Flawed epic that still delivers

Rating: Null/10 (23 February 2002)

After the magnificent Lawrence of Arabia, director David Lean tried to make another big, epic film that focuses on individuals and their actions during important historical times which in Zhivago is the Russian revolution. This time Lean didn't succeed quite as well.
The cons:
The biggest problems of the film are caused by the screenplay. Doctor Zhivago centres on the actions of the three main characters: doctor and poet Yuri Zhivago, his childhood friend Tonya and his mistress Lara. Unfortunately these main characters' motivations are not always clear to the viewer, resulting in a lack of emotional connection to their plight. On the other hand, some of the supporting actors such as Alec Guinness, Ralph Richardson and particularly Rod Steiger stand out as somewhat more interesting characters because of their rather straightforward motives that lack the passion of the Yuri-Tonya-Lara triangle.
On the other hand, Klaus Kinski's anarchist character is too small a role to be justifiably included in the film. And Tom Courtenay's poorly played Strelnikov is also a man whose motivations are unclear because the viewer does not know anything about his personal feelings, except that he was Lara's husband or fiancé at some point and survived a demonstration that became a slaughter carried out by the Cossacks. Tom Courtenay is simply wooden.
Also, the political background is a bit too distant in relation to the love story, and the film is too long.
The pros:
David Lean was a master director and his strong storytelling improves the flawed script. His skill in not making a long film seem uninteresting or too slow in pace was remarkable. In addition to this, his visual style is strong and he seemed to know how to best photograph those wide vistas of Russia (actually shot in Spain and here in Finland).
Freddie Young's cinematography (though this time only in Panavision instead of Super Panavision 70 that was used in Lawrence of Arabia) is excellent and there's not a bad word one can say about the sets or the costumes. The feeling of the period is wonderfully created.
In the end, one does feel that the story of Yuri Zhivago was ultimately touching and the film's structure of having Alec Guinness as a guide and occasional narrator through Yuri's life in flashback is economical and works very well.
Doctor Zhivago is flawed but nonetheless a classic epic and the kind of film that Titanic and Pearl Harbor tried to be (and failed miserably).