A seven-hour epic adaptation of the novel by Leo Tolstoy. 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 the end of 1809, Natasha attends her first ball. Andrei falls in love with her and intends to marry her, but her father demands they wait. The prince travels abroad, and Natasha desperately longs for him. But she then meets Anatol Kuragin and forgets of Andrei. At the last minute, she regrets and abandons her plans to elope with Anatol. Bolkonsky hears of this and declares their betrothal is over. Pierre, trying to calm her down, suddenly announces he loves her.
In 1812, Napoleon's Army invades Russia. Kutuzov asks Bolkonsky to join him as a staff officer, yet the prince requests a command in the field. Pierre sets out to watch the upcoming confrontation between the armies. During the Battle of Borodino, he volunteers to assist in an artillery battery. Bolkonsky's unit waits in the reserve, but he is hit by a shell. Both Anatol and Bolkosnky suffer severe wounds. The French Army is victorious and advances on Moscow.
