One of my Favorites

When people ask me what my favorite movie is, sometimes I say "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" and sometimes I say "Dr. Zhivago". It's hard for Zhivago to always be my favorite movie, because when I'm away from it for a while, I go, "Why did I like that movie, again?" But when I'm watching it, I remember.

Zhivago is a Russian epic, which is fairly true to the Pasternak novel it was based on. The two pieces have very different feels, however, and must be viewed as separate works of art, not even interchangeable really. As a Russian story, it's a bit thick with emotional stuff for most American tastes. But still, most Americans will appreciate it. Everyone either loves or hates Dr. Zhivago; there is no middle ground.

Dr. Zhivago is a Russian poet who expects to lead an ordinary life with his wife Tonia. But then World War I and the Russian Revolution conspire to screw up Zhivago's life. Zhivago is swept along by the inexorable tide of history, when all he really wants is a simple private life. From time to time he finds it, with his wife, and then with his lover Lara. But time and time again he is swept away from the simple life he has built. His poetry is suspect by the Communists, and his skills as a doctor are needed by partisans. There are two extremes always vying in this movie, passionate love and terrible hatred, the ravages of total war and the simplicity of a peaceful home, poetry and medicine, art and science, feeling and thought.

"Dr. Zhivago" is a chick flick. I won't deny it. My favorite movie is a chick flick. It's all about a star-crossed romance, it's kind of like Romeo and Juliet, and it's definitely something to see with a girl. (Guys, here's a secret tip: if you watch "Dr. Zhivago" with a girl, it is almost guaranteed that you can hold her throughout the movie.) I myself have cried at the ending. (Yes, that's right, it's a chick flick and I cried. Make fun of me all you like, I'm not ashamed.)

But seriously, this is an exceptional movie. It shows the most tender side of love, and the most horrible side of war, and the two are much more striking due to the comparison with each other. You'll be struck as much by the dragoon which attacks a peaceful crowd as by the poem Dr. Zhivago writes for his love. You'll be as struck by the villages Strelnikov has burnt as by the balalaika song which is Zhivago's only connection to his mother. There may not be enough war scenes to keep an action fan happy, but there are some, and there is definitely enough mushy love to keep a hopeless romantic happy. And I'm both, so that's why I love Dr. Zhivago so much.