8. War and Peace (1956)
A little known or recognised choice perhaps, but a worthy one if only for the sheer bravery on scale here. The film attempts to cover an entire behemoth of a classic text into the space of a single, immersive motion picture. War and Peace (for those not up with their Tolstoy) follows several families over the course of a Russian war, namely the invasion by France. The film's closest comparison is probably fellow epic Gone With The Wind, but War and Peace manages to bleaker and more hopeful in equal measures. Hepburn's Natasha is a romantic heroine to a tee - struggling against the forces that threaten to tear her family apart, trying to find solace in the midst of a bloody and futile conflict. Her emotions are torn and toyed with and her character becomes a centre, rooting our investment in the drama of the film. Everyone in the cast performs their part extremely well - Henry Fonda, Anita Ekberg, Herbert Lom and Hepburn's then-husband Mel Ferrer all add resonance and power to performances that required gravitas in such a serious and emotional adaptation of a classic novel that succeeds on all levels.