Doctor Zhivago (1965)

The life of a Russian physician and poet who, although married to another, falls in love with a political activist's wife and experiences hardship during the First World War and then the October Revolution.

Director:

David Lean

Writers:

Boris Pasternak (novel) (as Boris Leonidovic Pasternak), Robert Bolt (screenplay)

Stars:

Omar Sharif, Julie Christie, Geraldine Chaplin

Won 5 Oscars. Another 16 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Omar Sharif	...	Yuri
Julie Christie	...	Lara
Geraldine Chaplin	...	Tonya
Rod Steiger	...	Komarovsky
Alec Guinness	...	Yevgraf
Tom Courtenay	...	Pasha
Siobhan McKenna	...	Anna
Ralph Richardson	...	Alexander
Rita Tushingham	...	The Girl
Jeffrey Rockland	...	Sasha
Tarek Sharif	...	Yuri at 8 Years Old
Bernard Kay	...	The Bolshevik
Klaus Kinski	...	Kostoyed
Gérard Tichy	...	Liberius (as Gerard Tichy)
Noel Willman	...	Razin

Storyline

During the Russian Revolution, Yuri Zhivago, is a young doctor who has been raised by his aunt and uncle following his father's suicide. Yuri falls in love with beautiful Lara Guishar, who has been having an affair with her mother's lover, Victor Komarovsky, an unscrupulous businessman. Yuri, however, ends up marrying his cousin, Tonya. But when he and Lara meet again years later, the spark of love reignites.

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Plot Keywords:

russian revolution | russia | bolshevik | poet | poetry | 

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Taglines:

In a world of guns and ice there is the great noise of battle and the greater silence of lovers

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for mature themes

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA Italy UK

Language:

English Russian French

Release Date:

31 December 1965 (USA)

Also Known As:

Doktor Živago

Filming Locations:

Aldeadávila de la Ribera, Salamanca, Spain

Box Office

Budget:

$11,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$111,722,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Carlo Ponti Production, Sostar S.A.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

197 min 192 min (1999 re-release) 200 min (1992 re-release)

Sound Mix:

3 Channel Stereo (Westrex Recording System) (5.0) (L-R)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

David Lean reused some of the crew of Lawrence of Arabia (1962) - script writer Robert Bolt, composer Maurice Jarre, and production designer John Box, not to mention actors Omar Sharif and Alec Guinness.

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Goofs

When a near-frozen Zhivago gets back to civilization after deserting the Red Partisans, he is almost run over by a train. After jumping out of the way, he asks a man in front of the train station where he is. The sign in Cyrillic on the station reads (due to transposed letters) "Yuryaitin", not "Yuriyatin".

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Quotes

Gen. Yevgraf Zhivago: I told myself it was beneath my dignity to arrest a man for pilfering firewood. But nothing ordered by the party is beneath the dignity of any man, and the party was right: One man desperate for a bit of fuel is pathetic. Five million people desperate for fuel will destroy a city. That was the first time I ever saw my brother. But I knew him. And I knew that I would disobey the party. Perhaps it was the tie of blood between us, but I doubt it. We were only half tied anyway, and bothers will ...

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Connections

Featured in Leila (1997)

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Soundtracks

The Internationale
Lyrics by Eugène Pottier
Music by Pierre De Geyter
[Sung by crowd in the street]

User Reviews

A Grand and Elegant Entertainment

David Lean's "Doctor Zhivago" is a classic film, one that will live on as long as their are films. There are scenes in this movie that will invariably become

indelibly etched in the viewers imagination: The opening funeral march through the vast Siberian landscape, the grandeur of the Czarist Russian palaces, the march of the revolutionaries through the Moscow boulevards, the train ride

straight out of Dante's Inferno, the Ice-covered interior of the Zhivago country estate (a truly magical moment in the film), the wealth of beauty captured in the cinematography of this film is astonishing. Julie Christie's Lara is one of those great screen personas--she becomes a woman of such mysterious beauty. The

final scene of Yuri's desperate attempt to reach her in the crowded Soviet

Moscow is heartbreaking. And that music score! The opening film credits with Jarre's genuinely beautiful music, complete with balalaikas sets the mood for this great, grand entertainment. One of the best ever!