The first three hours are spellbinding, with fascinating characters like the ones played by Courtenay and Steiger, but then the film collapses in the last half hour, when most characters go through incomprehensible changes in personality and the plot reaches an awful conclusion.

This very large scale production created a frenzy for romantic period dramas, and was the second epic directed by David Lean. Lean directed very large films, but this three and a half hour historical drama about the Russian revolution, and two lovers ensnared in the politics of the country, is much larger in scope than say "Lawrence of Arabia." The film grew in popularity after the soundtrack was released and the beautifully haunting "Lara's Song" came to public attention. The entire film is made of wintry landscapes and broken people, trying to understand what has happened to their ways of life after the Bolsheviks seized power. The two lovers are Yuri (Sharif) and Lara (Christie), who meet very late in the film, after the revolution has seized the country. Both are married and have children, but find themselves connected to one another thanks to a physical attraction and their own sense of propriety in a time of rebellion. Though the lovers' lives are prominent in the film, it's really a grand epic about Russian history, and literature. Yuri is a poet, a musician, and a physician while Lara does what work she can to get by. Yuri is well off but after the revolution he and his family fall into poverty. Lara has always had to struggle and now is limited by her education and her link to her husband, a leader in the new political sphere. This film spans decades, many locations, and flaunts death in the face of the viewer as easily as a running gag. Though their chemistry is riveting, and their inevitable and depressing end is entertaining, it's them as individuals that makes the film successful. When they're separated onscreen we wait for them to finally be reunited, but more importantly, for them to survive the cruel taunts of a new country, devoid of humanism. They're addressed as characters before they're slapped into a couple, and though their circumstances are very tragic, they are not always defined by the other person. This goes especially for Yuri, because he's the man, so of course he has the most interesting story and character development, but Lara too has her own agency at times, and a troubled past. It's a beautiful film, and if there's one thing you should focus on, it's the vast and all-encompassing cinematography. Some of these scenes have such vibrant color, stoic figures, and huge sets, that it's too much to take in. It's a marvel that something this big became such a big success, or even that it keeps its tone throughout, but the film is very successful in these respects. It's colossal without showing its weight, and it moves pleasantly along, like a quick train ride through the Russian countryside.