This adaptation of the Pasternak novel certainly feels like a David Lean picture. Like "Lawrence of Arabia", there are vast expanses, but instead of sand, there is snow. But no direction can overcome the problems inherent in the novel, with its dense, ambiguous story framed by a Soviet history that offers nothing redemptive. Then there is the titular character---a man who is neither hero nor anti-hero. He is willing victim to a political process that he mistakes as benevolent.
The portrayal of Zhivago by Omar Sharif is fine. So is Julie Christie's portrayal of Lara, the object of Zhivago's tainted love, the subject of the film's memorable musical theme. But their story is barely a love story---borne of dissatisfaction and unhappiness, it can never end well, like the fate of the nation that victimizes them.
This film is best seen as a sketchy overview of a national history that is populated by despots and their victims. It is tragic and, unfortunately, it is filled with vignettes that entertain little. In his review of the restored film, Roger Ebert found little to admire but the film's "old-style craftsmanship", but this film, then, belongs in the same library with other well-crafted films that have little to say or that say it poorly.
The portrayal of Zhivago by Omar Sharif is fine. So is Julie Christie's portrayal of Lara, the object of Zhivago's tainted love, the subject of the film's memorable musical theme. But their story is barely a love story---borne of dissatisfaction and unhappiness, it can never end well, like the fate of the nation that victimizes them.
This film is best seen as a sketchy overview of a national history that is populated by despots and their victims. It is tragic and, unfortunately, it is filled with vignettes that entertain little. In his review of the restored film, Roger Ebert found little to admire but the film's "old-style craftsmanship", but this film, then, belongs in the same library with other well-crafted films that have little to say or that say it poorly.