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.
Literate, oldfashioned, soul-filling and thoroughly romantic.
– ,
TIME Magazine,
24 Aug 2008
fresh:
Although its portentous historical drama evaporates once you return to the fresh air, watching it can be seductive.
– Roger Ebert,
Chicago Sun-Times,
1 Jan 2000
rotten:
Mr. Bolt has reduced the vast upheaval of the Russian Revolution to the banalities of a doomed romance.
– Bosley Crowther,
New York Times,
20 May 2003
fresh:
One of the most meticulously designed and executed films.
– A.D. Murphy,
Variety,
13 Aug 2007
rotten:
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.