Apparently, "Doctor Zhivago" is one of the most successful films in movie history. Although critics weren't particularly impressed, the public sure was and came to the film in droves. Today it's considered by many to be a classic. I've seen it a couple times before and decided to watch it again tonight--since it's been several decades since I last saw it. While I would agree it is a very good film and has a HUGE scope (like so many of David Lean's films),I would hardly suspect while watching it that, adjusted for inflation, it's one of the 10 highest grossing films in history.

The film is a sweeping saga of several people during the period of the Russian Revolution--both before and after. I could summarize the film but considering that there are already over 200 reviews, I'll spare you. At three hours and twenty minutes, oddly, not a lot seemed to occur in the film. I am not complaining or saying it was dull, as it was a lovely film--with very nice cinematography and music. It's just that the film is the type that slowly and deliberately unfolds--and the more hyperactive might not find that to their liking. The acting is quite nice but I think the real star is the direction. My only reservation is that with the great romance between Zhivago (Omar Sharif) and Lara (Julie Christie)--they both were married and Zhivago's wife (Geraldine Chaplin) was a lovely person. This did make it difficult for me to care about the characters more. Still, it's a lovely spectacle and well worth your time.

While not one of David Lean's finest films (Lawrence of Arabia, Bridge on the River Kwai, Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, Brief Encounter),Doctor Zhivago is nonetheless worthy of this great director's talents. It is a very good and rewarding film, so many great merits, but as can be seen with the reviews here it is one of those films that induce polarizing opinions.

Doctor Zhivago has a lot of characters and subplots, and while most of them are interesting and very well-written sometimes it does feel like too many characters and too much going on with not enough time spent on them. It also drags a little in the last third (or last hour),and gets a little too improbably coincidental and soap-opera-ish.

On the other hand, as always with a Lean film Doctor Zhivago is superbly made, with very evocative and richly detailed settings and period detail – with a brilliantly realized contrast between the plush rich and the poverty-striken- and very atmospheric and sweeping cinematography from Freddie Young, especially telling in the train ride and in the moments with the Bolsheviks. Lean directs masterfully, like in the train ride, and there is a rousing and also hauntingly beautiful music score from Maurice Jarre, Lara's theme is one of his most recognisable themes along with the main theme for Lawrence of Arabia and one can see why. The script is incredibly thought-provoking and flows well, the narration could have been intrusive but it was interestingly used and actually moved the story forward.

The story is not perfectly executed, but the first two hours are astonishingly fascinating with many memorable scenes like the train ride and the demonstration and while it is a long film and not always the easiest to follow it didn't feel to me like three hours twenty minutes and there was enough meat to the characters and their situations that the story was always riveting. The very end is heart-wrenching and I appreciate the intimacy of the love story. The characters do lack the depth that they do in the book, but they still do have their complexity particularly Komorovsky and Pasha. Doctor Zhivago contains great performances from a strong cast. Omar Sharif is not as stiff as he can be, instead he is expressive and understated. Julie Christie is glamorous and affectingly vulnerable, and Geraldine Chaplin excels too in the more sympathetic female role.

Rod Steiger is a truly malevolent, but more restrained than he can be, Komorovsky, while Tom Courtenay brings humanity and intensity to Pasha and Klaus Kinski is riveting in his short screen time. Alec Guiness did deserve a bigger role but is appropriately thoughtful, while Ralph Richardson while also not in the showiest of roles does what he can with it.

All in all, a very good film but not quite a masterpiece. 8/10 Bethany Cox

"Doctor Zhivago" is a film whose like we will not see again. This was one of the last gasps of true epic film making, a story of human beings set against a vast historical panorama, made without any computer-generated images and featuring only people to keep your interest, with not a space alien or hobbit in sight. Who can believe now that there was a time when that was sufficient?

I first saw this film when I was 8 years old. Certainly I was not able at that time to understand all aspects and nuances of the story, but I was nonetheless mesmerized by the production: the sheer scope and spectacle of it, the absolutely glorious cinematography, the rich characters. It was unforgettable to me, and along with a few other films from that period like "The Sound of Music", fostered a lifelong love for movies. For that alone, I have a soft spot in my heart for this film and will always be grateful for it (and David Lean).

So, I admit I'm prejudiced. I'm unabashedly in love with this movie, and find it hard to take criticism of it even when the rational part of me acknowledges that there might be some accuracy in it. We all have our weaknesses! Its especially blasphemous to me to hear anyone criticize Julie Christie as Lara - even as an 8 year old who wasn't too fond of girls, I thought she was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen and well, she's still right up there on my list! For those people who question why Yuri would be with her when he was married to Tanya...well, look at her for God's sakes (no disrespect to the lovely Geraldine Chaplin)! Is any further justification really needed? As to the ingrate who slammed her performance and downgraded her subsequent career implying she had no talent, it has always been my impression from all I've read that Miss Christie has never been one of those to pursue stardom and her career at all costs. She certainly had many opportunities to do splashy commercial films, but instead has had an interesting, long and varied career working in quality projects with many great filmmakers (Truffaut, Schlesinger, Altman, Beatty, Lumet, Branagh, etc.) She has been true to herself and has proven to be an outstanding talent. There are certainly many more deserving targets for the gentleman to heap venom upon than this wonderful actress.

"Doctor Zhivago" was a reflection in the 60's of the 1930's "Gone With the Wind" and a precursor to the 1990's "Titanic": a sweeping love story with charismatic leads set against a cataclysmic event. Old-fashioned undeniably, but would you really want it any other way? I still find myself able to be swept up in it though I've seen it umpteen times, so whatever flaws it may possess, there must be something inherently powerful in it that draws me to it. Or else I'm just a sucker for Julie Christie, I don't know...