Doctor Zhivago

DOCTOR ZHIVAGO (15)
D: David Lean
MGM (Carlo Ponti)
UK/Italy 🇬🇧 🇮🇹 1965
197 mins

Drama/War

W: Robert Bolt [based on the novel by Boris Pasternak]
DP: Freddie Young
Ed: Norman Savage
Mus: Maurice Jarre
PD: John Box
Cos: Phyllis Dalton

Julie Christie (Lara), Geraldine Chaplin (Tonya), Tom Courtenay (Pasha/Strelnikoff), Alec Guinness (Yevgraf), Siobhan McKenna (Anna), Ralph Richardson (Alexander), Omar Sharif (Yuri), Rod Steiger (Komarovsky)                 

You can't deny that David Lean's romantic epic set against the backdrop of World War I is a beautifully photographed, meticulously crafted piece of cinema, but at 192 minutes, it's not really a film you'd want to watch more than once.
The complex story follows a Moscow doctor, exiled from his country during the communist revolution and separated from his only love.
Many scenes from Boris Pasternak's classic novel have been omitted from the film, so it might make more sense if you read the book first. Still, it has many memorable scenes, performances and Maurice Jarre's haunting music.
8/10

Julie Christie & Omar Sharif in Doctor Zhivago
Julie Christie & Omar Sharif in Doctor Zhivago