Combining skill and kitsch, David Lean’s “Doctor Zhivago” is a guilty pleasure, sort of a tasty fruit salad, made up of uneven ingredients. So long as you forget that the film claims to be an adaptation of Boris Pasternak’s epic novel of the Russian Revolution you will have a good time. Listening to and looking at Julie Christie’s gorgeous blue eyes is pleasurable and observing Omar Sharif’s dark looks and teary eyes is not a bad idea either.
However, as a follow-up to Lean’s “Bridge on the River Kwai,” and especially “Lawrence of Arabia,” this spectacular, overbloated and schmaltzy Oscar-nominated epic is quite disappointing, though the same year, 1965, also saw the release of the mega-musical “The Sound of Music,” which swept the Oscars! Which should give you an idea about the kinds of films that compete for and often win Oscars (see below).
Told in an elaborate scheme of flashbacks, the saga, credited to Lean’s frequent collaborator Robert Bolt, chronicles the life of Yuri Zhivago (Sharif) and Tonia Gromeko (Geraldine Chaplin). They meet as youth, when Yuri, an orphan, is taken in by Tonya’s kind parents.
The ambitious Yuri goes on to become a physician and to marry his sweetheart Tonya. But during WWI, he fatefully crosses paths with the Lara (Julie Christie), the beautiful daughter of a dressmaker. Predictably, Yuri and Lara fall passionately in love, but their affair is interrupted by the burst of the Bolshevik Revolution.
Unable to maintain a consistent level of interest for its excessive running time of 197 minutes, “Doctor Zhivago” is not as the equally long but also exciting and powerful “Bridge on the River Kwai” and “Lawrence of Arabia.” Bolt’s script is necessarily episodic but it’s also choppy, leaving out much of the good material in Pasternak’s famed novel.
The second half of the film is particularly schmaltzy, magnifying all the problems of Davis Lean’s typically overblown spectacular style, that would create similar problems in his next outing, “Ryan’s Daughter” (1969)
The ensemble is uneven. Sharif is likable but ultimately miscast; he overdoes the sentimental aspects of his role. Julie Christie is intense, desirable and passionate. Like most UK productions, this one features many gifted thespians, such as Alec Guinness and Tom Courtenay in an Oscar-nominated turn.
As expected, Lean’s handling of the physical aspects is masterly and the film’s production values are polished, perhaps too polished for the subject matter. Largely shot in Spain and Finland, “Doctor Zhivago” offers splendid sights of the harsh Russian winters, collective scenes with masses of extras during the Revolution, Zhivago’s trek across snow. (Warren Beatty’s “Red,” an epic set in the same era and also shot in Finland, is influenced by Lean’ s style and suffers from the same problems)
Jarre’s score, though much praised at the time, gets jarring and repetitive, though it’s very much in tune with the film’s sentimental nature. The lilting tuner, “Lara’s Theme,” was played all over the world in bars and nightclubs, and popularized Balalaika as musical instrument.
“Doctor Zhivago” exerted greater influence on fashion trends than other pictures, specifically the hats and boots, which were designed by Phyllis Dalton.
Cast
Yuri (Omar Sharif)
Tonya (Gerladine Chaplin)
Lara (Julie Christie)
Pasha/Strelinkoff (Tom Courtenay)
Yevgraf (Alec Guinness)
Anna (Siobhan McKenna)
Alexander (Ralph Richardson)
Komarovsky (Rod Steiger)
The Girl (Rita Tashingham)
Amelia (Adrienne Corri)
Credits
Produced by Carlo Ponti.
Directed by David Lean.
Screenplay: Robert Bolt, based on the novel by Boris Pasternak.
Camera: Freddie Young.
Editor: Norman Savage
Original Score: Maurice Jarre.
Production Designer (color): John Box.
Art Direction-Set Decoration (color): John Box; Terry Marsh
Costumes: Phyllis Dalton.
F/X: Eddie Fowlie.
Oscar Nominations: 10
Picture
Director
Screenplay (Adapted):
Supporting Actor: Tom Courtenay
Art Direction-Set Decoration
Cinematography
Art direction
Costume
Music score
Sound
Oscar Awards: 5
Screenplay (Adapted)
Cinematography
Art direction
Costume
Music score
Oscar Context
The 1965 Oscar competition for Best Picture was rather weak. Stanley Kramer’s flawed and pretentious “Ship of Fools” and the screen adaptation of the Broadway comedy “A Thousand Clowns” stood no chance of winning. The other two contenders were made by British directors, Lean’s “Doctor Zhivago” and John Schlesinger’ “Darling!” clearly the most innovative of the nominees, singled out by the New York Film Critics Circle as Best Picture.
For most Academy members, the choice was between “The Sound of Music” and “Doctor Zhivago,” each of which received ten nominations. At the end of the day, the awards were also equally divided, with each movie getting five, though, except for Screenplay, “Doctor Zhivago” received mostly technical awards, such as Color Cinematography, Color Art Direction-Set Decoration, and Color Costume Design.
In 1965, the 24-year-old Julie Christie became the hottest actress in the world as a result of her appearances in two films: “Doctor Zhivago” and “Darling,” for which she won the Best Actress Oscar.
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