A story of epic proportions, based on fact and set in America and Russia in the 1915-1921 period.

And it's also a love story - on a scale to match Doctor Zhivago and Gone With the Wind.

Warren Beatty plays John Reed, an idealistic American Communist smitten with Louise Bryant (Diane Keaton), the free-thinking writer who joins his semi-underground movement.

Together, they are caught up in momentous events in world history which culminate in her trekking across frozen wastes to find him in Finland, after he has fled the Bolsheviks.

When it concentrates on people and not politics, the film is a winner.

Diane Keaton is superb - a tribute to Beatty's Academy Award-winning direction. Oscars also went to cinematographer Vittorio Storaro and best supporting actress Maureen Stapleton for her eye-catching role as a feminist/anarchist.