Movies recommended or seen lately... les films a voir #28: Doctor Zhivago

Genre: Drama/Drame

Year: 1965

Format: Blu Ray

Doctor Zhivago. What a gem. First of all the Blu ray high def transfer is really spectacular. But the story and cinematography will knock you out. This film which dates back to when i was only 1 year old... is still as fresh as the day it came out. To think that such a movie could be made at the height of the cold war is just stunning. This shows the genius of David Lean. You dont know him, well you should. This famed british director also brought us such movies as the bridge over the river Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia and passage to India. This movie shows us the art of cinematographie as it stood at it's greatest level; before the handheld and digital cameras changed the movie making rules.

First the casting was excellent with Omar Sahrif and Julie Christie as main protagonists supported brilliantly by Steiger and Guiness (yes good old Oby One which even seems to already wield the force).

This movie is successfull on so many levels it is mind boggling. The scripts are excellent, the scenes are brilliant criss crossing through the Russia of the early 1900's. The characters are set such that we are viewing the point of view of an ordinary couple through the first world war russia and through the horrors of the bolchevic revolution and how such events can turn out so disastrously for the ordinary people. We see a beautiful rendition of people with great convictions putting them in place for the bettter good while making everyone's life miserable.
Maybe you can take the point of view different human characters set in such context; this makes a great psychological study as well. In this day and age it is also very good as a historical tool, recounting a such a critical story which we seldom hear anymore.

If i have not convinced you to revisit this definitve classic of 3hours 20 minutes. Well just go buy it and watch it you wont regret it if only for the timeless music.

Il faut voir et revoir le docteur Zhivago (Jivago en francais). Transfer haute def de premiere classe. Superbe cinematographie. Histoire prenante et toujours d'actualite. Ce film de David Lean (Laurence d'arabie, pont sur la reviere Kwai) n'a pas vieilli d'un jour et represente le top de l'art cinematographique du 20ieme siecle avant la camera portable et le digital. Faut voir ou revoir a tout prix.

Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059113/

Rating perso: 9.5/10