David Lean's magic unfolds in Dr Zhivago..

Rating: 10/10 (27 April 2002)

I noted the rating here at IMDB was just under 8.. so, I had to pitch in and point out the sublime beauty of this fabulous example of Lean cinematography.. (of course, if you don't care for the story, or you want happy endings all the time, vote anyway you want!).. but I give it a 10..
Casting: ideal choices in Sharif as Zhivago, Tom Courtenay as the tortured revolutionary, Alec Guinness as Zhivago's shrewd half-brother, Rod Steiger as the seducing 'power-broker' Komarovsky, and the very photogenic Julie Christie as Lara--proof that females don't have to be 18, tall and skinny to be attractive.. Christie was 24 when she performed here, and her appearance ranges from sensual to almost dowdy... just a note before moving on: there are sexual situations in this story--it's very frank for 1965--but the film is never explicit or gratuitous--modern filmmakers note: subtlety works.
Cinematography: splendid.. breath-taking shots of mountains and winter scenes (to capture the rugged beauty of the Russian frontier); typical 'kool' Lean tricks: part II opens with you-the viewer on a train in a tunnel (it's dark!); mounted dragoons with drawn sabers mow down a peaceful demonstration, but all we really see is Zhivago's face as he watches in horror; Zhivago, frozen and emaciated, trudging across the endless, winter landscape after going AWOL from the partisans.. Lean also uses nifty lighting techniques on the faces of his principal characters to highlight a mood or emotion..
The Story.. Alec Guinness, a highly placed military officer in Communist Russia, narrates the story of Doctor Zhivago to a girl that probably is the doctor's daughter (by Lara), hoping to offer her, as his niece, his help.. when Guinness narrates a scene that he himself is in, the character does not speak.. (this is an effective narrative tool, duplicated by the John Travolta character in 'A Civil Action'..) - this enables him to alert us to 'unspoken' fears and inner musings..
Note that the characters are very human, with typical weaknesses... contrasts and similarities abound: Zhivago hates Komarovsky for seducing Lara, but he-despite being married to a wonderful girl-later starts an affair with her (although he genuinely cares for her); Zhivago is a kind, tireless physician, but hopeless politically.. he'd rather write poetry than figure out how to survive the Bolshevik takeover..; by contrast, Komarovsky and the Guinness character are survivors.. .. Lean, however, doesn't hit you over the head with these character traits: you have to watch the story unfold and think a little..
I want to watch this again on DVD (my VHS is getting old n creaky!).. anyway, I hope any readers will also revisit this classic..