Close that Window, You're Letting the Reds In

"Doctor Zhivago"

Director David Lean's films can be described as ambitious, epic, grandiose, and unparalleled in size and scope.  Some of the films under his repertoire include Bridge on the River Kwai, A Passage to India, and Lawrence of Arabia.  Doctor Zhivago is another notch in the legendary filmmaker’s belt.

Doctor Zhivago is the story of Yuri Zhivago (Omar Shariff), famed Moscow doctor and poet.  Much of his career had taken place over the course of the Bolshevik Revolution.  During that time he married his cousin Tonya (Geraldine Chaplin) who he fathered two children with.  Yuri also had a mistress named Lara (Julie Christie.)  Lara shows up in Yuri’s life it seems by chance throughout the march of the revolution. 

           

The screenplay which was adapted by Robert Bolt from the novel by Boris Pasternak covers a lot of ground throughout the course of the film's 200 minute run-time.  Although slow-moving, the film is never lifeless or mundane.  Lean likes to take his time and let the story gradually unfold in front of us, much like director Stanley Kubrick.  And like Kubrick, Lean's films have an abundance of impressively mounted, gorgeously shot images, a real feast for the eyes.  Five of his films went on to win for Best Cinematography, including Doctor Zhivago.  There is no doubt; the man had an eye for the cinema.  

           

Director of Photography Freddie Young's panoramic color palette uses cool blues, inky blacks, and frosted whites to show us the harsh climate of Russia.  The color red (for obvious reasons) is also predominating throughout the film’s backdrop.  Young's lenses and lighting are very typical of any Lean picture.  Each frame, especially the exterior shots, has so many layers of depth and contrast to them that the film begs to be viewed multiple times. We want to notice the components that comprise the compositions of each shot because it's not every day we are treated to Lean's trademark imagery.  The film also went on to win for Best Costume Design and Best Art Direction making it a perfect period piece. 

           

The characters unfortunately are not as grand as the film's production values.  The screenplay seems too big and sprawling for its melodramatic characters.  None of the performances are bad.  In fact if it weren't for Sharif's composed and collected Yuri and Christie's tender and romantic Lara, we'd have a real sluggish and stagnant piece of work that would leave us rushing for the exit doors even before the 115 minute intermission mark.

           

Yuri and Lara's affair just doesn't seem too terribly interesting or believable.  There's no reason for it.  There is no indication that the marriage between Yuri and Tonya is in trouble.  So Yuri's actions against his wife are needless. 

There are many shots throughout the film where the two lovers are looking at the world through an open window, a piece of glass, or port hole on a train.  Both characters seem removed to a certain extent from the revolution that is happening right outside their door.  The panes of glass act as a veil to them.  Their story is not as engaging as it should be because the events around them are so much more prominent.

Doctor Zhivago flaunts some strikingly exquisite aesthetics with a respectable screenplay dealing with a heavy subject matter.  It's too bad the characters that dwell within cannot get beyond the medium of a soap opera.  Lean's direction is flawless as usual.  However, of the epics he did in the latter half of his career this one ranks somewhere in the middle.  Lawrence of Arabia and Bridge on the River Kwai are arguably better watches.  Doctor Zhivago is worth the run-time though if not just for all of its cinematic splendor and Lean’s stylistic filmmaking.