Doctor Zhivago

David Lean is perhaps the only director to combine Old Hollywood style with New Hollywood sensibilities. His epics were as long, star studded, and flat out big as any Cecil B. DeMille directed, yet he infused them with subtext and subtlety that DeMille never knew he never knew. Lean's "Lawrence of Arabia" is arguably the most impressive film ever made, considering Lean crafted this incredibly nuanced epic, anchored by one of the greatest performances ever (by a virtual unknown no less) and he did it all in the middle of the Arabian desert! One would think then, that after the resounding success he experienced with "Lawrence of Arabia", Lean would have tried something a little different, perhaps a drawing room piece, with no mind boggling exteriors and casts of thousands. One would think wrong. Barely a year after finally completing the staggering undertaking that was "Lawrence of Arabia", Lean gathered much of the same crew, including such notables as screenwriter Robert Bolt, composer Maurice Jarre, cinematographer Freddie Young, and production designer John Box, and this time took them to the other extreme, the bitter cold. "Doctor Zhivago" is a great big sprawling romantic epic, complete with the stunning visuals Lean made himself famous for with "Lawrence of Arabia" but also managing the same intimate moments which elevated him to the elite class of epic directors. Lean was seemingly begging for trouble when he got back behind the camera of such a behemoth, but he pulled it off a rare second time in a row. Considering that this film was met with a fraction of the critical acclaim he received for "Lawrence of Arabia" but several times its box office take proves that not everyone agreed with me, yet I have to salute Lean for denying the odds and pulling off an impossible production not just twice in a career, but twice in a row!

The epic begins with a close up of one of Lean's regulars: Alec Guiness. Told through extremely extended flashback, the story is that Guiness, as General Yevgraf Zhivago, believes he has found the illegitimate child of his half-brother, the titular Dr. Zhivago, and his lover, the beautiful Lara Antipova. Flashing back to some 35 years prior, the recently orphaned Yuri Zhivago has just been adopted by the generous Gromeko family and moved from his home in the desolate tundras of northern Russia to the regal splendor of artistocratic Moscow. The Gromeko's raise Yuri as their own son, nurturing his love of medicine and blessing his relationship with their daughter, Tonya. Flash forward about fifteen years and Yuri and Tonya are now engaged to be married, he a successful young doctor and romantic poet in Moscow, and she the radiant daughter of a wealthy family. Everything is fine, until one day fate intercedes on a personal and historical level. Soon after catching a glimpse of the stunningly beautiful Lara (played by the stunningly beautiful Julie Christie) on a street car, the fire of revolution begins to burn inside Yuri as he witnesses the Czar's troops cut down a peaceful protest of the artistocracy. Later, we learn that Lara, the woman Yuri cannot help but be intrigued by, is the daughter of a seamstress, who stays financially afloat through her relationship with the morally corrupt, but politically rich Victor Komarovsky. Lara's mother no longer good enough, Komarovsky begins making overt sexual advances on young Lara, escorting her to dinners and operas, much to the chagrin of Pasha, Lara's idealistic fiancee, also unfortunately a callous wimp. One night, after being nearly raped by Komarovsky, Lara finds him at the home of a wealthy couple for a Christmas party, the same party attended by Yuri and Tonya, and she shoots him. Pasha follows her and escorts her out after the scene she has made startles everyone into inaction. This is the night that all of their lives first converge, and despite the cataclysmic events that are to follow, their paths will keep converging for the rest of their lives.

Yuri and Tonya get married and have a child, establishing themselves in Moscow as a prominent couple. Lara and Pasha get married and move away from Moscow. Komarovsky disappears, after being rejected by Lara. Soon though the event foreshadowed the night of the protest comes to fruition: the Russian Revolution. Yuri, on medical assignment for the Czar's troops, meets Lara again. He is instantly reminded of the smoldering courage and determination she showed that night at the party, and the two fall into a platonic love with one another. Neither wanting to dishonor their spouses, they instead bond over Yuri's poetry, two romantic souls together in the wild. When revoltion strikes, Lara leaves to her husband and Yuri returns to Moscow, where the elegant mansion he was raised in has been seized by the Bolsheviks, and divided into living quarters for some eleven families! Barely welcome in their own home, the outsiders resent the Gromeko's for their past decadence, Yuri, Tanya, their son Sasha and Tonya's father seek respite in the Gromeko's summer estate, in the distant countryside. After surviving a treacherous train ride to the distant outpost, dodging the warring Bolshevik factions the Red Guards and the White Guards, the beleagered family arrives at the estate, where they live in relative peace for sometime. However this soap opera is far from over. On one of his routine trips into town Yuri discovers that Lara is living there, and this time, he cannot avoid falling into a sexual relationship with her.

Living a double life of course gets Yuri into trouble soon enough. One day going into town Yuri is abducted by mercenary troops and forced into servitude as their doctor. He goes several years without seeing Tonya, his son, or Lara, as he is forced to participate in the merciless raids the troops conduct. Finally sneaking away, Yuri famously crosses seemingly all of Russia to get back to the summer estate he had been staying at. Certain critics seem to harbor a certain degree of animosity towards Yuri for cheating on his quite lovely wife, but it should be noted that when he is faced with the decision to return to one woman, he chooses his wife. However he returns to find the estate deserted. Devastated he wanders into town and finds Lara and her daughter still there. Their tearful reunion is short lived however. Komarovsky, somehow still with plenty of money and influence despite the complete destruction of the artistocracy, emerges, offering Lara and her daughter safe passage, since the Bolsheviks are allegedly pursuing Yuri for his romanticized poetry. Yuri convinces Lara to go with the lecherous Komarovsky, vowing to find her again, and the haunting shot of her being driven away in a sleigh, knowing full well it is the last time she will ever see him again, is one of the film's most powerful. Devastated a second time, Yuri returns to Moscow, finds his wife and son, and lives in relative obscurity. Until one day, while riding the same street car he first spotted her on, Yuri sees Lara walking in the street. He quickly disembarks and gets within a few yards of her when suddenly, he suffers a fatal heart attack, collapsing dead on the street. After treking hundreds of miles on foot to be reunited with her, he ends up missing her forever by a few feet. And so we return to Alec Guiness, still questioning the girl, of whom he is now completely confident is his step niece. He allows her to leave, his conscience satisfied. I always find it interesting, personally, in a movie that exceeds three hours, what the first and last shot is, and here, we simply have a medium shot of the dam the girl is crossing as Guiness looks on, a rather inconspicuous end to a truly incredible film.