Dr. Zhivago (1965) watch along
Added 2024-07-26 16:29:00 +0000 UTCHappy Friday my friends!
Wow. I can see why "Dr. Zhivago" is seen as masterpiece it was truly an epic experience. The film excels in every aspect: the score is captivating, the cinematography is breathtaking, and the performances are outstanding. The overarching storyline and the ending resonated with me. I enjoyed the movie and found the pacing to be good.
What struck me most were the complex characters set against such a challenging and tumultuous historical backdrop. I often found myself caught up wishing the characters would make different choices or end up with different partners. However, upon (quick) reflection, I realized that the era and circumstances they were in made their decisions even more poignant and understandable. This film beautifully captures the essence of human struggle and resilience in a time of great upheaval.
I think this one for sure needs a rewatch to really understand it all more, but let me know your thoughts down below! I definitely got me thinking in the outro. It was very thought provoking!
Congrats Dennis!!!
xx
ames
Comments
That checks out! Dr Z is my Mom's favorite movie--to hear her tell it, half of that box office take was just her as a teen seeing it over and over and over with her friends. Thirty years later Titanic followed the same template--epic, historical weepers young women can wallow in. And Titanic might have only made more because there were no multiplexes in 1965 to run more showings in a day.
Robert Livingood
2024-07-29 03:35:29 +0000 UTCNo worries everyone can have their own opinion and debate respectfully bahah
Amalia Wolf
2024-07-28 21:08:05 +0000 UTCI also like night time shots JM!
Amalia Wolf
2024-07-28 21:07:40 +0000 UTCThis film actually ranks 8th all-time on Box Office Mojo's inflation-adjusted lifetime gross list. To give some perspective, Zhivago only sold 10 million tickets less than Titanic! https://www.boxofficemojo.com/chart/top_lifetime_gross_adjusted/?adjust_gross_to=2022
JM63
2024-07-28 19:12:03 +0000 UTCWhat a film! This strengthens my feeling that David Lean had the best natural feel for epic filmmaking in the history of the movies. (But he could also expertly direct very intimate stories like Brief Encounter, 1945. Lean is truly one of the immortals of cinema.) My main thought was the same as yours -- this film makes me feel cold!! (even in this sweltering heat) And I love movies with lots of nighttime scenes (the red banners in the streets looked amazing). The direction in the first 2/3 of this film was so pure -- calm, measured, steady but never sluggish. And the art direction and placement of the extras made it so immersive. I do feel like the section after the train ride was a bit less engaging. I actually like melodrama, but it didn't quite grab me like the epic events of the earlier parts. I also don't know very much about the Russian Revolution, even though it's a hugely important event. I think The Last Emperor (1987) would be a great companion piece to this, covering the communist revolution from the side of China. This was a great intro to Lean. Now eagerly looking forward to The Bridge on the River Kwai and Lawrence of Arabia!
JM63
2024-07-28 19:09:52 +0000 UTCOk, Ames, we expect this all edited for next week! 🤣 (just kidding!) Must say: even though I like David Lean, I've never had a fondness for Doc Zhivago ...but I was a teenager when I last saw it from beginning to end, and I've been meaning to give it a fresh look for years! (It's just so long, I always put it off.) But if you faced Zhivago, I will too! Today! See you on the other side!
Toc
2024-07-28 09:11:51 +0000 UTCDr. Zhivago trivia tidbits: -Young Yuri Zhivago was played by Omar Sharif's son. -To create some of the snow effects on buildings and people, they used wax. - Many locations were shot in Spain - The same year Dr. Zhivago was released, Julie Christie (Lara) would win the Best Actress Oscar for a different movie, "Darling". -To get the right reaction of Zhivago witnessing the massacre from the balcony of his home, Director David Lean suggested he think of trying to withhold climaxing while having intercourse. (True story). The Director then got the reaction shot he was looking for. -The same year Dr. Zhivago was released, Rod Steiger (Victor Kamorovsky), was up for the Best Actor Oscar in "The Pawnbroker"...but lost. - Geraldine Chaplin (Tonya) is the daughter of Charlie Chaplin and Oona O'Neill (the daughter of playwrite Eugene O'Neill.
Jeffrey Schmidbauer
2024-07-27 18:07:53 +0000 UTCThe acting was top notch!!!! Glad to have checked this one off the list! Amazing character arch’s and story arch ending was amazing!
Amalia Wolf
2024-07-27 01:07:33 +0000 UTCThank you so much for your wonderful reaction! I hoped that you would find this movie as epic and inspiring as I have. While there are hundreds of nuances to the plot and the people, my impression has always been that there are two over-riding fundamentals to the story; love itself is pure and unfortunately people are flawed. On the rewatch try to put your feelings for Victor aside and appreciate the acting of Rod Steiger. He really made the character despicable!
Middohio
2024-07-27 00:37:22 +0000 UTCK I had soo much thoughts in this. But didn’t wanna sound like an idiot. It looks like Canada and parts of where my village is in Portugal so thanks for letting me now!
Amalia Wolf
2024-07-26 23:55:32 +0000 UTCI always relate this movie to Gone With the Wind, not that I’m original in that association. They’re both adaptations of epic novel love stories set in times of tremendous historical upheaval and are absolute production marvels. And yet, I struggle with each, mostly due to their soapy screenplays. The Pasternak novel does better than the movie, though I think even that was overpraised, mostly for Cold War political reasons. Here, Bolt’s adaptation really stymies both Sharif’s (whom I like very much) and Christie’s (whom I love) abilities to realize much compelling or even convincing about their characters, and I won’t even mention what poor Geraldine Chaplin’s been given to work with. And Guinness is just, well, miscast. But, Steiger and Courtenay save the day for me, and everyone and everything looks fantastic. which is just about enough to smooth over most of the bumps. In terms of Lean’s epics, it’s closer to Ryan’s Daughter than the far more humanly complex Lawrence and Kwai, but if you’re in the right mood, it absolutely draws you in. On a production note, having lived in Madrid for a while as a kid, I’m well aware of the topographic/geographic diversity of the Iberian peninsula, but it’s still always amazed me how much of this movie was shot in Spain in general (with a little bit in Finland and Canada, too) and around the city in particular. That Lean filmed a good amount of Lawrence of Arabia AND Zhivago in Spain is just wild.
VivendoBem
2024-07-26 22:35:12 +0000 UTCIn the US, you can watch this for free (with ads) on Tubi: https://tubitv.com/movies/100012222/doctor-zhivago The Tubi version is 3h19m, on Amazon Prime US it's 3h05m. So I'm guessing the Amazon US version is the abridged cut?
JM63
2024-07-26 17:58:25 +0000 UTCI agree the ending was amazing!!!!! And the acting ! I had no idea where it was going!
Amalia Wolf
2024-07-26 17:17:25 +0000 UTCGREAT CHOICE DENNIS!!! Totally agree Ames. Knew you were gonna love it.. Don't know how many times I've seen it but it NEVER gets old and to me? It's my favorite Lean film. This guy, along with John Ford, set the stage for epic filmmakers of today. The locations, lenses, vistas, set pieces and score all come together so well in this... Special shout out from to Rod Steiger's brilliant performance of Komorovsky in this. Such a talented actor and how about that ending!!?? One of the best in film if you ask me...
RFK Fan
2024-07-26 17:06:43 +0000 UTCLooking forward to it even more after your write up! Probably splitting into 2 sessions. Let you know what I think over the weekend.
AJ
2024-07-26 17:02:45 +0000 UTCYa I think I mentioned that in the outro because there is soo much going on!
Amalia Wolf
2024-07-26 16:58:37 +0000 UTCI do recommend you watch it again. There are many facets to this movie that are difficult to pick out with only one viewing. I watch a great movie at least twice. The first time for the entertainment value and then subsequent times to pay attention to the director's and DP's choices as well as anything I missed during the first go-around.
Jeffrey Schmidbauer
2024-07-26 16:51:39 +0000 UTCAhh! Good to know don’t know why Amazon didn’t tell me that lol I LOVE the sound of music watched that a lot as a kid
Amalia Wolf
2024-07-26 16:46:17 +0000 UTCDr. Zhivago is one of my favorites. I remember watching it at the movie theater as a young child. The movie soundtrack album was a huge hit at the time. Everyone was singing or humming "Lara's Theme". They wrote lyrics to the music and it became "Somewhere My Love". Dr. Zhivago won 5 academy awards including Best Cinematography and Editing. Best Picture, however, went to "The Sound of Music" that year.
Jeffrey Schmidbauer
2024-07-26 16:44:31 +0000 UTC
