"The personal life is dead in Russia. History killed it".

Rating: 10/10 (24 April 2011)

When I set a goal of watching and reviewing all the films from AFI's original Top 100 Movie List from 1997, the decision forced me to view an assortment of films I probably would not have selected on my own. "Dr. Zhivago" falls in that category, probably for a couple of reasons. I'm not a big fan of romance pictures, and the history of the Russian Revolution isn't high on my list of historical events to research, so those probably sum it up best. However it turns out that the picture held my interest fairly well, even as I had to arrange separate sittings for each half due to time constraints. I'd have to say that director David Lean did a splendid job of bringing Robert Bolt's screenplay to life, who in turn did a credible job of distilling the complex Boris Pasternak novel down to a story line easy enough to follow, even with it's many characters.
I used to see Omar Sharif on variety shows of the era and never really had an understanding of why he was considered such a big deal at the time. Of course I was just a kid then, so he was never really on my radar as an actor I'd be looking for in a picture. In his role as the title character, it's not hard to imagine why he made female fans swoon with envy. As for Julie Christie, her classic beauty shines through in each scene, as she delivers the perfect complement to the character of Dr. Zhivago, medical doctor and poet attempting to balance his unbridled passion for freedom and liberty against the tyranny of Bolshevik socialism.
Rounding out a stellar cast in this epic drama are Rod Steiger, Geraldine Chaplin, Alec Guiness, and Tom Courtenay, each delivering stand-out performances. And in a limited on screen appearance, Klaus Kinski is fiery in his hatred of the Bolsheviks, virtually begging his captors to make him a martyr for freedom's cause.