Doctor Zhivago- 30th Anniversary Edition

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Never before seen
I must say for being in the 50+ age bracket I could not believe I had not seen this movie. I spoke with my Mother when I told her I had purchased this movie for my stocking, she was beside herself reminiscing her youth and Omar Sharif. Well to my delight I found myself tearing and loving my husband more deeply than I already do. What a wonderful, romantic, set your heart on fire, time piece of a movie. It should be seen again by those that have seen it many years past and seen for the fist time by those who have not.

Creating Russian Memories
Again I am trying to give my adopted Russian granddaughters some sense of their homeland history through any visual or written words. They came with no material links just memories that will fade as they get older.

Love for the Ages
I've seen "Zhivago" many times and consider it easily among the 100 best English-language films of the past half-century. It was my mother's favorite, she of Russian roots. But I purchased the DVD as a parting gift for the unrequitted love of my life, who counts herself a movie buff but nonetheless had no knowledge of this great David Lean epic. Though I'm certain she is my "Lara," she has recently chosen instead to commit herself to a Komarovsky-like character who will inevitably be unfaithful to her. Tragically, she's been subconsciously convinced by her mother's history that the Komarovskys of the world are all she deserves. When I stop feeling sorry for myself, perhaps I'll work the whole sorry tale into a screenplay of its own, and 50 years from now some heartbroken chump will write a non-review review of my great film.

A Review
This is an overblown, pretentious Hollywood adaptation of an uninsipiring novel by an outcast author from Russia. This film demonstrates that Hollywood and the West cannot make a plausible film about Russia. Instead of watching this, it is recommended to watch movies about Russia by Russian directors. In the 1950s, Pasternak underwent a profound crisis, as shown by his novel "Doctor Zhivago." Dr Zhivago is just one more novel of petty-bourgeois intellectual disillusion with life in the world as it is. This book expresses a negative attitude toward the Russian people and their Revolution, as well as a total lack of faith in social transformation. The viewer of this film sees the Revolution not from the perspective of the working class and their political organizations but from that of the self-indulgent petit-bourgeoisie. Working-class people and their leaders in this film are depicted as crude caricatures. The central character Zhivago is a failure: he is spineless, endlessly vacillating, and unfaithful to his wife. He has no inspirational qualities. It is unsurprising that the publication of this novel abroad in 1957 and the politicized decision to award Pasternak a Nobel Prize in 1958 aroused sharp criticism in Russia. Hence, Pasternak was expelled from the Writers' Union. It would be a waste of time to watch this film. Film adaptations of excellent novels on the Russian Revolution include "Silent Don" by Sholokhov", "Life of Klim Samgin" by Gorky, and "Chapaev" by Furmanov.

Movie great...DVD, just OK
I won't get into a detailed review of the movie itself. That has already been done many times here. I find this an excellent movie to "watch" and can forgive its few flaws. The DVD itself is a bit frustrating. For one thing, I hate two sided discs. Having to turn the thing over is annoying, but not terribly inconvenient. Worse is the way the DVD starts with the commentary activated. After sitting through the lengthy overture, I was quite surprised to hear the commentary start immediately. I had to go back to the main menu and make a language selection and turn off the subtitles to view the movie properly. Again, not the end of the world, but it has a way of ruining the mood.