Review of Doctor Zhivago (2002)

Introduction

Where does one begin with an introduction to an expansive piece of Russian literature? The story is about a doctor and poet, Yury Zhivago, who marries Tonya and serves in the war as a medic where he meets Lara.

Lara, while still at school, was seduced by a well-heeled lawyer, Komarovsky. After a brief fling Lara finds that she despises Komarovsky and attempts to shoot him but misses. It`s around this time that she marries her childhood friend, Pasha, a young idealist. Once she tells him of Komarovsky he begins to feel disenchanted with her and leaves to serve in the army. Lara volunteers as a nurse in order to try and find her husband and this is where she meets Yury Zhivago.

After the war they both go their separate ways and meet again many years later where they start their affair. The Revolution is still ongoing in the background and Zhivago`s poetry provides plenty of ammunition for the Bolshevists to strike out against him and his personal thoughts. Lots of travelling, fleeing, separation and encounters with the dastardly lawyer, Komarovsky, take their toll on Zhivago`s family as well as Lara. They either all end up apart from one another or they find each other again. Who does Zhivago truly love? It`s clear he has passion for Lara and his own wife and child. Komarovsky can`t seem to leave Lara and would travel countless miles to find her despite the fact the she tried to kill him. And what of Lara`s revolutionist husband, Pasha?

The book, Doctor Zhivago, was the last book written by Boris Pasternak and was award the Nobel Prize for Literature. Poet, translator and novelist, he found that his own work was not welcome in Russia and he had to get it published in Italy. Only after glasnost and Gorbachev, was his work finally published in Russian. David Lean`s film however received its first public screening in 1994, nearly 30 years after it was made.

Is there room for another re-telling of a classic story?

Video

Presented with a 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer, I was expecting something spectacular with this new production. Alas the quality of the transfer shows mild amounts of grain and shows up some poor encoding on fast moving objects such as characters walking about quickly. In fact there are scenes that look sharper and scenes that look worse, especially on disc two. On disc one there are only 110 minutes of video and one audio track so I would have expected something sharper. Disc two however is 115 minutes long with one audio track and has an additional 70 minutes of interviews, which pushes it to over 3 hours. Does it have to look so grainy?

The colours looked fine but detail could be better. This TV production makes the drama look grim. Vibrant and rich colours are not allowed here, this is supposed to be Russia! There`s a mix of newsreel footage included too and this seems a bit out of place because of its age.

Audio

Presented with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack, it sounds good but could sound a bit better. There are moments where the dialogue isn`t as clear as I`d like because of other sound effects coming in too loud. It doesn`t happen often but it`s there and this is the drawback of not using a 5.1 sound effects and dialogue mix.

Features

Beautiful static menus with chapter selection and one extra:

• Cast and Crew Interviews (70:00) - You can play all or select individually. Interviews with:
-Anne Pivcevic - Producer
-Keira Knightly - "Lara"
-Sam Neill - "Komarovsky"
-Hans Matheson - "Yury"
-Kris Marshall - "Pasha"
-Andrew Davies - Writer
-Andy Harries - Executive Producer
-Giacomo Campiotti - Director

The Interviews are made straight to camera where there`s nothing else going on. Some of them can be a little dull where we just listen and watch the cast and crew ramble on answering questions. However after one viewing you`re not likely to re-visit this. Standouts are Sam Neill and writer Andrew Davies.

There are no subtitles here. This is a poor showing on Granada`s part since there were Teletext subtitles available while Doctor Zhivago screened on television, and in this DVD day and age the least it can do is provide captioning for the hard of hearing. Sometimes it`s not possible to hear every word because of explosions or other sound deafening the scene so the ability to toggle subtitles is useful. If the BBC can do it for popular drama, science and nature, why can`t others?

Conclusion

Why bother remaking an already classic of a film? You`ll glean the rationale in the cast and crew interviews presented here. As stated by producer Anne Pivcevic, Boris Pasternak`s book is a favourite but David Lean`s Doctor Zhivago (1965) didn`t get to the heart of the love story from the book, so there was room to make a fresh, contemporary film. Plus a modern audience is hardly going to be interested in a film made in 1965 unless there`s something new to pique that interest. These are interesting thoughts, as I`ve never read the book. I did watch Lean`s film afterwards to make my own comparisons.

There are some small differences in story. In Zhivago (2002), there`s a more sinister painting of Komarovsky (Sam Neill), which leads to contempt from Zhivago and Lara. Neill plays it so well too; a character that has power, money and influence. The opening scene of Zhivago`s father committing suicide whilst laying blame with his lawyer, Komarovsky, is indelible upon Zhivago as a child. This contempt is not built up enough in David Lean`s film. Tonya`s parents adopt Zhivago, as a young boy, and they grow up together, finally getting married to each other. This relationship between Zhivago and Tonya isn`t as prevalent in Zhivago (1965). Finally, there`s the issue of Lara`s revolutionist husband, Pasha, who becomes disenchanted with her and joins the army. Later in the story he happens upon Zhivago`s poetry and he sees just how much his wife means to the doctor, this causes him to commit suicide. This is another element missing from Lean`s film; the mere fact that the poems of a stranger knowing one`s wife so intimately can drive a man to take his own life. Doctor Zhivago (1965) features Alec Guiness as Zhivago`s (Omar Sharif) half brother who narrates the back story to a young girl who he thinks is the daughter of Zhivago and Lara. This character is not in the 2002 version.

This is just a small illustration of some of the differences, which lead to a slightly different tone, and throughout there are minor differences with other characters, but nothing major. I still feel however that the essence of the love story is still there with both versions of the film. The moral dilemma of loving and carrying on with someone else while still married and trying to follow one`s heart can still be seen. This applies equally to Zhivago as well as Lara.

In terms of comparison then, I can whole-heartedly say that I prefer David Lean`s film. Visually, Lean paints a far more beautiful film with attention to detail, physical space and character not seen in the new Zhivago. There`s colour, life and love too that is difficult to get out of the new film. Written by Robert Bolt (Lawrence of Arabia, Ryan`s Daughter), the film doesn`t drag on with its long runtime compared to Andrew Davies` 2002 version.

I feel that the two leads of Hans Matheson and Keira Knightly, lack the chemistry of Omar Sharif and Julie Christie in their lead roles; they deliver their lines and try to remember to show some emotion, but they concentrate too much and forget how to `feel` their characters. Sam Neill on the other hand is very good and never seems to age no matter what part he plays. Kris Marshall as Lara`s husband "Pasha" is an interesting choice since I`ve only ever seen him in the BBC sitcom, My Family as the twit older brother. He works well enough. Casting issues aside, I felt somewhat bored watching the first 110 minutes unfold and I think the problem may lie with our inexperienced leads and the fact that the film looks really grim. It`s hard to see the romance and passion in something that looks miserable.

Which version to choose? Despite some of the better elements of Andrew Davies` script coming through in the 2002 Zhivago, I still find myself preferring the old film as I find the passion and visual style far more satisying. If you saw this recent version and enjoyed it, then by all means rent the disc to see if you can live with the video transfer, as it`s not something I would bother watching twice.