Doctor Zhivago

Doctor Zhivago is a real American melodrama that overwhelms with its grandeur and entertains for all of its three hours. The film's characters and their tribulations never really grip, however, which may partly be because the plot consists rather of a series of individual scenes that do not form a coherent story.

The action spans a long period that includes, among other things, the First World War and the October Revolution. The protagonist is the doctor Yuri Zhivago, who marries Tonya, the daughter of the foster parents with whom he grew up. Several times his path crosses that of Lara, who comes from less well-off circumstances than himself. The first time Yuri sees Lara is at an elegant party, where she forces her way in and shoots the man, Victor Komarovsky, who seduced her and indirectly caused her mother's death. Yuri and Lara come to work together in the field during the war, where she assists him as a nurse, but only later do they become lovers. Fate and the tumultuous political situation eventually separate them.