Doctor Zhivago Blu-ray
Doctor Zhivago is a 1965 epic or
drama-romance-war film directed by David Lean and loosely based on the
famous novel of the same name by Boris
Pasternak. It remained popular for decades, and as of 2010
was the eighth highest grossing film of all time adjusted for
inflation. The film takes place for the most part during the tumultuous
period of 1912–1921, the years which included World War I, the Russian Revolution, and Russian
Civil War, as the regime of Tsar Nicholas II was overthrown and the
Soviet Union established. A framing device, from which the film is
narrated, takes place sometime in the 1950s, though a specific date is
never mentioned.
The film version of Doctor Zhivago is faithful to the novel
in a general sense; the basic plot remains the same, and the story
rarely deviates from the novel. However, many of the
subplots—particularly regarding the novel's historical/political
facets—were glossed over or edited down. Nearly half of the book's
characters were excised while others had their parts significantly
reduced (particularly Anna Gromeko, Pasha, and Liberius the Partisan
commander).
Other characters (most notably Kuril, the Bolshevik deserter,
Commissar Razin, and Petya, the Varykino groundskeeper) were created as
an amalgamation of characters from the book which had been excised from
the film version. Many reviewers have criticized the film in
particular for reducing the depiction of World War I to a mere five
minute narration sequence, and a similar treatment of Zhivago's service
with the Partisans, which took up nearly seventy pages of the novel.
Overall, this movie as a theatrical experience has improved with age and
it continues to be rated as the 5 Star production, including the
wonderful music score.
