Best movie of this year hands down!

People are voting emotionally.

hyped garbage

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

60's has some epic movies, be it Drama or Romance, History, Fiction etc. That fair and grandeur is missing these days. Doctor Zhivago is a timeless epic movie, one can watch it again and again and would find it interesting. It spreads over 3 hrs but still very gripping and glues the viewers. Everything is very well worked out in detail ... sets, locations (not shot in Russia but no one would miss that), narrative, cast etc. All the characters fit their role very well. Omar Sharif is a powerhouse of acting and this movie along with many are testimony to that. Julie Christie looks tantalizingly beautiful. I would say she is one of the most beautiful actress of all time. It has drama, romance and is also tragic. In the end Yuri reaching out for Lara, trying to call her and not able to do so is very touching. One also sees the dark side of Communism in patches. Perhaps that is why this movie was banned in Russia and not shot there. I wish I had seen it on big screen. It would have looked much more magnificent. There shouldn't be any remakes of such movies. They should be preserved for generations. One can visit that time-line and or get an idea of things from such classics.

This is a film like no other. Set in a period of great strife in a place of cold violence and indifference. This is a love story and a story of revolution. This is a portrayal of what is worst in humankind and what is best. We have a love story that transcends the elements and carries on to future generations. These are excellent performances by Julie Christie and Omar Shariff and impeccable direction by David Lean, who has produced some of the greatest works of the cinema. As we travel the endless vistas of the Soviet landscape we are given a taste of the Russia of the time, but there is threat at every turn. The young Yuri is shown the ugliness of politics at an early age and must confront this throughout his life. He is a man of great courage and compassion. If you've never seen this, by all means do so.

Released in 1965 and directed by David Lean from Boris Pasternak's novel, "Doctor Zhivago" is a historical drama/adventure focusing on the eponymous Russian physician/poet (Omar Sharif) who, although married to Tonya (Geraldine Chaplin), falls in love with Lara (Julie Christie), the wife of an austere political activist (Tom Courtenay). They experience the hardships of the First World War and then the ensuing Russian Revolution. Rod Steiger plays the semi-villainous Komarovsky while Alec Guinness plays Zhivago's half-brother. Klaus Kinski has a small, but memorable, role during the train sequence. "Doctor Zhivago" was a massive event in the mid-60s and it stands the test of time. To appreciate it you have to favor David Lean's style, which is epic and artistic, but also mundane and realistic (and, sometimes surrealistic, like the sabre-wielding Cossack attack on the peaceful protesters in Moscow). Perhaps the best part of this movie is its great Winter ambiance. Its weakest part is the leisurely and nigh-impenetrable first hour in Moscow, but once Zhivago & family flee to the Urals it's mesmerizing to the finish.While Zhivago is a likable, peaceable protagonist his ultimate unfaithfulness to Tonya is ignoble and duplicitous, but the story reflects reality. It's not like husbands having mistresses on the side is rare, and even more so if you include thought life. The movie runs 200 minutes and was shot in Finland, Spain and Alberta, CanadaGRADE: A-***SPOILER ALERT*** (Don't read further unless you've seen the movie)I've heard the movie criticized on the grounds that there are no scenes at the field hospital showing Zhivago and Lara falling in love. Response: From the standpoint of the married Zhivago it was love-at-first-sight (or, better described, totally-intrigued-at-first-sight) when he first sees Lara at the apartment wherein her mother tried to commit suicide. Yuri has the same "Whoa Mama" response when he subsequently sees her shoot Komarovsky at the party. Even their initial non-meeting in the streetcar where they merely brush shoulders the camera immediately cuts to a shot of the roof of the trolley where there are literal sparks flying from the electric line (!). When they finally meet-up at the field hospital several years later Zhivago falls in love with Lara during the six months working together and 'fesses-up at the end. It's clear that Lara pretty much feels the same way, but she nobly encourages him not to do anything that would make it necessary to lie to his wife, Tonya. This shows that there were no hot romantic scenes up to this point in the story. Nada. The two were simply working together in a mundane war situation where they developed unspoken feelings for each other over the course of the six months. This was all the prelude to the third act where they happen upon each other at the town in the Urals and proceed to have a steamy affair. As far as I'm concerned, there's enough romantic drama in the third act. Their encounters before that were just preparatory stepping stones to their forthcoming intimate relationship.

Yuri Zhivago is a young Russian from a well-placed family and has just graduated as a doctor. It has everything to have a happy life, within the reach of few in Tsarist Russia. But war and communist revolution will radically change his country and his life, while living an extra-marital love with the wife of a bloody and cruel revolutionary. Directed by David Lean, the film has a screenplay by Robert Bolt inspired by the novel by Boris Pasternak. The cast is headed by Omar Sharif, Julie Christie, Alec Guinness and Tom Courtenay.This film, an war epic, shows us the harshness of the events affecting Russian society during the first decades of the twentieth century: hunger, social instability, servitude, participation in World War I and, finally, political upheaval with the rise of Bolshevism... Considered by many a landmark in film and one of the most iconic films of Omar Sharif's career, is a "must see" for any lover of epic cinema. The script does justice to the Pasternak's novel and the interpretation of the actors is excellent, showing clearly the dichotomies and contrasts of each personality. The public follows and feels the life of Zhivago and his romance with Lara, and truly fears Strelnikov and abhors the pedantry and hypocrisy of Komarovsky. Visual effects, stunning sets and detailed costumes help us to enter inside the film and let ourselves be carried away by it. The soundtrack, composed by Maurice Jarre, is one of the most beautiful compositions for cinema, in particular its main theme. The film earned five Academy Awards (Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Color Cinematography, Best scenery in Colored Film, Best Costume Design in Colored Film, Best Original Score) and was nominated for five more (Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, Best Director, Best Sound and Best Film Editing). It still won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Drama, Best Actor Main Drama, Best Screenplay and Best Soundtrack.