MGM
insisted that the "Doctor" in Doctor
Zhivago be spelled out rather than abbreviated to "Dr." in all
advertising, a tip-off that the studio wanted the film to be considered
an intellectual "thinking man's" epic like Lawrence
of Arabia rather than a mere entertainment like The
Sound of Music. Based on the Nobel Prize-winning novel by Boris
Pasternak, Zhivago covers
the years prior to, during and after the Russian Revolution, as seen
through the eyes of poet/physician Yuri Zhivago (Omar Sharif). In the
fine tradition of Russian novels, a multitude of characters and subplots
intertwine within the film's 197 minutes, plus intermission. Zhivago
is married to Tonya (Geraldine Chaplin), but carries on an affair with
Lara (Julie Christie), who has been raped by ruthless politician Komarovsky
(Rod Steiger). Meanwhile, Zhivago's half-brother Yevgraf (Alec Guinness)
and the mysterious, revenge-seeking Strelnikoff (Tom Courteney) represent
the "good" and "bad" elements of the Bolshevik revolution. Though director
David Lean handles the massive riot, execution, battle and escape scenes
with his usual spectacular panache, the film scored its biggest points
with the audience in terms of the Yuri/Lara romance. Who can forget
those colorful symbolic shots of spring flowers, orgasmically blossoming
as the lovers rendezvous in Yuri's remote rural cabin--set to the tune
of Maurice Jarre's balalaika-dominated theme music? Jarre received one
of Doctor Zhivago's five
Oscars: the others went to screenwriter Robert Bolt, cinematographer
Freddie Young, art directors John Box and Terry Marsh and set decorator
Dario Simoni, and costumer Phyllis Dalton. The best picture Oscar, however,
went to that "mere entertainment" The
Sound of Music.
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