Review of Doctor Zhivago (1965) by Alison C — 25 Aug 2012

Overrated. It feels long and boring instead of epic. And I'm saying this as a van of movies like Lawrence of Arabia. This is supposed to be a romance. They couple don't even speak to each other until about two-thirds of the way through the first part.

And their affair doesn't start until halfway through the second part. That's a LOT of exposition. David lean purposely made many of the romantic scenes almost monochromatic and harsh, and then made brutal war scenes colorful to create contrast.

I don't think it worked. I didn't connect to the romance or feel anything about the violence. It all fell flat. Rod Steiger is about the only person I did enjoy. Julie Christie was hard to buy as a teen.

She was really forced and overdoing it. When Lara gets older, she's much more believable. Omar Sharif was terrible. And I don't blame him, I blame Lean. He's so devoid of personality and emotion.

He just watches everything. And that's how he's supposed to be. Well, that makes for a very boring hero. Sharif is also a very handsome man. He is also Egyptian, not Russian. They shaved his hairline back, gave him a wig, and pulled back the skin on his face to make him seem like he had a more Slavic look.

That made him look so unnatural that it was unsettling. The editing was very jarring in some spots. I hate how this movie glorifies having an affair. There were a couple nice moments here and there. I like the wilting pot of flowers very much.

Best line? "You refuse my sugar?".