The story of behind Doctor Zhivago is a brave one. In one sense it’s incredibly brave to discuss the Russian Revolution onscreen so passionately and somewhat accurately. It’s important to understand that Communism was not always the way of life for the Russian people, as most of us have grown up thinking. In another sense, the movie is incredibly brave because it appeared in the United States during the middle of the cold war and brought a different, more sympathetic view point of Russian history and of Russian way of life. The fact that it succeeded with the U.S. audience is beyond miraculous, considering the heightened tension of the day (1965).
The story surrounds a young doctor named Yuri Zhivago. He literally is the witness to the Russian Revolution, as nearly an outsider, and the birth of modern day Communism. Starting out wealthy and innocent, Zhivago finds himself in the middle of a war witnessing the terror that both sides bring to his beloved country. Along the way, trying to escape the sweeping revolution of his time that has devastated his homeland, he is married and later becomes a father. Regretfully, his flawed character meets up with a beautiful woman whom he helps and later falls in love with. He is torn between his family and this woman, named Lara, as much as he is torn between loving his country and supporting what he believes is the right way to go.
This film is the last great ‘epic’ film. It’s the last hoorah of its kind and it goes out just as the genre came in; without leaving a single detail to chance. For future filmmakers, this is the perfect example of how to get the shot you want without the use of a bluescreen/greenscreen or the help of a Maya programmer. Shot in exotic locations, you’ll feel everything the Russians felt, see the environments that the Russians resided in and go through the Russian Revolution as much as the characters in the film. David Lean’s film personified everything great and terrible about Russia at the time the story was told. He did this through gorgeous imagery and vivid landscapes. He used his surroundings to develop his characters and used his characters to help translate the story. With directing credits for Lawrence of Arabia and The Bridge on the River Kwai Lean certainly had experience when it came to making ‘epic’ films.
Of course, attention to details can only be developed through strong characters played by motivated actors/actresses. Omar Sharif’s lead character, Yuri, is fantastical as the ‘middle-man’ that the story is told through. Sharif’s powerful Yuri stands as one of the great examples of how the Russian Revolution changed Russian lives forever. He plays someone that sympathizes with both sides and is also in a great emotional struggle to ‘do the right thing’ and to ‘do what he wants to do’. Hie relationship in the film with his wife and Julie Christie’s Lara is a perfect metaphor for Russian feelings about the revolution.
Christie’s Lara is a great example of how someone can go from innocent to corrupt thanks to a broken system. Julie Christie told Lara’s life through her haunting beautiful eyes. In a scorned body, her eyes held Lara’s strong belief in her ‘need’ for normality; something she never achieved. Christie owned the screen when she appeared on it and did so without apologizing. Simply put, she was amazing.
Rod Steiger’s Komarovsky was equally powerful, as he was a man caught in a plight to survive. Long after men like Komarovsky had perished through the transition of government power, his character survived no matter the cost to himself or those around him. He was the villain in a sense, but at the same time someone that brought more truth to the table than anyone cared to listen to. Steiger is villainous, horrible and quite good.
Finally, Sir Alec Guinness very mild performance as Yevgraf Zhivago is so subtle and pure. More of a guide for the story, Guinness demands your attention and ask you to stay awhile as he explains how and why everything went down in Russia and, more importantly, how Yuri’s life nearly mimicked the process. His deadpan performance is as good as it gets and oddly comforting in a movie that will make you feel a tiny bit of guilt for not knowing what Russia went through during its revolution.
All of these actors and their characters make this movie work so well.
So is there anything wrong with the film? For the younger audience out there, probably our readers, you’re not going to get or appreciate the film right away. For the budding filmmakers reading this you need to let Quentin Tarantino go home for the night and you need to sit down and watch how movie magic is truly done. It’s not performed through special effects, not through wild acrobatics or gunfights; it’s done through storytelling and characters. Those two things combined make for an ‘epic’ film, even before the you realize how beautiful the film looks.
Warner Home Video has done you a HUGE favor by transferring this epic to Blu-ray. It not only maintains all the original beauty of the film, but it enhances the experience through gorgeous HD. When you see the bleak, endless snow trail that Zhivago must dredge through to get back to Lara, you’ll understand how ‘epic’ the film is when your 1080p set makes you want to go grab a blanket to warm up. Even better, when you see the mesmerizing eyes of Julie Christie as they stare at you through a spotlight that David Lean purposely set up, you’ll simply melt. In my heart, I fill that epic films, such as Zhivago, benefit so much from the Blu-ray format. Not only does it maintain the film in its highest quality, but it makes you feel melancholy about how these types of films aren’t in the cards anymore. If the visuals don’t get you then the audio will as you’ll find a lot of pleasure in the 1965 composition put together by Maurice Jarre.
While epic in status, the features don’t live up to the film itself. You’ve got some fantastic commentary that is accompanied by a two-part piece moved along with some directors inspired by Doctor Zhivago‘s production process. Don’t get me wrong all of the features are really good, as it’s neat to see director’s give their two-bits about the film, but at the same time it feels a bit empty as there has to be more to tell about the production itself from folks closer to it.
Features aside, like many films that Warner Home Video deems very significant to the industry, the Blu-ray comes packed with a very informative book inside the case itself. It provides pictures, details of actors/actresses and a nice piece about the production. It’s a great add-on to an already classic film.