The general consensus on Amazon is that the cinematography is great, and the epic scope is definitely epic. But that the acting seems nothing extraordinary. I have now seen it, and have little to add. The story itself’s is very good, and it does a great job driving home the fascinating and devastating power shifts that come with revolutions. With the aristocrats and peasants, politicians and military all swept up in it. Perhaps the most memorable performance in the film is the forty-five seconds with that guy on the train from Moscow to the country saying “clap for the man.” I really am reluctant to be negative about such a long and moving film. My issue is simply that for me to watch an epic repeatedly (i.e. buy the DVD), there’s got to be more pearls of great acting and direction vis-à-vis whatever auteur theory one subscribes to. For me, it seems a little sparse.

“David Lean focused all his talent as an epic-maker on Boris Pasternak’s sweeping novel about a doctor-poet in revolutionary Russia. The results may sometimes veer toward soap opera, especially with the screen frequently filled with adoring close-ups of Omar Sharif and Julie Christie, but Lean’s gift for cramming the screen with spectacle is not to be denied.” -- Amazon user