War and Peace is a four-part Mini Series adaptation of the novel of the same name. A French-Italian coproduction, it was directed by Robert Dornhelm and released in 2007.
It is the 1800s, and Napoléon Bonaparte has set his sights on Russia. Good friends Pierre Bezukhov (Alexander Beyer), and Prince Andrej Bolkonsky (Alessio Boni) consider their life purposes: Pierre is his rich noble father's Unexpected Successor, while Andrej is dissatisfied with his family life, including his crotchety father Nikolai (Malcolm McDowell) and spinster sister Marja (Valentina Cervi), and wants to prove himself in war.
Meanwhile, Natasha (Clémence Poésy), the ingenue daughter of Pierre's family friends the Rostovs, is in love with Andrej, but is hindered by Pierre's social-climbing wife Helene Kuragina (Violante Placido) and her brother Anatole (Ken Duken).
Tropes:
- Adaptational Jerkass: The Kuragins aren't exactly good people, but this series plays up their assholery. Anatole seduces Natasha as payback on the Bolkonskys for getting rejected by Marya. Hélène helps in the seduction out of jealousy of Natasha and because the girl suggested she was a horrible wife to Pierre. When Napoleon invades Moscow, Prince Vasily and Hélène decide to collaborate with the French occupiers.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: Although this Countess Rostov does protest Nikolai's engagement to Sonya, this adaptation has her come around to accepting their relationship, even pleading to Sonya not to sacrifice it to allow Nikolai to court the heiress Marya.
- Les Collaborateurs: Unlike in the book, Prince Vassily and his daughter Helene outright aid the occupying French forces.
- Internal Homage: Natasha and Pierre's reunion at the abandoned Rostov Estate is a homage to the ending of the 1956 King Vidor version.
- Laser-Guided Karma: The adulterous Hélène appeases the French occupiers, sleeping with a diseased French officer, dooming her.
- Love at First Sight: This adaptation has Andrei & Liza attend Natasha's Name Day Party in 1805, adding an accidental meeting between Natasha and Andrei that sets her holding a torch for him years before the novel's canonical meeting.
- Pair the Spares: Sonya ends the novel as the maiden caretaker to Nikolai's children, but this adaptation pairs her with Denisov.
- Possessive Wrist Grab: Vasily tries to take the dossier legitimizing Pierre as the heir from Count Bezukhov's death bed. The dying Count forcefully changes his mind by grabbing his wrist.
- Rage Against the Reflection: Hélène rages against a mirror on discovering the reason for spots on her skin...
- Spared By Adaptation: Count Rostov dies in the novel but survives this series.
- Villain: Exit, Stage Left: At an evacuated town, Andrei spots Anatole (who seduced his fiancee Natasha). Andrei intends to initiate a duel with the man, but then the town gets attacked by French cannons. Anatole gets on a horse and rides away from a screaming Andrei.
