The love story of young Countess Natasha Rostova and Count Pierre Bezukhov is interwoven with the Great Patriotic War of 1812 against Napoleon's invading army.
In scenes like this (imagine Audrey Hepburn’s “War and Peace” waltz amplified a hundredfold), Branagh pulls out all the stops, attempting to outdo Powell and Pressburger, Ophuls and Renoir in a single go as the camera swirls about his awestruck heroine.