Doctor Zhivago (1965)

Note:       This review contains spoilers!

            All screen shots are the sole property of Warner Brothers.

Director – David Lean

Starring – Omar Sharif, Julie Christie, Geraldine Chaplin

Running time – 192 minutes

Distinctions – AFI’s Top 100: No. 39

Doctor Zhivago is based on the book of the same name by Boris Pasternak. The book was banned in the Soviet Union but became popular internationally. The film was released in 1965 and won several awards and is considered to be one of director David Lean’s three great epics. (The others were Lawrence of Arabia and Bridge on the River Kwai.) It even caused something of a fashion sensation with the “Zhivago look” sweeping across Europe and America.

This Russian epic, was filmed mostly in Spain and starred an Egyptian. Difficult to pull off? Not if you are David Lean!

Weighing in at a hefty 192 minutes, there are wealth of scenes for The Guru to choose from. Let’s find out which ones he selected and why...

Synopsis

Set in Russia, Doctor Zhivago tells the story of Dr Yuri Zhivago (Omar Sharif), doctor and poet, beginning with the death of his mother when he was ten and ending with his own death as a result of a heart attack many years later. The story is narrated by Zhivago’s brother, a Soviet general, who is telling the story of Zhivago’s life to a girl who he believes to be Zhivago’s daughter.

Zhivago marries Tonya (Geraldin Chaplin) but later serves during World War I and meets a nurse called Lara (Julie Christie) whom he develops a friendship with. After returning to Moscow, Zhivago’s brother persuades him and his family to move to the distant countryside, as his poetry is unpopular with the communist regime. After moving, Zhivago meets Lara again and they start to have an affair. Zhivago is then caught up in the fighting between Red and White troops and is forced to leave his family and Lara for a few years. He is later able to rejoin Lara but his wife and son have moved to Paris. Eventually, Lara is also forced to move away and Zhivago is left alone.

Great Scene 1 : “There will be no more peaceful demonstrations.” (Disc 1 - 00:31:47 to 00:35:40)

Pasha, Lara’s fiancé, is leading a peaceful demonstration against the Tsarist regime. However, the authorities are not content to let this protest take place. They send cavalry to charge on the demonstrators and to discourage future protests. The protestors flee in panic but this does not stop the cavalry’s charge. Many of the protestors are killed and Pasha is injured. Zhivago watches the massacre from his family’s balcony. He runs down to the street to attend to the injured but is forced to go back inside by the cavalry commander.

The scene ends with a shot of blood on snow.

This scene is the catalyst for a major change in Pasha. It takes this man of peace and leads him on to his path as the feared Red warrior, Strelnikov, who Zhivago will meet again later. When we meet Pasha again, we regard him very differently from the naïve boy that he is portrayed as early in the movie.

Pasha is not the only character that this scene has an effect on. It is difficult to quantify the effect on Zhivago but it certainly must have created an increased sympathy for the revolutionaries.

This scene is memorable for its sheer horror and brutality. It shows Russian high society as indifferent to the plight of the common people. After this scene we also are feeling sympathetic to those wanting to change Russia. One final point to make is that the cavalry appears outdated and almost quaint. This is perhaps an indication that times are changing in Russia and not in favour of the Tsarist dictatorship.

Great Scene 2 : “Are you a nurse?” (Disc 1 - 01:13:46 to 01:18:06)

Zhivago is travelling with a group of soldiers that are deserting. On the way, they encounter a group of reinforcements heading for the front. The deserters try to persuade the reinforcements to join them. An officer jumps onto a barrel and tries to persuade the troops to continue their march to the front. Comically, the officer falls into the barrel. He is then shot by one of the deserters. The remaining officers, including the commanding officer, are then brutally killed by the deserters. Once again, Zhivago is left to attend to the wounded. He is assisted by Lara who is serving as a nurse in the war.

The Tsarist regime is summed up by the way commanding officer. He is aloof, arrogant and has a rather outdated and ludicrous appearance. Thus, this scene has similarities to Great Scene 1. However, in this scene it is the revolutionaries that are cruel and brutal.

This scene also serves to officially introduce Lara and Zhivago and is thus important to the plot. After this scene, Lara and Zhivago work together and a friendship and a mutual admiration are formed.

Great Scene 3 : “Anna taught me to write at this desk.” (Disc 2 - 00:53:00 to 00:55:35)

Tonya’s family’s country home consists of a grand house and a more modest cottage. When Zhivago and Tonya live there, they live in the cottage because the house is boarded up and entry into it is forbidden. When Zhivago later returns with Lara, they use the main house. Having been left empty for many years, the interior of the house is filled with ice. The house is completely white and extremely beautiful. The attention to detail is fantastic and the play of light and shadow is enchanting. All of the ice in the scene is actually wax. It must have taken an enormous amount of effort for the filmmakers to create this ice palace but the final result is well worth the effort. It is perhaps the image that lingers longest after watching the movie.

The house is like a fairy tale. This is in bleak contrast to the actual situation in Russia at the time and Lara and Zhivago’s situation. Nevertheless, they are able to find temporary refuge at the house. Zhivago starts to write poetry again. Things look promising for a while but the wolves, canine and other, are never far away.

Entry into the house was forbidden. But where Zhivago was previously unwilling to enter, this time he is willing to. It seems that this is an extension of his adultery. Once one forbidden barrier is broken, the next is broken more easily.

It is interesting to note that while Tonya lived in the cottage with Zhivago, Lara got to live in the better house. It seems that Lara always got to have the best of Zhivago.