Friday, April 2, 2010

No second chances



 It ended as you would expect it to end, even if you haven't read the book.  You have to admire Zhivago's taste in women, if not the way he treated them.  In the Soviet Union, pride ends with you mopping floors and chopping wood, and acceptance of your lowly place in society and in the world.

Zhivago certainly is an odd character, more in tune with the Nihilists of Lermontov or Turgenev than the rapidly changing world of the 20th century.  He still seemed to hold onto a shred of faith, or at least felt that his low station was a form of penance for his past sins.

I thought the director,  Aleksandr Proshkin, did an excellent job of capturing the changing face of Russia from 1905 to 1929.  A few scenes seemed out of place like Antipov popping up at the cabin shortly after Zhivago had sent off a pregnant Lara and her daughter with Komarovsky.  But, I guess the "war hero" had to confront his sins in the burnt village where he grew up.  Retribution moreso than redemption seemed to be theme of the story.

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