For years I never bothered to watch Doctor Zhivago. It is not as if I had ample opportunity to do so, but equally I'm sure I could have had I wanted to. The simple fact is I didn't, it held no interest for me. I wasn't a big fan of Lean (apart from Brief Encounter, which in its small scale I considered the antithesis of Zhivago), I wasn't that keen on Julie Christie (either in terms of looks or her acting) and it just seemed to me to be the 60s version of Titanic (as in today's money there's only the equivalent of $30m between their box office takes) so there really was nothing to pull me in to the film apart from its reputation.
I eventually saw it a couple of years ago when I'd been out for a family meal on a Sunday lunchtime then found it on Channel 4, so the prospect of looking at something pretty whilst acquainting myself with the sofa for the best part of 4 hours (seeing as there were LOTS of advertising breaks) seemed an enticing enough proposition. It's pretty much the same way I ended up seeing Gone With the Wind in its entirity, God bless lazy sunday afternoons 
.
Needless to say I ended up enjoying it a lot. I thought Sharif gave a beautiful watery-eyed performance, Christie was quite good and the score and art direction were utterly stunning (especially the house at Varykino). Seeing as the BFI has given David Lean films re-releases this year to coincide with the centenary of his birth I took the opportunity to see this on the big screen because I can think of very few films that merit being seen in the intended environment more than this one.
The first act in Moscow (a lot of which I'd forgotten) was the best part of the film, it's so beautifully rhythmic, utterly entrancing. This is part of the reason it's so much better than watching it on television as there are no adverts to break up the flow, which is so important in this film. One thing I felt when watching it was the introduction of Lara, you only see Christie's eyes but she has such incredible screen presence you are completely glued to her. This is not an especially challenging role and I was sat there thinking "see this is what the difference is between her and someone nowadays like Keira Knightley," (completely forgetting Keira had done the BBC tv version of the same role , which I turned off after 10 minutes because she was so stiff) "Keira everyone says 'oh she's good for her age' or 'considering', when even though she can be good she just doesn't have that star quality, she's just pretty and being competent isn't enough".
With the war section that follows, well it is a massive coincidence that brings them together (ditto meeting Tom Courtenay on the train) but these serve the drama and aren't the sole reason things are dramatic so I tolerate it. By that I mean the dramas after they've met again aren't about that coincidence, rather the coincidence brings them together and then we get on with the story again. It's more When Harry Met Sally than Crash where every tiny coincidence is the whole point of the film and the screenplay is a house of cards (e.g. you take away Christie and Sharif meeting on the front, he'd still meet Courtenay on the train and know him).
Watching this film get the big screen treatment, it's much more seductive in its intended medium. The music enraptures and added to the sets and costumes the scale and scope of it all is heightened. I enjoyed the film more this time around but I'd actually forgotten how much I liked it the first time I saw it. The cinematography is breathtaking at times and there isn't a false note in the cast. What this has done though is made me want to read the book and even check out the BBC version if I can (as I had NO idea Alexandra Maria Lara was in it and I can actually picture the lad from the BT adverts in the Tom Courtenay role and that is intriguing to see how he'd do with it), possibly the latest Russian one too if I can find the subs and a torrent. To me it's obvious why this is one of the top 10 films of all time at the box office (when adjusted for inflation) and it was thoroughly worth every penny paid and every mile driven to see it. Vintage stuff, nobody makes them like David Lean did and if they did then his films wouldn't be as special as they are, like them, love them or loathe them.