Doctor Zhivago Anniversary Edition (Blu-ray Book) (1965) Review

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(More customer reviews)Both Boris Pasternak's extraordinary novel and David Lean's magnificent film version are among my favorites of all-time. The story is basically about a poet/physician (Omar Sharif) who loves two women--his adoring wife, Tonya (Geraldine Chapin), and his enigmatic mistress, Lara (Julie Christie)--through the events of World War I and the Russian Revolution.
Robert Bolt's screenplay balances the political upheaval with exquisite, heartwrenching romance--one of the few films to succeed at this level. Lean, who seemed to make a specialty of making films about illicit love (Brief Encounter, Summertime, etc.), also works a tightrope, giving the film the necessary grandeur and sweep required for an epic while never losing sight of the intimacy of the characters. He is aided considerably by a magnificent cast: Sharif, despite or perhaps because of his Egyptian background, provides the perfect perspective of an individual observing things around him, each time as if it were new--it's a wonderful performance; Christie is simply luminescent; Chaplin nicely understated; and there's terrific support from Alec Guinness, Rod Steiger, Tom Courtney, etc.
What makes Zhivago a must on DVD is the awe-inspiring cinematography of Freddie Young, who deservedly won the Academy Award. I was lucky to see Zhivago at a theater, on the big screen proper, several years ago when it was re-issued; unbelievably, the DVD transfer here is even BETTER!!! There are shots in this film that are simply jaw-dropping beautiful.
Doctor Zhivago is, like the book it's based on, a challenging film that will reward the viewer with one of their most extraordinary cinematic experiences.

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David Lean's Doctor Zhivago is an exploration of the Russian Revolution as seen from the point of view of the intellectual, introspective title character (Omar Sharif). As the political landscape changes, and the Czarist regime comes to an end, Dr.Zhivago's relationships reflect the political turmoil raging about him. Though he is married, the vagaries of war lead him to begin a love affair with the beautiful Lara (Julie Christie). But he cannot escape the machinations of a band of selfish and cruel characters: General Strelnikov (Tom Courtenay), a Bolshevik General; Komarovsky (Rod Steiger), Lara's former lover; and Yevgraf (Alec Guinness), Zhivago's sinister half-brother. This epic, sweeping romance, told in flashback, captures the lushness of Moscow before the war and the violent social upheaval that followed. The film is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Boris Pasternak.

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