Sweeping and panoramic but not perfect

Rating: 7/10 (17 July 2018)

"Dr Zhivago" represents a sort of last hurrah for David Lean, whose works after that have spluttered into insignificance (including 1984's "A Passage to India"). The British-Italian production is an adaptation of Boris Pasternak's Russian novel, first published in the West after being smuggled out at the height of the Cold War--an intimate, sweeping, panoramic narrative which Lean specializes in, much like his earlier critical hit "Lawrence of Arabia". Lean was never the tightest of directors, his direction often have a stagey, theatrical feel to them; even in 1965 this movie feels just a bit old-fashioned, coming at a time when the French New Wave was in vogue.
Overall the film delivers as the romance in Pasternak's novel is intriguing, production value is high, the musical themes are memorable, and many actors like Omar Sharif are well cast. Certainly "Dr Zhivago" isn't perfect but still works for moviegoers used to sumptuous, well crafted spectacles.
My main criticism is that the movie feels more British than Russian. Pronounced British accents proliferated throughout, distracting to the Russian narrative: Alec Guinness never really convinces as a "Russian" bureaucrat in his stiff upper-lip enunciations, while Ralph Richardson is also more English than Russian. While Omar Sharif and Geraldine Chaplin are excellently cast--Sharif especially bringing an earnest romanticism as the leading man--Julie Christie isn't at her best as capricious Lara. The rest of the cast are adequate. Zhivago's screenplay, penned by British playwright Robert Bolt, is on the long-winded side. The end product though, in 3 hour 20 minutes. still holds the attention sufficiently.