Film · 1965 · Epic
Doctor Zhivago
Directed by David Lean
1965
★ 6.5 editorial score
Critics savaged it on release and audiences ignored them completely: Lean shot the Russian winter in Spain, and Maurice Jarre's balalaika theme was inescapable for a decade afterward.
“Breathtaking landscapes, multiple story arcs covering decades, grand historical themes, 197 minutes of emotional devastation — films don't get much bigger than this. Based on Boris Pasternak's famous novel, it is a long and complex journey through the chaos of the first world war and the Russian revolution, but at its heart it remains first and foremost a love story.”
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