Doctor Zhivago

Rating: 9/10 (20 October 2006)

Lavish film about the Russian Revolution of 1917. Russia pulled out of World War I when it went Communist. Omar Sharif is Zhivago, an idealistic doctor torn between his wife and Julie Christie. His ambiguity is mirrored in his poetry, deemed too personal in the new order. We see the paradox of science and art. Zhivago's half-brother tells the story in flashbacks to a girl thought to be the offspring of the illicit romance. It is the formula for historical fiction, made up characters living their lives against sweeping events. There are hauntingly beautiful scenes, snow and springtime flowers. "Somewhere My Love" leaves us aching.