I went to the classic cinema show at the Colosseum and watched all 192 minutes or Dr. Zhivago the other evening. It’s a good movie but one thing really stuck out to me after the movie that I think is a sign or really good story telling. And acting.
For those not familiar with the film Dr. Zhivago is set during the Russian revolution and is the story of a poet with a loving wife who falls in love with another man’s wife and proceeds to have an affair. The most remarkable thing about the story in my opinion is that in the swirl of tragedies the adulterous Dr. Zhivago remains a sympathetic character without resorting to turning his loving wife into a villain.
Even his mistress’ husband is hardly a villain, more a victim of his own ideals than anything. There is a human villain but he is also a minor player mainly used to highlight the real villain which is, in my opinion anyway, the suppression of individuality demanded by the communists.
I've seen other movies that try to make an adulterous character sympathetic but it rarely works. Few storytellers are able to do more for such a character than portray them as weak.
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