DVD Reviews

Doctor Zhivago: Anniversary Edition - Blu-ray Review

By Jeff Swindoll May 4, 2010, 16:22 GMT

Lara inspires lechery in Komarovsky (her mother\'s lover who is a master at surviving whoever runs Russia) and can\'t compete with passion for the revolution of the man she marries, Pasha. Her true love is Zhivago who also loves his wife. Lara is the one who inspires poetry. The story is narrated by Zhivago\'s half brother Yevgraf, who has made his career in the Soviet Army. At the beginning of ...more

David Lean is a master director that has been woefully underrepresented in high definition.  Now one of his higher tiered films is finally making its way to the format and the results are breathtaking.  Prepare to have Laura’s Theme running through your head… it is while I’m typing this review.

General Yevgraf Zhivago (Alec Guinness) is searching for the daughter of his poet brother.  He has a young girl (Rita Tushingham) who he thinks may be her brought into the offices of the mine supervisor and commences to tell the tale of his brother’s life and loves. 

As a child, Yuri Zhivago’s (Tarek Sharif) mother died and left him destitute with only a balalaika.  His father had abandoned the family.  Alexander (Ralph Richardson) and Anna (Siobhan McKenna) Gromeko, who were friends with Yuri’s mother, take the boy into their household. 

Years pass and Yuri (Omar Sharif) is a poet of note, but since there’s no money in poetry he is going to medical school.  Unbeknownst to him he passes a girl called Lara (Julie Christie) on a train.  We follow her back to her house where she lives with her mother (Adrienne Corri), a dressmaker.  Lara is engaged to student revolutionary Pasha (Tom Courtney). 

Her mother’s best customer is the attorney Victor Komarovsky (Rod Steiger).  One evening when her mother is too ill, Lara is taken to a posh restaurant in her mother’s stead.   Victor is charmed by the young girl and seduces her, when her mother finds out tragedy occurs and the services of Dr. Zhivago who encounters the fetching Lara for the first time. 

Years pass and Zhivago has married Tonya Gromeko (Geraldine Chaplin), but he will encounter Lara again and the two will begin an affair.  The result of the affair will be a lost daughter as well as some poetry that will make Zhivago famous.  

Winner of five academy awards (best art direction, cinematography, writing, costume, and score – also nominated for best picture, supporting actor (Courtney), director, editing, and sound), Doctor Zhivago is another in a long line of epic films from masterful director David Lean. 

In 1957, Lean directed Bridge on the River Kwai (7 Oscar wins including best picture) and it would begin a run that would include Lawrence of Arabia (1962, 7 Oscar wins including best picture). 

These films, including Zhivago, would put Lean on a pedestal and earn him a place on anyone’s list of greatest directors.  Lean is woefully underrepresented on Blu-ray.  I also say woefully since he’s a favorite director of mine. 

Only his final film, A Passage to India, is available on the format.  Ironically, Zhivago and Passage make odd bookends since Lean regular Alec Guinness and Lean quarreled on the set of Zhivago and they wouldn’t work together again until Passage, a twenty year distance.  Let’s hope that we don’t have to wait another twenty years before we get more Lean on Blu-ray. 

Let’s also hope that they look as fetching as Zhivago as Warner Brothers has done a grand job in restoring this masterpiece.  I can’t express the delight and would only suggest that it be top of the list when you’re pursuing the new releases – especially if you’re a fan of classic cinema. 

Simply put, Doctor Zhivago is a timeless classic that much more deserves a place on your movie shelf than most of the dreck that is released today.  

Doctor Zhivago is presented in a 1080p high definition transfer (2.35:1).  In a word it’s fantastic. 

Disc one contains the film as well as the new two part, 40 minute “Doctor Zhivago: A Celebration” that interviews industry players that appreciate the film.  The film also has a commentary with Sharif, Steiger, and Lean’s widow Sandra. 

Disc two is a DVD that contains the 60 minute “The making of Doctor Zhivago,” 29 minutes of press interviews, 30 minutes of vintage featurettes, a 3 minute screen test for Chaplin, 4 minutes of “This is” shorts introducing Sharif, Christie, and Chaplin, cast and crew highlights, list of awards, and the 4 minute trailer. 

Disc three is an 8-track soundtrack sampler.  The discs, except for disc three that comes in a separate sleeve, come in a classy digibook case that has 40 pages of character bios and production photos.  

Sweeping, literary, romantic, and a genuine classic Doctor Zhivago is given a fantastic presentation from Warner Brothers.  The film is breathtakingly beautiful and even more so in high definition.  This is certainly one that you will want to own.  The disappointment may arise in that it will only whet your appetite for more of David Lean’s epics on Blu-ray. 

Visit the DVD database for more information. Doctor Zhivago is also available For Download in HD and Remastered on iTunes.