Doctor Zhivago (1965)

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

"Dr Zhivago" represents a sort of last hurrah for David Lean, whose works after that have spluttered into insignificance (including 1984's "A Passage to India"). The British-Italian production is an adaptation of Boris Pasternak's Russian novel, first published in the West after being smuggled out at the height of the Cold War--an intimate, sweeping, panoramic narrative which Lean specializes in, much like his earlier critical hit "Lawrence of Arabia". Lean was never the tightest of directors, his direction often have a stagey, theatrical feel to them; even in 1965 this movie feels just a bit old-fashioned, coming at a time when the French New Wave was in vogue. Overall the film delivers as the romance in Pasternak's novel is intriguing, production value is high, the musical themes are memorable, and many actors like Omar Sharif are well cast. Certainly "Dr Zhivago" isn't perfect but still works for moviegoers used to sumptuous, well crafted spectacles.My main criticism is that the movie feels more British than Russian. Pronounced British accents proliferated throughout, distracting to the very Russian narrative: Alec Guinness never really convinces as a "Russian" bureaucrat in his stiff upper-lip enunciations, while Ralph Richardson is also more English than Russian. While Omar Sharif and Geraldine Chaplin are excellently cast--Sharif especially bringing an earnest romanticism as the leading man--Julie Christie isn't at her best as capricious Lara. The rest of the cast are adequate. Zhivago's screenplay, penned by British playwright Robert Bolt, is on the long-winded side. The movie pits together massive resources--some which deliver onscreen, others which don't; the end product though, in 3 hour 20 minutes. still holds much attention. An old-fashioned, romanticized flick, "Dr Zhivago" feels more like a 1930s movie, but is nonetheless Lean through and through.

I saw the film first which spurred me to read the novel. I enjoyed both of them for different reasons, one being that the stories are a bit different from one another. The film puts more emphasis on the love story between Zhivago and Laura, which I am in no way faulting it for. This is truly a grand film created on an epic scale and viewing it one can really feel the brutal Russian winter (yes, I realize much of it was film in Spain but only because the Soviet Union would not allow them to work in Russia) which to me makes this all the more impressive visually. Sharif, Christie, Tom Courtney, and in particular Steiger all give great performances which immensely contributes to the power of this film. The war and revolution are beautifully and effectively rendered. Maurice Jarre's score is excellent and memorable, but the musical leitmotif was greatly over-utilized to the overall detriment of the production. I encourage everyone with a genuine interest in the film to seek it out on the big screen the way it needs to be experienced to be fully appreciated, and that applies to those of you who have already seen it on the small screen and enjoyed it.

Dr Zhivago is not a hero and doesn't strive to become one. He lacks strong will and doesn't like to make decisions. He yearns for a life on his own terms as a physician and poet, and his childish innocence helps him get through the Bolshevik revolution. But the ruthlessness of history always seems to get to him, while he continuously tries to escape it. Unlike the opportunist Komarovsky who loves the pleasures of life, and the fanatic Strelnikov who is committed to his ideology, Dr Zhivago loves - as simple as that.

This was the very last of the movies I watched on a Korean Air flight going home after so many years of only knowing it by reputation. It's pretty long (in fact, the longest of the films I watched on the plane) but it was mostly compelling watching from beginning to end almost non-stop (I only paused during mealtimes). Omar Sharif was quite the dashing figure here and his relationships with his wife, Geraldine Chaplin, and eventual mistress, Julie Christie, were both romantically compelling. I did wish more had been done concerning the Chaplin character but it was good for what she was given concerning her scenes. Rod Steiger was especially good as the complex villain who's not completely evil. And Alec Guinness's character does a good wraparound as one of the relatives of the leading character. By the way, this is so far the only time I've watched a David Lean film in its entirety so on that note, Doctor Zhivago was a mostly fine movie to watch.