Doctor Zhivago: Why I hated it

Warning: This post includes spoilers!!

David and I watched Doctor Zhivago this week, and although he seemed to find it a decent film, I was disgusted.

Let me first mention its good points, as I see them:

+ Great music. I've never heard much balalaika before, and it's quite pretty.

+ Wonderful cinematography. It's not quite like Seven Years in Tibet or The Return of the King, but it's pretty good for its era.

+ Historical background. Now, I'm no historian, and I know very little about the Bolshevik Revolution, so I'm not saying this movie is accurate. But I'm saying the story is well-situated in a historical setting that gives you a good impression of what life may have been like for a wealthy family during the revolution.

+ Good acting. I will admit that the actors and actresses were quite good: realistic, dramatic, emotional, etc.

So actually, on the whole, aside from the plot, the movie was pretty good.

BUT how can you say, "aside from the plot"? In my opinion, the plot is the most important part of the movie. If the plot stinks, the movie stinks. And I was disgusted by the plot. Not only is it extremely depressing--which I suppose makes sense for the time period in which it's set--but it also romanticizes sexual immorality.

What do I mean?

Okay, let's look at Tonya. She's wealthy, gorgeous, a faithful wife, and gives sacrificially to make her husband comfortable and happy. When the war comes, she sells her things to buy meat for his first meal home. She burns precious fuel to keep him warm because she's too selfless to tell him there's not enough fuel to keep the fire going while he's at work. She doesn't complain about losing her house, her things, her lifestyle, her social connections. Even if she isn't happy, she puts on a happy face for her husband. She breaks her back making him a home in a tiny cottage, and she slaves over a garden for their food. She is doting--the ideal wife.

And what does Zhivago do? Runs off to his lady-friend Lara in the next town. His wife is putting in 200% of her time and energy to make him happy, and he makes regular trips to the nearby town to sleep with another woman.

Yeah, makes perfect sense to me.

And then when Tonya and her father and the children get shipped off to Paris while he's effectively a prisoner of war, does he go after them when he's recovered and free? He never even mentions the possibility. Lara says, "He'll never leave Russia." Hello?! Why not?? Instead of trying to find his family, he just shrugs and moves in permanently with the blond chick, Lara. And does the movie seem to point out this isn't really a good idea? No, it glamorizes it. Great.

But does Lara even stay with Zhivago? No, she has to run for her life with her daughter--and unborn child, who's Zhivago's--off to the Far East. But is she with her husband? No, she's running away--albeit reluctantly--with Kamarov, the man with whom she had a secret love affair while she was engaged to someone else!! Yeah, okay. Right.

So we never find out what happens to Zhivago's family. He never sees them again, presumably never hears from them again. I guess they're not important. Lara we see once again, but Zhivago never sees her again after she goes off with Kamarov--except right as Zhivago is dying of a heart attack. (But she doesn't see him, of course.) And then Lara goes off and disappears, presumably dies.

So this love-pentagon-disaster thing never gets resolved. Everyone just dies, and that's that. But Lara and Zhivago's daughter, whom Kamarov had "lost," is the one character with any hope. But what good is the story to her? To find out that the man she called father was not only not her father but also not even married to her mother, that her mother slept around, that her father slept around, etc? Was it a comfort to her to know that her father loved her mother, even though both were married to other people?

Good grief. Who would want to inherit such a family debacle? No wonder she didn't want to own up to being their daughter.

Well, enough ranting. You can watch it and judge for yourself. But I'm staying away from it, thanks. This movie doesn't top my "must-see-again" list.