Pasternak's Classic Becomes a Classic Film

Rating: 9/10 (16 September 1999)

How would kind hearted souls react to totalitarian confiscation of not only life, liberty, but happiness as well? I think somehow in the same manner that Dr. Zhivago did.
It is painful to watch this man's soul be slowly steamrolled by communist dogma. In the state's eternal method of redistributing not only wealth but happiness, we see a noir figure churned to nothingness.
Pasternak chose the vehicle of an extra-marital affair to highlight the flicker of individualism. The line within the film, "all russians are poets," can clearly be extrapolated to mean, "all men are poets."
Ordinarily, one would be troubled by Zhivago's selfish indulgence with Lara, since he has a family of his own. However, this illicit affair is his small rebellion against a world gone mad with ideology.
I would rate this movie a perfect ten if it were not for the ending which cast a glow on the old Soviet Union in the form of a triumphant dam. Built on the corpses of so many wrecked lives, was it really worth it? I think not. A nine is a nice vote of confidence.