David Lean's 1965 adaptation of Pasternak's romance of the Russian Revolution is intelligent and handsomely mounted, though it doesn't use its length to build to a particularly complex emotional effect.
Doctor Zhivago
A Love Caught in the Fire of Revolution
1965 · 3h 20m · Approved
Drama, Romance, War
Directed by
David Lean
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Doctor Zhivago
Overview
The life of a Russian physician and poet who, although married to another, falls in love with a political activist's wife and experiences hardship during World War I and then the October Revolution.
Director and cast
- David Lean Director
- Omar Sharif as Dr. Yuri Zhivago
- Julie Christie as Lara Antipova
- Geraldine Chaplin as Tonya Gromeko
- Rod Steiger as Viktor Komarovsky
- Alec Guinness as Gen. Yevgraf Zhivago
- Tom Courtenay as Pasha
- Siobhán McKenna as Anna
- Ralph Richardson as Alexander Gromeko
- Rita Tushingham as The Girl
- Adrienne Corri Cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
One of the most meticulously designed and executed films.
Mr. Bolt has reduced the vast upheaval of the Russian Revolution to the banalities of a doomed romance.
Although its portentous historical drama evaporates once you return to the fresh air, watching it can be seductive.
Literate, oldfashioned, soul-filling and thoroughly romantic.
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