In Tolstoy's tempestuous epic of love and war, passion and power, a small circle of aristocrats find their glittering world crumbling as Napoleon's sweeping forces threaten to overwhelm Imperial Russia.

Set in the opening decades of the 19th century, War and Peace follows the changing fortunes of brooding military hero Prince Andrej, his bookish friend Pierre and the spirited but naïve Natasha. As Napoleon's armies menace their privileged lives, the horrors of the battlefield reach into Russia's most elegant ballrooms and bedrooms.

Starring an international cast including Clémence Poésy (The Tunnel), Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange), Brenda Blethyn (Pride and Prejudice), Alessio Boni (Caravaggio), Alexander Beyer (Carlos The Jackal) and Ken Duken (Inglourious Basterds), this magnifi cent production was fi lmed on location in Saint Petersburg and Eastern Europe by Oscar -nominated director Robert Dornhelm.