Doctor Zhivago

Rating: 7/10 (6 January 2011)

From Golden Globe winning, and Oscar nominated director Sir David Lean (Brief Encounter, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia) this is one of the most talked about films in his career, so I had to see what all the fuss was about. Basically General Yevgraf Zhivago (Sir Alec Guinness) is telling Tonya Komarovskaya, or "The Girl" (Rita Tushingham) the story of his half-brother, which of course means going into flashback, to the time of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. We follow the life of surgeon and poetry writer Doctor Yuri Andreyevich Zhivago (Funny Lady's Golden Globe winning Omar Sharif) before and during the Russian Revolution, as well as the First World War. We see how he got married to an upper-class girl devoted to him, but he not so much for her, raise a family with her, and when the war sets in he is totally disrupted to help in any way he can. Every so often he comes into contact with the woman who eventually becomes his mistress and whom he expresses true love for, Lara Antipova (BAFTA nominated Julie Christie), she is also married, to Pasha Antipov (Oscar nominated Tom Courtenay) and has a son brought on by rape from Victor Komarovsky (Rod Steiger). While Zhivago serves as medical help, Lara is a nurse, and they battle through all stages of the war in the deep snow, and in the end the person listening to Yevgraf's story could in fact by Yuri and Lara's long lost daughter. Also starring Golden Globe nominated Geraldine Chaplin, Charlie's daughter as Tonya Gromeko, BAFTA nominated Ralph Richardson as Alexander Gromeko, Siobhan McKenna as Anna Gromeko, Klaus Kinski as Kostoyed Amoursky, James Bond's Geoffrey Keen as Professor Boris Kurt and Omar's son Tarek Sharif as Yuri at 8 Years Old. Sharif is very good, Christie almost steals the show, the supporting members of the cast are really good too, of course director Lean knows what he is doing. I will admit I found the film rather overrated as I did not understand everything going on, but for some harsh scenes, the battle sequences, the love story element, the sweeping snowy landscapes, and the great piece of music "Lara's Theme", it is I suppose a must see romantic wartime epic. It won the Oscar for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Music for Maurice Jarre and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium, and it was nominated for Best Picture, Best Film Editing and Best Sound, it was nominated the BAFTA for Best Film from any Source, and it won the Golden Globes for Best Motion Picture - Drama, Best Original Score and Best Screenplay. Julie Christie was number 91 on The 100 Greatest Movie Stars, she was number 24 on The 50 Greatest British Actresses, the film was number 43 on The 100 Greatest Tearjerkers, it was number 7 on 100 Years, 100 Passions, it was number 44 on The Ultimate Film, and it was number 39 on 100 Years, 100 Movies. Very good!