Get us in your inbox

Doctor Zhivago

  • Film
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Recommended
Romance movie: Doctor Zhivago
Photograph: MGM
Advertising

Time Out says

4 out of 5 stars

One of the classic screen romances, as Omar Sharif and Julie Christie meet, love and lose each other during the Russian revolution

With a running time of three hours and 17 minutes, breathtakingly beautiful landscapes and wolves howling in the woods, ‘Doctor Zhivago’ does it bigger and better than anything else. Based on Boris Pasternak’s 1958 novel, the story sweeps through World War I, the Russian revolution, famine and civil war.

But what’s history next to the epic love story of poet and doctor Yuri Zhivago (Omar Sharif, brooding) and shopkeeper’s daughter Lara (Julie Christie, glowing like she’s swallowed a lightbulb)? Even better than the lead performances is Rod Steiger as the rotter who seduces Lara as a 17-year-old schoolgirl after sleeping with her mum, and Tom Courtenay as her fanatical husband. ‘Doctor Zhivago’ has the most irritating soundtrack in the history of cinema and yes, it’s old-fashioned and sappy. But it’s impossible not to swoon. This is a love story to sink your teeth into.

Written by
Cath Clarke

Release Details

  • Release date:Friday 27 November 2015
  • Duration:197 mins

Cast and crew

  • Director:David Lean
  • Screenwriter:Robert Bolt
  • Cast:
    • Rod Steiger
    • Klaus Kinski
    • Julie Christie
    • Tom Courtenay
    • Rita Tushingham
    • Alec Guinness
    • Ralph Richardson
    • Omar Sharif
    • Siobhan McKenna
    • Geraldine Chaplin
Advertising
You may also like
You may also like