Doctor Zhivago (1965) by Kerry Kutzer

Title/Year: Doctor Zhivago (1965)

Director/Birth Country/Year Born: David Lean/England/1908

Budget: $11 Million

Gross: $111,721,910

Synopsis: Set against the back drop of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia & WWI, Doctor Zhivago tells the story of Yuri Zhivago a Russian doctor/poet who's prosperous life is torn apart by revolution, war, and forbidden love.

Narrative and Visual Keywords: Family, war, revolution, romance, power shift, authority, excessive force, cold, strife, desperation, corruption, class warfare, heartbreak, death.

Character Arc: Yuri Zhivago lives a near perfect life until war sends him away from his family and into a forbidden romance with a married woman.  He struggles to stay faithful to his wife & family until he finally gives into his carnal desires.  Yuri fights for what he believes to be right and just in a world of chaos and turmoil.

Camera/lighting/editing technique: Big/epic shots, dramatic lighting/hard shadows, sweeping score, heavy dialogue

Political/ Social Commentary: The film focuses on the struggles of the upper class vs. the lower class people and the latter's revolution gain power over their country.  It also shows how ideals can change and power corrupting.

Historical Relevance/ Recognition: Won 5 out of the 10 Oscars it was nominated for in 1966 and is ranked #39 in AFI's 100 Greatest Films of the Last Century.

Notable Collaboration: Composer Maurice Jarre also composed the music for David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and A Passage to India (1984).

Random fact, Etc.: Maurice Jarre's score for Doctor Zhivago was widely regarded as the film's best attribute.  Director David Lean, however, did not care for it calling it, "overly romantic.

Sources Cites:
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=doctorzhivago.htm

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059113/

Responce Questions:

1)  The whole back drop of this film revolves around the tension between the upper class in power and the lower class fighting for power.  There are a few scenes in the film in which this battle is portrayed.  Firstly, there is the scene showing the Bolshevik's peaceful march down the streets.  As they march they are brutally attacked by police without provocation.  The other is later in the film when the war is on.  We see a Russian officer attempt to spur his troops into battle to no avail.  It is only when Pasha, "one of them" if you will, jumps up and urges his fellow comrades to join him, that the troops move.  These scenes depict the rift between those in charge and the common man.

2)  The main arc of this film shows a man who is clearly a victim of war.  Yuri Zhivago is a man, who through war and conflict, is torn from his future and family.  At the beginning of the film, Zhivago is a young, virile man with all the potential in the world.  When put through the trials of war and the rise of the Red Army, he is beaten and torn apart, leaving him dead and alone by the end of the film.

3)  I do believe that this film gives us all the pleasures of the cinematic experience.  For example, early in the film, we see the funeral of young Yuri's mother.  The music swells, flocks of birds fly away, the world moves in slow motion.  Moments like this define this movie.  The epic showdown between the police and Bolsheviks is just another example of the many melodramtic elements of the film. 

4) This film is difficult because the enemy force changes throughout the film.  In the opening act we see an oppressive upper-class and government.  As the film carries on and the revolutionaries take power, they become corrupted and oppressive.  While both enemies do comit atrocities in the film, there's never a moment where I felt that it was overly exaggerated.  I feel that the enemy force was treated pretty neutral in this film.