Epic and intimate but not very interesting.

Rating: 7/10 (1 September 2013)

Sometimes I wish I liked David Lean more. Who couldn't admire his ambition? He has a great sense of larger than life characters, drama and of course, visuals. But there's something about his films that has yet to capture me personally. Perhaps I haven't discovered his masterpiece but I fear I've already ticked off the checklist of his essentials. Doctor Zhivago is another epic in scope but it's much more intimate in scale, spending a lot more time with the characters than backdrops. As always, there's great operatic cinematography and score but that can't compensate for my general interest in the story and especially how overlong it is. There's a long complex road to a rather bland affair. I usually quite like Julie Christie but I found her irritating here. I don't know why every character was so drawn to her. Omar Sharif's performance was such a missed opportunity. He had far too many restrained moments where he'd look glassy eyed off into the distance with not enough insight into his character, especially his poetry. He had some great moments towards the end but I wish there was much more. The strength was in the supporting performances, particularly from Rod Steiger, Tom Courtenay and the always compelling Klaus Kinski who enjoys a meaty cameo. Didn't realise he spoke English so fluently.
7/10