One for the ages

Rating: 10/10 (29 October 2013)

Although panned by the critics when first released, word-of-mouth made up for it, and "Doctor Zhivago" became the eighth highest grossing film of all time.
Many critics at the time thought the emphasis on the love story trivialised the Russian revolution. But David Lean's film didn't do that any more than the relationship between Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler trivialised the American Civil War? Instead it presented a moving human story set against a backdrop of momentous events.
Robert Bolt's screenplay is a major reason why this film works so well. It is very readable in script form and stands alone from the book. Pasternak's novel has a certain pattern, but is full of coincidences with many characters connected by a force similar to six degrees of separation. Bolt and Lean retained a little of this structure, but created a far more cohesive story.
It is interesting to compare the film to the mini-series made in 2002. If there is an actress who could go anywhere near to filling Julie Christie's shoes it is Keira Knightley. Despite this, and although the mini-series attempted to incorporate more of the novel, while giving more than a passing nod to Robert Bolt's screenplay, it doesn't have the indefinable magic that makes Lean's film so memorable.
Maurice Jarre's score also added to the film's rich texture. Lara's theme was criticised as trite and syrupy, but ended up as one the most recognisable in cinema history. In reality, there are many facets to the score; it captures a feeling for the vastness of Russia and the turbulent times in which the film is set, but also enhances the love story at the film's heart.
Audiences who saw this in theatres in the 60's were also surrounded by all the artistry that accompanied major films back then. Even in the suburban theatre where I saw it, they displayed large posters of the dramatic, painted portraits of the stars by Maciek Piotrowski who also did the seasonally inspired paintings behind the film's titles. Today's movie posters with their Photoshop montages don't really capture the nervous energy of the hand that went into the great artwork of that era.
I am pretty sure it was Sam Goldwyn who said that it is the last five minutes of a movie that makes it either memorable or not. "Doctor Zhivago" certainly delivers a memorable last five minutes.
As we see Julie Christie's Lara walking away alongside a massive brick wall featuring a poster of Stalin, Alec Guiness' narration tells of her fate: "One day she went away and didn't come back. She died or vanished somewhere, in one of the labour camps, a nameless number on a list that was afterwards mislaid. That was quite common in those days".
The words are partly Pasternak's and partly Bolt's, but the scene says more about the human tragedy of the Russian revolution than any number of slow pans over a Soviet labour camp could. That this woman's life could be thrown away so callously after we have spent the last three hours identifying with her and all the other characters makes this as powerful a moment as one is likely to see on the screen.
The impact of the final scenes in "Doctor Zhivago", combined with truly stunning visuals and career best performances by many of the stars, ensures that this film, arguably David Lean's most enduring masterpiece, is destined to live for a long time yet.