Blu-ray Review: Doctor Zhivago (1965)

In retrospect, 1965 was the year that represented the end of the old studio system, before the new blood of the late '60s ushered in a revolution in American cinema. It was in that year that two of Hollywood's biggest ever hits were released, both belonging to defiantly old-fashioned genres: the musical and the epic. The musical in question was The Sound of Music, against which the epic Doctor Zhivago was unlucky to be competing for awards and commercial success: it was one of the biggest commercial grossers of all time, but was topped by Julie Andrews classic (they still lie eighth and third respectively on the list of adjusted box office), which also romped home with the major Academy Awards. Hollywood tried to capitalise on the success of both films in subsequent years, but all those efforts were doomed to failure, proving almost financially ruinous in some cases. What's remarkable looking back now on Zhivago is how much popular taste has changed: it's a great film, certainly, but not an easy one to love, with pacing and moral grey areas from which modern blockbusters would recoil in horror.

Much was expected from David Lean in the wake of Lawrence of Arabia. It was to Boris Pasternak's novel he turned, banned in Russia for being anti-communist and therefore the beneficiary of much publicity and controversy in the years since its first publication in Italy, in 1958. The story provided both the scope and scale to match Lawrence, but also a romantic core that the purely male-centric desert epic wholly lacked. Zhivago is a love story set against the backdrop of the First World War and the Russian Revolution, spanning years, and proved far from easy to adapt (Lean's screenplay was again penned by Robert Bolt). The difficulties of the source novel are evident in the finished film, notably an erratic pace and a romance that barely appears for two hours of the running time, but it is these apparent flaws that in fact contribute to its compelling uniqueness.

Zhivago has been much likened to a Russian Gone With the Wind, which may be an easy comparison to make but remains valid. Structurally they echo one another, in terms of a slow beginning set prior to an outbreak of war, followed by the main characters being thrust into a conflict before returning home to a scene of devastation. (And that's all in the first half.) Similarly the romances are unconventional, never actually coming to fruition until near the end of each mammoth film. Zhivago bests its precursor, however, due to its director's vision and storytelling genius. Many of its most brilliant sequences could come from a silent movie, their power generated entirely through Lean's mastery of technique married to Maurice Jarre's haunting music. Witness the chilling suicide attempt scene, or the famous onset of spring montage in which snow dissolves into a carpet of daffodils. Evident throughout is Lean's meticulous planning; there's barely a cut that isn't perfectly motivated, or a transition not imbued with meaning.

With such emphasis on the visuals and scale in a Lean film, the actors could get lost in the scenery, but Zhivago boasts some indelible performances that ensure that doesn't happen. The casting of the Egyptian Omar Sharif was an offbeat choice for the title character, but the actor's commitment and sheer likeability render any concerns about his manifestly non-Slavic origins moot. Julie Christie's Lara, meanwhile, is one of cinema's greatest ever beauties, Lean's camera often lingering on her captivating eyes and golden hair (one of the film's concessions to '60s styling - who knew hairspray existed in revolutionary Russia?). The magnetic Rod Steiger secured an Oscar as the sort-of-villain Komarovsky, but Tom Courtenay is just as good as Lara's brother Pasha, who experiences one of the most dramatic, moving arcs.

Again and again, though, the crux of the film comes back to the core romance, but those expecting a traditional love story will likely be disappointed. Not only do obstacles constantly intrude, preventing their first kiss until well after the intermission, it's an adulterous relationship even once they do admit their feelings. Zhivago is married to Tonya (Geraldine Chaplin), who is portrayed as more or less a saint, so one can't help but feel sad for her despite the chemistry and fireworks of her husband's illicit affair. It's actually elements like these that elevate the film to greater heights: it would have been much easier and more dramatically straightforward to make Zhivago single or even a widower in the purpose of eliminating a difficult moral quandary for the audience.

In fact, it was audiences who saw the greatness of the film first, critics having been unfairly savage. This was in an age when critics actually had influence over a film's success, so the fact that Zhivago was able to weather such scorn is a testament to its hypnotic power. Lean himself threatened to never make a film again after the critics' barbs, but it would in fact be the even more hostile reception of his next film, 1970's Ryan's Daughter (again unjust, but that's another story), that sent him into self-imposed exile.



Release Information
Country: UK / Region: Free / Version: 45th Anniversary / Discs: 1 BD, 1 DVD / Distributor: Warner Bros.

Presentation
For its 45th anniversary, Doctor Zhivago has received the full restoration treatment, but the image and sound quality remains occasionally hamstrung by the source. It's a shame that Lean was not allowed to shoot in 70mm, as he had wished, as it's ironically the quest for the best possible print quality that has caused the original negative to become so worn through overuse (Lean didn't want dupe prints to be used). Nevertheless the restorers have worked some digital magic here, eliminating any sign of print damage or even specks of dust. Detail in many scenes is exemplary. The visuals are mainly hampered by the presence of very noticeable halos around hard edges, such as people walking in snow. Some investigation has revealed that these anomalies seem to be inherent in the print, rather than a result of newly applied edge enhancement, but they remain distracting at times.

The sound, although present in DTS-HD 5.1, sounds thin at times, with limited use of surround channels (the first scene at the train station, when Tonya arrives, sounds particularly tinny). It's a faithful rendering of the source, however, and the wonderful score in particular sounds lush and full-bodied.

Extras
A two-part 40-minute featurette is the only new extra created for this release, but it's a good one, featuring the involvement of many fans of the film from today's Hollywood set. There's surprisingly in-depth textual analysis of certain scenes which offers excellent insight, pointing out things that are easy to miss when you're wrapped up in the story. The commentary, featuring Sandra Lean, Omar Sharif and Rod Steiger was recorded for the earlier DVD but it's still a worthwhile listen, though the 200 minute runtime does make for some gaps, which is reasonable enough. The rest is on Disc 2, which duplicates the second disc of the previous DVD set, the highlight of which being the very good hour-long "Doctor Zhivago: The Making of a Russian Epic" from 1995, which is put together with a little more care and detail than many modern documentaries, which are a dime a dozen. It's only a shame that Julie Christie doesn't contribute. Other than that, there are a handful of vintage featurettes and interviews.

It's nice to have the film contained on a single disc, and not a flipper like the previous DVD, but it's a shame that Warner Bros have left almost 10GB free on the Blu-ray - why not increase the bitrate of the feature, or at least put the rest of the features on the first disc?



Summary
A magnificent recreation of a time embroiled in political upheaval, Doctor Zhivago may not be as acclaimed as Lawrence of Arabia, but David Lean's mastery of his art is still plain to see, producing a typically brilliant combination of scale and substance.