Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by Victor Khomenko (M) on May 02, 2005 at 06:45:48

OK, so maybe I shouldn't have put the conclusion in the headline, but I guess I just couldn't hold it to myself.

Pure dreck. Of highest order.

It took some effort on part of the crew to make the original Zhivago, as lame as it was, look like a masterpiece.

The series is simply pathetic in pretty much EVERY respect.

One can start (not in any order) with Keira Knightley. What a horrible idea was to make a 17 yo actress play Lara. Due to her contraversial beauty she managed passingly through the early part, perhaps all the way to the nurse episode, but it all falls completely apart after that.

She knows no first thing about maturity, and simply falls behind as the story progresses, remaining a silly girl as her heroine is gaining life experience.

Something to be said for putting more mature ladies in such roles. I suppose the stake was to captivate the audience with her youth and keep it in its grip, but that shows immaturity on part of the makers, first and foremost. It was not meant to be another teenager movie.

Julie Christie was 24 when she played her Lara, and it seems like al ifetime of experience between these two performances.

That will be a dark spot on Keira's already spotty bio, and something she really didn't have to do.

Shame.

Hans Matheson fairs only slightly better, and by the middle of the movie he is already out of his elements, making Sharif look like a titant of acting.

In fact, among the young actors only Alexandra Maria Lara had something to offer, and she indeed produced a memorable performance, far upstaging the lead lady. Her acting training shows, and there is definitely maturity in her work, that allowes her to develop the character in a believable way... save for a couple of scenes with such a horrible directing that she naturally fell a prey to it. But good work overall, and you will remember her dark and deep Romanian eyes.

A cautious bravo.

With such an acting desert around him, Sam Neill naturally stod out. Strange, as I usually consider him just a mediocre actor. But here, expecially towards the end of the movie, it was he who presented an eye relief.

I will not even bother with directing and other aspects. While the movie obviously screams "Made for TV" in every one of its many minutes, it is also by far not the best made for TV effort.

A brief verdict... if you feel like delving into Pasternak's work and get some real flavor of things of that era, stay with the original film, and simply ignore this monumental fiasco.