Doctor Zhivago (1965)
This movie took me some effort to get into. The first part was really uninspiring, not boring or slow, but I had difficulty engaging with the characters or gain any interest in them - especially Lara. The movie improved a good deal for me in the second half, with the long train ride. Klaus Kinski is worth a whole star alone. Once Zhivagos story unfolds the movie opens up and his character arc becomes interesting to follow.
Still, it doesn’t quite have that historical epic feel. It has the building blocks for it, but it falls mostly flat. The movie is not really about the revolution, but a very personal story about Zhivago, his poetry and dreams for living just a normal with a family - or two families in his case. Omar really drives the movie home for me, but he is also the only character I could feel myself being interested in. I wished the movie could have spent more time on explaining his motivations, what was going on with his poetry, how and why is was apparently widely read.
But solid 3 stars for the second half at least.
Rating: 3