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Dr. Zhivago (1965) - Uncut (Patreon)

Published:
2025-08-02 02:39:02
Imported:
2026-06

Content

Julie Christie, Omar Sharif, Geraldine Chaplin, Tom Courtenay, Rod Steiger, Alec Guinness, Ralph Richardson

Comments

Clare Manion

Excellent reaction! This made my week :) Pasternak, Tolstoy, and Dostoyevsky were a huge part of why I studied Russian in college... and got my butt kicked by it daily, but that’s another story. Yes – Komarovsky is a gross piece of [redacted]. And then Pasha isn’t great either, in the end. In a way, they’re two versions of whatever you call the opposite of a humanist. However, both actors were excellent. And of course the two leads were phenomenal. Your note about the focus on eyes is spot on. I’m so, so glad you guys enjoyed this movie! P.S. – Good news: the novel isn’t that long. I highly recommend it!

Clare Manion

A few background notes, then I’ll let you be: Dr. Zhivago was (very) loosely based on Pasternak’s own experiences. He was primarily a poet and lived through the revolution. And yes, there was a Lara. Her name was Olga. At one point she was arrested and thrown into a gulag because she refused to inform on Pasternak and his work that was “disapproved of by the party.” She was released about 4 years later. When Zhivago was finished, Pasternak had to smuggle it out of the country to publish it. He had a contact in Italy, so it was first published in Italian (1957)...then quickly became a global phenomenon.

BrummaGen

Well, I had planned to spend this morning reading, while on holiday waiting for the rain to stop so that I can go out. But instead I spent it rewatching this amazing film, enjoying sharing your first viewing. It's many years since I first saw it, and I've seen bits of it when it's been on tv since, but this is my first proper rewatch for maybe 20 years or more. I had forgotten a lot of the details, but many of those iconic scenes you commented on were those that have lived with me. The theme tune (Lara's song) is one of the most familiar things about it - numerous recordings were made of it, many of them with words added, and some became big hits in the late 60s, so I grew up hearing that tune a lot in my childhood. And personally I love long films; I'd love it if we had more good films at this length (with an intermission too). Now the sun's out, I shall head off to explore my holiday location, with the balalaika theme tune echoing in my head!

Erin Mileur

Since you enjoyed this and if you interested in this period in history you might want to check out Fall of Eagles (1974) a 13 part miniseries from the BBC about the fall of the German, Austro-Hungarian, and Russian empires. And in it Lenin is played by Patrick Stewart.

Jeff

This is one of my favorite films of all time, and every time I watch it I see something new and appreciate it more. I also like the book, and while I usually prefer film adaptations to be true and accurate to the source material, I think David Lean and screenwriter Robert Bolt made some effective decisions when they changed some aspects of the novel to suit the needs of the movie. The book covers a much longer time period with many more characters, going into more detail about the parents of Yuri, Lara, and Pasha. (It's implied that Komarovsky pushed Zhivago's father to commit suicide in order to cheat the family out of their rightful inheritance.) Much of the novel includes minor characters discussing and debating political, social, and metaphysical issues as the world around them crumbles, and much of the narrative can be rambling and disjointed. A faithful adaptation really wouldn't have worked as a film, so they created the framing device of having Zhivago's half-brother narrating the story to his niece. You both caught on to the fact that a major theme of the movie is observation, and that's shown by filming many scenes through windows, and also the repeated focus on eyes, which of course are the windows to the soul. David Lean actually gave an acting direction to Omar Sharif, telling him to "do nothing" in his scenes. He wanted him to be the Poet/Observer, watching the events of his life and his world change and fall apart. The movie took a year to make, and they filmed most of it in Spain, since there was no access to the Soviet Union at the time. David Lean had two complete city blocks built, including the houses for the interior scenes. It was dreadfully hot most of the time, and all of the snow and ice was fake. The scenes in the vast frozen expanses were filmed in northern Finland. This is all described in a documentary from 1995 that was created for the 30th anniversary of the movie. Here's the link: youtube.com/watch?v=B85kuqH04Rc&list=WL&index=6 There's also a short video about David Lean's scene transitions in all his movies, which contains no major spoilers: youtube.com/watch?v=KTv6jqKUNz8&list=WL&index=7 I was waiting for Kevin to recognize Rod Steiger as Komarovsky, but I see he did only after it was over. That was an incredible performance. Tonya was played by Geraldine Chaplin, the daughter of Charlie Chaplin, and the mother of Oona Chaplin, who played Talisa, Robb Stark's wife, in "Game of Thrones." And I loved when Joe said, "That looks like Klaus Kinsky." Yep, it was. I also laughed out loud when Kevin yelled, "Zhivag-HO!" It makes me sad to think that we may never see an original film like this ever again, an epic story shot on location, on real film, in which the director strives to tell a powerful story visually. Fortunately we still have the ability to go back and watch these classic movies and share them with the world.

Youtalkingtome
>>182677881

Completely agree. I would love for a big budget, epic drama like this to return to production, shot on film and on location. I have sincere hope that The Odyssey uses those elements.

Erin Mileur

Alec Guinness and David Lean worked together six times Great Expectations (1946), Oliver Twist (1948), Bridge On The River Kwai (1957), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Doctor Zhivago (1965), and Passage to India (1984). They had a very contentious relationship.

Erin Mileur

Since you guys are Rod Steiger fans another movie you might want to check out is Oklahoma (1955). Based on the Rogers and Hammerstein musical he’s very good and he described it as one toughest roles in his career due to the dancing.

Erin Mileur

Because Rod Steiger was basically the only American on set he said “All I wanted to do was not embarrass myself”.

Ben Gilbert

Lara's Theme was a big hit both as an instrumental version and, after lyrics were written for it, as a vocal performance by Ray Conniff called Somewhere My Love. Our middle school glee club sang it in 1969.