THE MOVIE

Doctor Zhivago will be familiar to many, not because of its original source, the novel of the same name by Boris Pasternak but because of David Lean’s film starring Omar Sharrif and Julie Christie, which as one witty critic described it at the time did for snow what Lawrence of Arabia did for sand. However that production has been criticised, despites its epic scope and beauty for mangling the books plot into an unintelligible mish mash. Writer, Andrew Davies, who was a fan of both the film and the book felt that what Lean’s version had left out meant that there was great scope for a fresh treatment of the novel, which would work well in the confines of the TV miniseries, as it gave him more breadth in which to flesh out the books characters and themes and in particular to develop the relationships between the characters.

Hans Matheson plays the films central protagonist, Doctor Yury Zhivago, an idealistic, poet writing, humanitarian, whose life we follow against the backdrop of the first world war, the Russian Revolution and the slow death and strangulation of the socialist dream in the Revolutions aftermath. This two part miniseries commences in 1897 with the suicide of Yury’s father. Yury, his mother also dead, is taken in by a kindly Uncle and Aunt to live with them and their young daughter Tonya Gromyko (Alexandra Maria Lara) who becomes Yury’s confidant, best friend and eventually his wife. Central to Zhivago’s story is also that of Lara Guishar (Keira Knightly), whom we first meet as a young girl of 16 (which was Knightly’s age at the time the films production started), who is seduced by her mothers lover Victor Komarovsky (Sam Neill), a rich lawyer, for whom Lara becomes a lifelong obsession. While Yury and Lara’s paths cross they do not really meet until the first world war where an injured Yury finds himself being tended to by Lara in a field hospital, where Lara has come to try and find her husband Pasha (Kris Marshall). As Yury recovers and he and Lara begin to work together they find themselves falling in love, that they are soulmates, despite the fact that they both have husbands and young children. However as the war ends and the revolution begins they both decide to return to their families, refusing to act on their feelings. However, despite their good intentions fate intervenes to bring them together in the Urals and it seems only a matter of time before they give in to their passion.

Doctor Zhivago is a tale of immense passion and tragedy, set against the backdrop of one of the most turbulent periods in Russian history. Director Giacomo Campiotti has done a good job realising a fantastic script by Andrew Davies into a well told, and very moving miniseries, with rich, well realised characters, that should hopefully be embraced by both those who are fans of the book and original film as well as those not familiar with either. Campiotti has been aided by the excellent work of his cinematographer Blasco Giurato, composer Ludovico Einaudi and production designer Maria Djurkovic. It does show its limitations in terms of budget and cast in the battle sequences and occasionally falters directorially through its inappropriate use of slow motion, which is also very poorly shot and a wide range of accents from the actors own to some rather dubious Russian accented English. The acting is generally good, particularly Hans Matheson as Yury. The ubiquitous and over praised Keira Knightly does just enough as Lara to convince one that there may be some acting talent there, but the same can’t be said for Kris Marshall as Pasha, who is the productions lame duck.

THE TRANSFER

Video:

The video transfer is not fantastic and its quality varies (bit rate 2-5 mbps). It is very grainy and overly dark in parts, particularly the night sequences. However those issues aside details are not overly soft, colours are natural and video artefacts are relatively minimal.

Audio:

The audio transfer has been competently done (bit rate 224 kbps). Dialogue is clear and distinct and there are no issues of lip synching. The score and overall sound design have also been reasonably well reproduced.

THE EXTRAS

There is one extra on the two disc set which consists of 8 interviews with the cast and crew of the film, which provide almost 70 minutes of insight into the films writing, casting and production (Anne Pivcevic, Producer; Keira Knightly, Lara; Sam Neil, Komarovsky; Hans Matheson, Yury; Kris Marshall, Pasha; Andrew Davies, writer; Andy Harries, Executive Producer; Giacomo Campiotti, Director). Covering everything from the fear that a new adaptation of Pasternak’s novel held for potential British directors, such was their reverence for the David Lean version; to the critical casting of Sam Neil to help get the production financed; and the controversy over the supposedly torrid sex scenes that were being filmed.

The interviews were conducted on the set, seemingly towards the end of shooting and the questions have been excised, suggesting they were done for the films electronic press kit or EPK. There is some repetition in the interviews and they range in quality from insightful, Andrew Davies and Hans Matheson, to the pointless, Sam Neil and Kris Marshall. There is a play all function and the audio and video quality is reasonable (Full screen, 2.0).

SUMMARY

This new adaptation of Boris Pasternak’s classic book is a rich and rewarding experience, with well realised characters and a enthralling narrative that encompasses one of the most turbulent periods of Russian history. The only downside is a DVD release, which does not quite meet these lofty heights.