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I had always heard of Dr. Zhivago, and it always seemed to be referenced as a love-story that a lot of women loved to watch. That sounded rather sappy to me, so I avoided it for a while. Once I actually watched the movie, I wondered where I reached that impression or where other people reached it, because it just didn't do it for me as a love story, although it has merit in other areas.

The movie stars Omar Shariff and a beautiful and young Julie Christie as Dr. Zhivago and Lara, who are Russians living in the time of the Russian revolution. We follow their separate stories at the beginning of the film, as grows up and becomes a doctor and marries a girl named Tonya (Geraldine Chaplin). Lara is abused by her mother's lover, Komarovsky (Rod Steiger), and is also engaged to marry a young activist. Her life intertwines with Zhivago's by chance on several occasions, one being medical work during the war. They become close, but separate after their work is done, only to find themselves living in the same town later on and unable to resist each other. Meanwhile, political events continue to escalate, and their lives are constantly affected by these changes.

I really liked the first part of this movie. Its scope, its focus on the historical context, its look, and its story are all easy to get involved with and admire. A few lighting choices bothered me, but overall it was a new story (one I hadn't seen other movies about) and interesting. But as it unfolds, the focus moves more towards the relationship with Zhivago and Lara, and it sort of loses its sense of urgency and importance. There are still many good scenes, but honestly, the love story weakened its impact for me.

How much more meaningful would it have been if the movie hadn't gone as far as an affair between its leads, like the characters in The Age of Innocence. In that movie, the married husband has a sort of emotional affair, and the dynamics of an unrealized relationship were so much more intense and interesting. In Dr. Zhivago, we see that Zhivago and Lara work with each other as doctor and nurse for a long period, but not much is shown of why they are drawn to each other. They are sort of generic people in the movie, and neither necessarily projects a really magnetic personality. Personally, I find Zhivago's character a kind man, but Shariff is a little bit creepy, and the dark lighting often used on him makes him look almost sinister at times. His character seems to be very wishy-washy, and a bit too weak to admire. Knowing that he has a beautiful and charming wife at home made me dislike him for going after Lara. And seeing Lara tell him not to make the mistake of getting involved with her at first, but then rush into his arms the second time around made me disappointed with her (although it's a little more understandable on her part because she is more needy and vulnerable as a result of her abuse). I was disappointed in both of them, and as a result, their so-called legendary love story and the poems that Zhivago wrote about her lost meaning for me, and I became an emotionally detached viewer as a result.

Dr. Zhivago is directed by David Lean, who always has a great vision for his movies. This one is extremely wide in its scope and the amount of settings and time that are covered, and especially in showing the amount of change Russia went through at this time. I especially loved the scenes where Zhivago's family travels a long distance by train, and his encounter with Lara's husband who has become an important military leader. There are so many beautiful shots, and so many talented actors, that it's easy to admire many aspects of this film.

But one thing that I just couldn't sell myself on was the music and the use of a repeated theme throughout all three hours. This was the sound of the balalaika, which I suppose sounded very Russian and enticing the first couple of times it was played, but wore itself out in repetitiveness by the movie's end. I also thought the focus on the balalaika that travels with Zhivago wherever he went was more of a forced visual than an important part of the movie.

Oh, and Rod Steiger is quickly becoming one of my favorite actors. I hadn't seen many of his movies until just the past year (The Illustrated Man, In the Heat of the Night, and this movie), and the more I watch him, the more I admire him for his presence and the variety in his choice of roles. I never even recognized him as Komarovsky until after the movie was over and I was looking at the credits. I look forward to checking out more of his career in the future.

Overall, I have mixed feelings about Dr. Zhivago. My initial reaction was to pan it because I lost interest in its emotional story as it progressed, but I can also see that there are many things that make it very impressive as a piece of film-making. It's a masterpiece in many people's eyes. I definitely wouldn't go that far since I found several flaws with it, but I can understand why people think of it as a great film. I guess I'll just sit in the middle on this one.