Docteur Jivago

I have never seen the original Doctor Zhivago film, so I can't take any prejudged bias. This mini-series is possibly the best UK mini-series I have ever seen and is a sign that perhaps the UK networks are serious about creating some top qualtiy drama television that HBO have been producing for ages!

The acting is top quality, however, Sam Neill on top form steals every scene he's in, and that's saying something with the quality around him on screen. Keira Knightley and Hans Mathieson are great young stars who would easily make the transisition to big films (although Knightley's already done a Star Wars!). Kris Marshall as Pacha is a welcome revelation, worlds away from the tired "My Family" 'comedy'.

The scene always looks great and you can see the time and effort (not to forget money!) has gone into the creation of this great series. The overall look is very convincing and there is some beautiful theatrical-quality cinematography.

The story however is what makes anything work and here the story is truly great. An epic, tragic romance set against the backdrop of a revolting Russia. The story is handled so well it's a rewarding experience and if you're a bit of a weepie, have your tissues ready!

5/5

Andrew Davies assured that his version would be true to the Novel. In fact he has replicated all the romantic set pieces of Leans original version - the shooting ( Victor Komorosky was shot in the original version), train journey, Yuri's walk through the trees, meeting with Lara (notice Julie Christie ironing and Keiran washing clothes). Even the production design are similar. Unfortunetly, it does not match up to Leans excellent epic. What about the acting: Keiran is weak as Lara - Julie was better but neither did justice to the Lara role. Hans is the exact duplicate of Omar without the stash but Omar's performance had more depth. Sam Neil as with Hans is a duplicate of Rod Steiger in appearance but Steiger's performance was one of the highlights of Lean's version. Sam was good but weak in comparison. Andrew Davies version was not based on the Novel but on Leans original.

In a word, UGGHH. This tv version of Zhivago is still a poor adaptation of the book and many notches below the 1965 David Lean film. Entire important characters are left out, like Evgraf Zhivago. Although everyone seems to be saying it's so much closer to Pasternak, I don't see it. Many of the scenes are really copied right out of the Lean film... only more poorly done. Hans Matheson is not terrible as Zhivago, just not very interesting. He's nice looking in a boy actor kind of way but not nearly as striking as Omar Sharif. His poetry is left totally unexplored. Keira Knightley, an Uma Thurman clone, is just plain bad. All she can do is look dumbfounded with her gawking mouth hanging open. Sorry, Julie Christie she ain't. There is nothing magnetic about the character. Tonya is an underwritten character in the book, and I think Alexandra Maria Lara does about as good a job with her as can be done. While many criticize Geraldine Chaplin in the Lean version, I find her very moving and certainly striking looking. While I don't think Chaplin is a better actress than Lara, she's more memorable. Reviewers have been gushing over Sam Neill as Komarovsky. Neill is a favorite actor of mine, but I think he's really only so-so here. Rod Steiger seemed far more Russian, nastier and more self-loathing (a key part of the character). Neill was merely slick to me.

Giacomo Campiotti filmed this in Prague and in Slovakia which, at first glance, would seem to be a more real location than Spain, Finland and Pinewood Studios where Lean's Zhivago was filmed. But it doesn't feel that way. It doesn't look open and vast. The villages don't look like Russian villages, and Prague, beautiful as it is, doesn't look much like Moscow. A lot of times, it doesn't even look that cold. There is a curious lack of the cyrillic alphabet. Perhaps it was too expensive to erect old cyrillic signage. The use of background Russian speech is interesting but jarring. It just makes me wish the entire film was in Russian. The music is just an odd hodge-podge. In the second half he uses what sounds like classic Slovakian music which sounds totally wrong in a Russian story. I found the guitar strumming more annoying than anything. Yes, "Lara's theme" does get under your craw, but at least it adds some real emotion to the Lean film.

I enjoy the 1965 film, but it's a wonderful guilty pleasure, I don't see it as a great work of art. This BBC version is just drek. I'm hoping a good Russian director will tackle Zhivago and show us how it's really done. I would have love to see how the director of the Russian film "Vor" would deal with it, or the recently departed Elim Klimov (director of Rasputin and Come and See) whose talents would have perfectly matched the demands of adapting Pasternak.

It may be somewhat sacrilegious to admit this, but I actually prefer this production to the David Lean classic. That is an admission however that I do not take lightly, the Lean version having left an indelible impression on my younger life and the beautiful Lara's Theme having haunted me since I first saw the original version on television back in the 1980s. No, when I sat down to watch this 2002 adaptation of the Boris Pasternak epic I was all prepared to be both disappointed and resistant to a newer version of the Omar Sharif/Julie Christie favorite - so what happened? Why am I now sitting here so impressed and involved in what should by all accounts be a poorer step child to the colorful, star-filled 1960s movie. Simply put this movie has the advantage of time. A whole hour longer than the other movie that extra time gives the production of filling in some of the blanks that inhibited to original and more fully exploring the human relationships and interaction between characters. Matheson may not have the acting ability of Sharif but what he does have is the opportunity to more fully realize the character of Zhivago. In this sense this movie is more faithful to the source material and all the better for it. Matheson plays the story of Zhivago, a man brought up in the shadow of tragedy who feels the pull of loyalty to his wife (and childhood friend) Tonya and a deep infatuation for Lara. With the violence of World War I and the Russian Revolution as a backdrop, Zhivago travels through life torn by conflict. Less colorful than the original this mini-series compensates with a strong, well defined script and some star turning performances by Sam Neill and one-time Bond girl Maryam D'Abo (as Lara's mother). Many have also dismissed Keira Knightley in her role as Lara, but I found her both competent and powerful in the role. I found myself both involved in her story and convinced by her portrayal - she was certainly a different Lara than the one depicted by Christie some four decades ago, but one no less realized or compelling. In fact, I would go as far as to say that Knightley's Lara is a more rounded character than Christie's, no doubt due to Knightley's impressive screen presence, but also the longer screen time afforded to her character. One device I found both clever and interesting was real archive footage from the period that is woven into the story in a fascinating manner. Included on this DVD is a text biography of author Boris Pasternak as well as over an hour of interviews with the cast. Prepared to be surprised by this DVD and be prepared to fall in love with a whole new version of the DOCTOR ZHIVAGO story.

I am not going to compare two versions of "Doctor Zhivago". To me they are so different that there is not much grounds for comparison.

I possibly can not share fascination with 1965 movie. It could be viewed as a love story performed by two great actors. But it is anything but Boris Pasternak's story. In Russia they would call it "lubok" - a colorful picture, work of one's imagination. Beautiful but having nothing to do with reality.

2002 version is a story that carries one away not only with its plot but also its truthfulness. And I don't mean just following the events of the book.

Boris Pasternak's book is full of pain - personal and collective. 2002 "Doctor Zhivago" shows true Russia, in so many small details - a woman calling chickens, a library in a church building, hospital beds in a corridor, Russian conversations in the background...And pain.

And it is also full of hope, as no matter how horrible life was, hope never died. And you can see hope in the movie - in Lara's eyes, in Yury's smile.

Thumbs up!