Join Amazon Prime and get unlimited Free First Class Delivery. Already a member? Sign in.
Frequently Bought Together
What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?
![Doctor Zhivago [1965] [DVD]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51GW08bmiGL._SL75_SS50_.jpg) |
91% buy the item featured on this page: Doctor Zhivago [1965] [DVD] £6.28 |
![Lawrence of Arabia - Two Disc Set [DVD] [1962]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51CBQ957MFL._SL75_SS50_.jpg) |
5% buy Lawrence of Arabia - Two Disc Set [DVD] [1962] £4.98 |
![Casablanca [1942] [DVD]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51AQPJFPPKL._SL75_SS50_.jpg) |
2% buy Casablanca [1942] [DVD] £4.98 |
![Gone With The Wind [1940] [DVD]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41M0XWWRMRL._SL75_SS50_.jpg) |
2% buy Gone With The Wind [1940] [DVD] |
Product details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Reviews
Amazon.co.uk Review
David Lean's wintry adaptation of Boris Pasternak's melodramatic Russian Revolution romance, Doctor Zhivago, is a masterpiece of epic filmmaking, but one that risks leaving the viewer cold. Though none of the film was shot in the then USSR, Lean's assured technique nevertheless illuminates the breathtaking backgrounds magnificently: from the snowy wastes of the Urals to the strife-torn streets of Moscow, Lean stages a series of wonderful set-pieces showing war, revolution and its terrible aftermath. The problem lies in the foreground. Omar Sharif's entirely passive Zhivago is, we are told, a romantic poet of great sensitivity who internalises all his emotions and expresses them in verse. The trouble is the audience never gets to see a line of his poems, not even the centrally important "Lara" cycle. Thus Zhivago at the end of the picture is as much an emotional blank to us as he was at the beginning. His affair with the idealised beauty that is Julie Christie's Lara is also taken for granted by the filmmakers rather than set up in any convincing way, their mutual attraction remaining a mystery that creates a vacuum at the core of the picture. Given that none of the central characters with the exception of Rod Steiger's fire-breathing lecher Komarovsky ever give way to strong emotions, the romantic heart of the film remains oddly frigid. Matters are not helped by composer Maurice Jarre's incessant "Lara's Theme", which many will find teeth-grindingly irritating. Still, any David Lean epic, even a flawed one, is always going to be a first-class cinematic experience, and Zhivago is assuredly that.
David Lean's wintry adaptation of Boris Pasternak's melodramatic Russian Revolution romance, Doctor Zhivago, is a masterpiece of epic filmmaking, but one that risks leaving the viewer cold. Though none of the film was shot in the then USSR, Lean's assured technique nevertheless illuminates the breathtaking backgrounds magnificently: from the snowy wastes of the Urals to the strife-torn streets of Moscow, Lean stages a series of wonderful set-pieces showing war, revolution and its terrible aftermath. The problem lies in the foreground. Omar Sharif's entirely passive Zhivago is, we are told, a romantic poet of great sensitivity who internalises all his emotions and expresses them in verse. The trouble is the audience never gets to see a line of his poems, not even the centrally important "Lara" cycle. Thus Zhivago at the end of the picture is as much an emotional blank to us as he was at the beginning. His affair with the idealised beauty that is Julie Christie's Lara is also taken for granted by the filmmakers rather than set up in any convincing way, their mutual attraction remaining a mystery that creates a vacuum at the core of the picture. Given that none of the central characters with the exception of Rod Steiger's fire-breathing lecher Komarovsky ever give way to strong emotions, the romantic heart of the film remains oddly frigid. Matters are not helped by composer Maurice Jarre's incessant "Lara's Theme", which many will find teeth-grindingly irritating. Still, any David Lean epic, even a flawed one, is always going to be a first-class cinematic experience, and Zhivago is assuredly that.
On the DVD: A stunning anamorphic widescreen print is the ideal way to appreciate David Lean's craftsmanship and this movie's glorious, wintry cinematography. Maurice Jarre's "Lara's Theme" and the rest of his patchwork score can be heard in a music-only track, while Omar Sharif is joined by Lean's widow Sandra and Rod Steiger for an intermittent commentary. The second bonus disc contains a good hour-long making-of documentary plus 10 shorter contemporary documentaries giving various insights into the location shooting and the cast and crew. But it's the sheer beauty of the picture that will astonish and make this disc forever treasurable. --Mark Walker
Special Features
English
Region 2
See all Reviews
Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought
![Lawrence of Arabia - Two Disc Set [DVD] [1962]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51CBQ957MFL._SL500_SS90_.jpg)
DVD ~ Peter O'Toole
|
![Gone With The Wind [1940] [DVD]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41M0XWWRMRL._SL500_SS90_.jpg)
DVD ~ Clark Gable
|
![Casablanca [1942] [DVD]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51AQPJFPPKL._SL500_SS90_.jpg)
DVD ~ Humphrey Bogart
|
![The Bridge On The River Kwai [DVD] [1957]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/5190ZN2VQGL._SL500_SS90_.jpg)
DVD ~ William Holden
|
![A Passage To India [DVD] [1984]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/510SXKZC89L._SL500_SS90_.jpg)
DVD ~ Judy Davis
|
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
|||||||||||||||||||
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Customer Discussions
Beta (What's this?)|
This product's forum
(0 discussions)
Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Active discussions in related forums
|
Related forums
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
Fun for Everyone |
Beauty without the Beast |
A Close Shave |
Treat Someone
With an Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate, you can get them what they want (even if you don't know what that is). |
|||||||
| |||||
Your Recent History
(What's this?)|
You have no recently viewed items or searches.
After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in. Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session. |
Continue Shopping: Top Sellers
| ||||
Amazon Home | |
| International Sites: United States | Germany | France | Japan | Canada | China | |
| Business Programs: Sell on Amazon | Fulfilment by Amazon | Join Associates | Join Advantage | |
| Customer Service | Help | View Basket | Your Account | |
| About Amazon.co.uk | Careers at Amazon | |
| Conditions of Use & Sale | Privacy Notice © 1996-2009, Amazon.com, Inc. and its affiliates |