Doctor Zhivago (film)
Doctor Zhivago (/ʒɪˈvɑːɡoʊ/) is a 1965 epic historical romance film directed by David Lean with a screenplay by Robert Bolt, based on the 1957 novel by Boris Pasternak. The story is set in Russia during World War I and the Russian Civil War. The film stars Omar Sharif in the title role as Yuri Zhivago, a married physician and poet whose life is altered by the Russian Revolution and subsequent civil war, and Julie Christie as his love interest Lara Antipova. Geraldine Chaplin, Tom Courtenay, Rod Steiger, Alec Guinness, Ralph Richardson, Siobhán McKenna, and Rita Tushingham play supporting roles.
Doctor Zhivago
Doctor Zhivago
1957 novel
by Boris Pasternak
- Carlo Ponti Productions
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
- 22 December 1965 (US)
- 26 April 1966 (UK)
- 10 December 1966 (Italy)
- 193 minutes[1] (1965 release)
- 200 minutes (1992 re-release)
English
$11 million
While immensely popular in the West, Pasternak's book was banned in the Soviet Union for decades. As the film could not be made there, it was instead filmed mostly in Spain. It was an international co-production between Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Italian producer Carlo Ponti.
Contemporary critics were critical of its length at over three hours and claimed that it trivialized history, but acknowledged the intensity of the love story and the film's treatment of human themes. At the 38th Academy Awards, Doctor Zhivago won five Oscars: Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, and Best Costume Design. It was nominated for five others (including Best Picture and Best Director), but lost four of these five to The Sound of Music. It also won five awards at the 23rd Golden Globe Awards including Best Motion Picture - Drama and Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama for Sharif.
As of 2022, it is the eighth highest-grossing film of all time in the United States and Canada, adjusted for ticket-price inflation. It is also one of the top ten highest-grossing films worldwide after adjusting for inflation. In 1998, it was ranked by the American Film Institute 39th on their 100 Years... 100 Movies list,[6] and by the British Film Institute the following year as the 27th greatest British film of all time.[7]
Plot[edit]
Part one[edit]
NKVD Lieutenant-General Yevgraf Zhivago searches for the daughter of his half-brother Dr. Yuri Zhivago and Larissa ("Lara") Antipova. Yevgraf believes a young dam worker, Tanya Komarova, may be his niece and explains to her why.
After his mother's burial, the orphaned child Yuri, owning only an inherited balalaika, was taken by family friends Alexander and Anna Gromeko to Moscow. In 1913, Zhivago, now a doctor and poet, becomes engaged to the Gromekos' daughter Tonya after her schooling in Paris.
17-year-old Lara is seduced by her mother's much older friend/lover, the well-connected Victor Komarovsky. Lara's friend, the idealistic Pasha Antipov, who wishes to marry her, is wounded by mounted police at a peaceful demonstration. Lara treats Pasha's wound, and hides a gun he picked up.
Production[edit]
Background[edit]
Boris Pasternak's novel was published in the West amidst celebration and controversy. Pasternak began writing it in 1945, and was giving private readings of excerpts as early as 1946.[8] However, the novel was not completed until 1956. The book had to be smuggled out of the Soviet Union by an Italian called D'Angelo to be delivered to Giangiacomo Feltrinelli, a left-wing Italian publisher who published it shortly thereafter, in 1957. Helped by a Soviet campaign against the novel, it became a sensation throughout the non-communist world.[9][10] It spent 26 weeks atop The New York Times best-seller list.[11]
Pasternak was awarded the 1958 Nobel Prize for Literature.[12] While the citation noted his poetry, it was speculated that the prize was mainly for Doctor Zhivago,[a] which the Soviet government saw as an anti-Soviet work, thus interpreting the award of the Nobel Prize as a gesture hostile to the Soviet Union.[12][13][8] A target of the Soviet government's fervent campaign to label him a traitor, Pasternak felt compelled to refuse the Prize. The situation became an international cause célèbre and made Pasternak a Cold War symbol of resistance to Soviet communism.[14]
Development and casting[edit]
The film treatment by David Lean was proposed for various reasons. Pasternak's novel had been an international success, and producer Carlo Ponti was interested in adapting it as a vehicle for his wife, Sophia Loren.[15] Lean, coming off the huge success of Lawrence of Arabia (1962), wanted to make a more intimate, romantic film to balance the action- and adventure-oriented tone of his previous film. One of the first actors signed onboard was Omar Sharif, who had played Lawrence's right-hand man Sherif Ali in Lawrence of Arabia. Sharif loved the novel, and when he heard Lean was making a film adaptation, he requested to be cast in the role of Pasha (which ultimately went to Tom Courtenay).
Sharif was quite surprised when Lean suggested that he play Zhivago. Peter O'Toole, star of Lawrence of Arabia, was Lean's original choice for Zhivago, but turned the part down;[16] Max von Sydow and Paul Newman also were considered. Rod Taylor was offered the role but turned it down.[17] Michael Caine tells in his autobiography that he also read for Zhivago and participated in the screen shots with Christie, but (after watching the results with David Lean) was the one who suggested Omar Sharif.[18][19] Rod Steiger was cast as Komarovsky after Marlon Brando and James Mason turned the part down.[16] Audrey Hepburn was considered for Tonya, and Robert Bolt lobbied for Albert Finney to play Pasha.
Lean convinced Ponti that Loren was not right for the role of Lara, saying she was "too tall" (and confiding in screenwriter Robert Bolt that he could not accept Loren as a virgin for the early parts of the film), and Jeanne Moreau, Yvette Mimieux, Sarah Miles and Jane Fonda were considered for the role.[20] Ultimately, Julie Christie was cast based on her appearance in Billy Liar (1963)[16] and the recommendation of Jack Cardiff, who directed her in Young Cassidy (1965). Sharif's son Tarek was cast as the young Zhivago, and Sharif directed his son as a way to get closer to his character.[21]
Release[edit]
Theatrical[edit]
Released theatrically on 22 December 1965, the film went on to gross $111.7 million in the United States and Canada across all of its releases, becoming the second highest-grossing film of 1965. It is the eighth highest-grossing film of all time adjusted for inflation.[4] The film sold an estimated 124.1 million tickets in the United States and Canada,[28] equivalent to $1.1 billion adjusted for inflation as of 2018.[29]
In addition, it is the ninth highest-grossing film worldwide after adjusting for inflation.[5][30] The film sold an estimated 248.2 million tickets worldwide, equivalent to $2.1 billion adjusted for inflation as of 2014.[5] It is the most popular film of all time in Italy with 22.9 million admissions.[31] It was the highest-grossing film in Germany with theatrical rentals of 39 million Deutschmarks from 12.75 million admissions[32][33] and also the most popular film of all time in Switzerland with over 1 million admissions.[34] In the United Kingdom, it was the most popular film of the year with 11.2 million admissions[35] and was the third-highest-grossing film of all time in Australia with theatrical rentals of A$2.5 million.[36] The film's 2015 limited re-release in the United Kingdom grossed $138,493.[37]
In May 1966, the film was entered into competition at the 1966 Cannes Film Festival.[38][39]