

Oh you've never seen the 2007 version?

I really liked it (I have two sets of dvds at home as a matter of fact: one in french and the other one in english). It's so pretty and angsty. I really like the long opening credits. But having neither read the book or watched the previous versions, I don't know how it compares. I just judged it as a historical miniseries like any other.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I can't wait to watch it.

[mookiehyun.livejournal.com]

I LOVE the 2007 one. *sigh* how I wish I'm a genius at languages and can read it in Russian.

Before reading the book, I must've watched the 1956 movie obsessively with my mom in diapers and all not retaining much.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I liked the 1956 one.

[lady-wu.livejournal.com]

Sigh, if only the vocabulary of the rest of the novel is at the same level (I'm still somewhat surprised I didn't need a dictionary for that passage). I should get an English translation, though. Any suggestions for editions?

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

The vocab is largely the same. The two problems are:

1. terms for various period things like clothes/conveyances. Those are probably harder for non-native speaker
2. They use a lot of French in dialogues - I hated having to read Russian translation end-notes.

Re: translations. Sorry. I don't need them so I have no idea which ones are good.

[lady-wu.livejournal.com]

I dunno, I doubt all of it involves "I love you" and "he saw her beautiful, radiant eyes." :P

I was actually stumped in the first paragraph because of the French. Living in English Canada means that I know enough French to read cereal boxes but nothing else. :P

I am curious, though, about how you feel hearing the characters speak English and pronouncing Russian words in an English way. It'd be sorta like me watching an English-dubbed cdrama, and I'm not sure how I'd feel about it.

Anyway, I'm off to look for the miniseries!