In 1805 St. Petersburg, Pierre Bezukhov, illegitimate son of a rich nobleman, is introduced to high society. His friend, Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, joins the Imperial Russian Army as aide-de-camp of General Mikhail Kutuzov in the War of the Third Coalition against General Napoleon Bonaparte. Part one of the four-part adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's 1869 novel.

Ludmila Savelyeva
as Natasha Rostova

Sergey Bondarchuk
as Pierre Bezukhov

Vyacheslav Tikhonov
as Andrei Bolkonsky

Viktor Stanitsyn
as Ilya Andreyevich Rostov

Kira Golovko
as Countess Rostova

Oleg Tabakov
as Nikolai Rostov

Sergei Yermilov
as Petya Rostov (uncredited)

Irina Gubanova
as Sonya

Anatoli Ktorov
as Nikolai Andreyevich Bolkonsky

Antonina Shuranova
as Princess Mariya