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Volume CXXXIII, Number 15 |
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Zhivago offers another big screen Lean experience
DAVIN MICHAELS
COLUMNIST
Last semester, the Bowdoin Film Society brought to campus two of David Lean's epic films, Bridge On The River Kwai (1957) and Lawrence of Arabia (1962). Both of these films received Academy Awards for their brilliant acting, large-scale production efforts and visionary direction. To conclude the Society's fetish for Lean films, this weekend we bring you another not-to-be missed masterpiece, Doctor Zhivago (1965).
Doctor Zhivago, based on the acclaimed novel by Nobel Prize winner Boris Pasternak, tells the story of a surgeon-poet named Yuri Zhivago. The film spans many decades through both the First World War and the Russian Revolution. We see Zhivago (Omar Sharif), who was once an orphan, marry his aristocratic childhood sweetheart, Tanya (Geraldine Chaplin, Charlie Chaplin's daughter) but later fall in love with a less fortunate and very mysterious woman, Lara (Julie Christie), while fulfilling his duties during World War I. Set behind a background of war and political turmoil, this film tells of Zhivago's struggle between fidelity to his devoted wife and passion for his newfound mistress.
The film, like most Lean films, is overlong but nonetheless satisfying. It is a film that is packed with superb acting and visual beauty that won the cast and crew a total of ten Oscar nominations. The film won for best screenplay (Robert Bolt), cinematography, art direction, costume design musical score, but received no awards for acting despite the remarkable performances of the core cast as well as supporting actors Alec Guinness and Rod Steiger. Things that set this film apart include the sweeping music set to Freddie Young's overwhelming scenic shots and the epic use of Panavision. Lean also adds a very tasteful complexion of color photography that is rich and brilliantly realized in such large scales. In particular, there is a very well done scene that includes a powerful exodus sequence on a train.
It is a rare opportunity to see films like Lean's on the big screen, which is where they deserve to be viewed because of their vast cinematic scope and ambitious plots. They focus as much on a beautiful love story as the devastating time period in which such events are being told. Doctor Zhivago will be screened this Friday and Saturday in Smith Auditorium of Sills Hall at 7:00 p.m. and is free and open to all members of the Bowdoin community. We hope you enjoy!
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