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Dr Zhivago

post #1 of 8
3/13/10 at 3:12pm
Thread Starter 
I just watched it for the first time last night.

I liked it, it was pretty good... but I felt that Zhivago was a bit of a cipher (despite charming work by Mr Shariff) and I was never really that emotionally engaged by the story. My sympathies should have been with Lara after what happened to her, but it was just so boring that I couldn't really care. It had great sets, scenery and scope, but it felt a bit hollow all the same.

None of the characters are particularly likable or otherwise compelling, and it feels like kind of a waste. It got me in the mood for a real Russian Revolution epic, and sadly I don't think one of those exists (in English)


PS I totally want a Romanov movie. In fact, it's been on my mind a bunch in recent days but if there is one 19th century autocratic regime I'd want to be a part of, it would definitely have been Russia under the Tsars. Being a Tsarina must have been awesome, palaces, chocolate, warm nights huddled by the fire while the snow and storms rage outside, followed by moonlit sleigh rides through the Moscow streets

Great fun!


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post #2 of 8
3/13/10 at 3:18pm
Thread Starter 
Oh, and the famous "Lara's Theme" by Maurice Jarre was incredibly grating and repetitive, like calliope music played by a sickly and over worked chimp.
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post #3 of 8
3/14/10 at 12:31am
Try NICHOLAS AND ALEXANDRA. Supremely (some might say too) sympathetic to the Romanovs, but opulent, sprawling and crawling with great Brit actors. And Tom Baker as Rasputin!

Warning: The ending's a killer.
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post #4 of 8
3/14/10 at 11:01am
Zhivago is such a letdown when you consider its Lean's follow up to Lawrence. It's a beautiful looking film but such a snoozer. None of the character work that Lawrence had.
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post #5 of 8
3/15/10 at 12:13pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by soylentgreen View Post
Try NICHOLAS AND ALEXANDRA. Supremely (some might say too) sympathetic to the Romanovs, but opulent, sprawling and crawling with great Brit actors. And Tom Baker as Rasputin!

Warning: The ending's a killer.
I will have to check it out! That does sound cool.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew Woods View Post
Zhivago is such a letdown when you consider its Lean's follow up to Lawrence. It's a beautiful looking film but such a snoozer. None of the character work that Lawrence had.


I almost feel like a bit of a jerk to critize a Lean film (or I wonder if I'm just stupid and somehow don't 'get it' ) but yeah.. it was just a pretty dull and boring film. It had great actors and spectacle, but I just didn't care about any single character in the film. Heck, even if Zhivago himself had died, my reaction would have been one of 'meh'




This guy needs his own movie, BTW. He's a fascinating historical figure.
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post #6 of 8
3/15/10 at 1:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Princess Kate View Post
This guy needs his own movie, BTW. He's a fascinating historical figure.
They made RASPUTIN, a pretty decent HBO film about him in the mid 90s. It's got Alan Rickman as the mad monk and Ian McKellen as Nicholas, plus another great roster of Brit faces. One of my favorite little moments is when, upon being told that Austria will probably sick the Kaiser and Germany on Russia, McKellen dubiously huffs, "Cousin Willy?!".

The greater part of the film is devoted to, obviously, his last years with the Romanovs and his creepy influence, Alexandra comes across as a little too wimpy and emotional(when she was more a Lady Macbeth) and the film juggles the timeline a bit, but it's definately worth a look. (If you can find the damn thing!)

And there's always Hammer Studio's RASPUTIN THE MAD MONK, which, not surprisingly, is more a Hammer type thriller than substantial biopic. Accuracy gets thrown in the river, but Christopher Lee delivers a quite creepy monk.
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post #7 of 8
3/15/10 at 1:21pm
Thread Starter 
There is an HBO Rasputin film? Uh, ok, hang on

::goes to NETFLIX.COM to update my queue::


Thanks so much for the info on that one!

PS Does Rickman ham it up? Because that would be my fear. Rasputin is a legitimately fascinating guy who deserves a serious film about him
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post #8 of 8
3/22/10 at 12:56pm
Thread Starter 
BTW I just saw NICHOLAS AND ALEXANDRA and posted a thread for it. Thanks for the suggestion, I enjoyed it!
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