A sweeping romantic epic

Rating: 10/10 (20 October 2001)

My all-time favourite movie; I've easily seen it 50 times. The story of two lovers joined by fate who are caught in the middle of the tumult of the Russian revolution, and the people who come into and out of their lives is about as grand and sweeping an epic as has been made in Hollywood. The adaptation of Boris Pasternak's novel takes its essence and presents it in such a glorious panorama of sounds and sights that it takes your breath away. Some great scenes for me personally--the schoolboys being mowed down in the field of wheat, Julie Christie in the red velvet dress waiting for Komorovsky, the famous ice palace, the funeral on the barren plain to open the movie, and of course the much-maligned final meeting of Lara and Zhivago. The dialogue is memorable because it is so sparing, and the musical score which became so famous during the 60s ties the film together. It's hard to believe that Julie Christie was only 24 when she made this movie; she convincingly ages from 17 to 40. Geraldine Chaplin as Zhivago's wife gives a terrific performance as to the counterpoint to the romance of the two leads. And of course Rod Steiger as Komorovsky seethes with anger, dissolution, disillusionment and cynicism--the dark side counterbalancing the light. I can hardly wait for the DVD version coming out in a month or so!