Or, as the onscreen title proclaims it – David Lean’s Film of Doctor Zhivago
For years, the only relation I had with Doctor Zhivago was the title’s prominent usage in my Second Favourite Movie Ever – True Romance (1993), inserted by Quentin Tarantino and Tony Scott as a clandestine place-holder for character conversations revolving around a certain piece of luggage filled with powdery Christmas cheer. I knew Zhivago was held in high regard by movie snobs the world over, but I had never bothered to seek it out, in any way, resulting in a large blank spot in my data bank under this title.
I didn’t even know that it was directed by master director David Lean, who helmed some absolutely legendary (to this day) flicks in his time, until I recently stumbled upon a Special Edition DVD dumped at my local Value Village.
Doctor Zhivago follows Russian physician and poet ‘Yuri Zhivago’ (an oddly cast Omar Sharif) through life and drama in the preamble of 1910’s Russia, then into WW1 and beyond, all the while awkwardly balancing between a dutiful wife and kid and a revolutionary mistress, with the encroaching turmoil and unrest of post-war Russia also reflecting the crumbling of ‘Yuri’s once-safe personal life, as bookended by the interrogation of a young girl somewhere in the Soviet Union who may or may not be a long-lost relative of a determined military commander, as played by Sir Alec Guinness, the estranged half-brother of ‘Zhivago’.
Supposedly a classic. For $4.99 CAD, I couldn’t pass it up.
It was with that chance discovery that I heard the sweet siren song of the Cosmos telling me that it was now time to get back into some classic cinema, back into that plethora of titles from years gone by that have thus far eluded me, and Doctor Zhivago was just as good a kick-off as any.
So, on a blustery Sunday morning, I left my two dog-girls slumbering in bed, fired up a pot of strong coffee and plunked down with my pad / pen in hand in the winter darkness of 7am.
Mocha was sipped…PLAY was pressed…and scribbles ensued…
-Overture. Not surprising. Expectedly grand…and not needed. While I appreciate the inclusion of long-winded musical intros for certain titles of rather epic length and content, I am glad that this fad faded away. Trim the fat, people.
-Full title? David Lean’s? As alluded to in my intro. I’d never heard it referred to that way, but there it was, large as Life…and a full-screen title-card.
-Maurice Jarre’? Cool. This composer has a long, accomplished resume, so I appreciated seeing his name pop up.
-Obi Wan! It would seem that David Lean was another of those directors who cultivated a small but talented stable of actors who return for each successive project. Sir Alec Guinness, who EVERYONE knows as ‘Obi Wan Kenobi’ (much to Guinness’s chagrin), also played prominent roles in Lean’s other two hits.
-Lean DEFINITELY influenced Spielberg. Shadow and framing. Spielberg has made no secret of his admiration for the films of David Lean and if you know what you’re looking for, you can easily see Lean’s stamp shining through what has long been established as Spielberg’s signature style. Top tier influencing top tier.
-Beautiful subtleties in the acting. Small touches. I can’t really break this one down into specifics. It was little things, looks and gestures. Small movements and reactions that really helped ‘flesh’ certain scenes out.
-Rapey son-of-a-bitch! WTF? Date rape?! One of the women that comes to figure prominently in ‘Yuri’s orbit, ‘Lara’ (Julie Christie), is set upon mid date by what I initially thought was a relative of hers (yikes!), an asshole business man named ‘Victor’ (Rod Steiger), who becomes a recurring problem. And I think we’re meant to assume he finished the job.
-Brutal cavalry charge vs protesters scene. It’s scenes like this that really shine under Lean’s wide-angle vision, with a line of sword-brandishing cavalry troops advancing menacingly on a group of peaceful protesters before charging in, blades swinging and horses crushing. And I could be wrong, but I thought it was strongly implied that a child was not just run down by horse but was then splattered at ground level, going by the left-over mess we see.
-This ‘Victor’ fucker needs bad shit to happen. It’s true.
-Amazing shots everywhere. If nothing else, you have to admire the gorgeous compositions, lensing, lighting and depth in so many of the shots we’re gifted with.
-Calls her “slut”…then gets rapey?! Asshole! ‘Victor’, being ‘Victor’.
-Odd inclusion of French. So, it’s odd enough that this very Russian story is being portrayed largely in very theatre-sounding Old English, but there are times with French terms snuck in there too, which made absolutely no sense to me.
-She missed? From THAT range?! Someone takes a well-deserved shot at a well-deserving someone else with a large revolver, from mere feet away, and somehow only catches a friggin forearm. Centre-mass, lady! CENTRE-MASS!!
-Interesting use of interactive narration. There is some very innovative editing used to propel the narrative along and one such sequence has the narration actively interacting with the subjects it’s detailing the movements of. Clever and slickly put together.
-Absolutely a David Lean epic. The crowd shots alone! This is one area where the Spielberg / Lean comparisons are undeniable, in my humble opinion, and that is the way they both handle large-scale crowd sequences, with the movements, both large and small, feeling organic to both the environment and the plot.
-Kinski? Noted German weirdo / actor Klaus Kinski turns up in a small role as a prisoner. I thought I recognized that psycho gleam in those psycho eyes.
-SO MANY one-and-done shots. Train sequence. Aside from simply being gorgeous shots, several looked like they got one take, and that was it! They fuck it up? Aw well, too bad, so sad. Better luck next time. But what they did get, looked amaze-a-balls!
-Intermission. Pfft! Another sign of this one’s rather advanced age.
-Awesome location shooting. *File under Beautiful Cinematography
-SO close, SO far. Stupid jammer! Abrupt. In something reminiscent of a operatic tragedy, a key character sees another, long lost, long loved character and in FINALLY reaching out, nearly there…*clutches chest, keels over*
-Not what I expected. It, in fact, was NOT what I expected.
-Beautiful…but long and seemingly unfocused. A rudimentary but apt summary of my overall take-away, if I’m completely honest.
All in all, I’m glad that I’ve finally witnessed this renowned cinematic masterpiece, even just so my childish inner Movie Snob can arrogantly say I’ve seen it, though I will admit that I’m not entirely sure how I feel about it.
I do wonder if my own ignorance, where my advanced knowledge of this title ahead of time was concerned, may have actually worked against me this time, presenting expectations with admittedly no background to reference – simply David Lean and my utmost respect for his two Bonafide classics – 1957’s Bridge on the River Kwai and 1962’s Lawrence of Arabia (incidentally #32 on my Top 100 Favourite Films list).
Straight up, of these three ‘Lean’ titles, instinct automatically puts Doctor Zhivago at the bottom of the list, now that I’ve seen it…which is not to say, in any way, that it’s a bad film.
It’s not.
In many respects, Doctor Zhivago is a great film, worthy of its historical critical acclaim!
Cinematically, this is ‘David Lean Strikes Again’, as the shots, the lighting, the compositions and the editing all come together to give us art, pure and simple. Timeless cinematography that should be Required Viewing for anyone pursuing a career behind the lens; epic in-camera cinematography on a scale I fear may be gone forever, in these lack-lustre days of rampant CG trickery.
That being said, there was something in the narrative that didn’t engage me on a level I was expecting, very probably accented by what seemed to be an unfocused plot that didn’t feel as though it was progressing organically or characters with who’s sympathies I was unsure of or uninvested in, coupled with a disjointed sense of time progression. Due to this, I felt the hefty 3 hours and 17 minutes.
But it IS a beautiful 3 hours and 17 minutes and for true cinephiles, I can easily recommend Doctor Zhivago on that basis alone. The camera work and editing are incredibly well done and deserve to be appreciated by many more people, for years to come, just like the rest of this Hollywood heavy-weight’s legendary filmography.
It’s just not an action-packed roller-coaster and I can readily understand that not being enough for some folks, not with that taxing run-time, no matter how much of a classic it’s alleged to be.
But, that’s for YOU to judge.
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