Doctor Zhivago

Doctor Zhivago - 1965 | 200mins | Drama | Colour

The Production Team

Director: David Lean.
Producer: Carlo Ponti.
Associate Producer: Arvid L. Griffen.
Script: Robert Bolt. (based on the novel by Leonidovic Pasternak)
Cinematography: Freddie Young.
Editing: Norman Savage.
Production Designer: John Box.
Art Direction: Terence Marsh.
Associate Art Director: Gil Parrondo.
Assistant Art Director: Ernest Archer, Bill Hutchinson and Roy Walker.
Costume Design: Phyllis Dalton.
Make-Up Dept: Mario van Riel.
Sound Dept: Winston Ryder, Franklin Milton and William Steinkamp.
Music Score: Maurice Jarre.

The Cast

Omar Sharif - Yuri
Julie Christie - Lara
Geraldine Chaplin - Tonya
Tom Courtenay - Pasha/Strelnikoff
Alec Guinness - Yevgraf
Siobhan McKenna - Anna
Ralph Richardson - Alexander Gromeko
Rod Steiger - Komarovsky
Rita Tushingham - Tonya
Adrienne Corri - Amelia
Geoffrey Keen - Prof. Kurt
Jeffrey Rockland - Sasha
Klaus Kinski - Kostoyed

Plot Synopsis

David Lean’s epic love story based on the Nobel Prize-winning novel by Boris Pasternak. Doctor Zhivago covers the years preceding, during and following the Russian Bolshevik Revolution, as seen through the eyes of charismatic poet/doctor Yuri Zhivago (Omar Sharif). An orphan, Zhivago is caught in a love triangle, married to aristocratic Tonya (Geraldine Chaplin), but later falling in love with the reactionary Lara (Julie Christie). Lara is a nurse who has been raped by ruthless politician Komarovsky (Rod Steiger), and has been a former lover of revolutionary Pasha (Tom Courtenay). The story is narrated by Zhivago's half brother Yevgraf (Alec Guinness), who has made his career in the Soviet Army.

Doctor Zhivago won five Oscars for best adapted screenplay (Robert Bolt), cinematography (Freddie Young), art direction-set decoration (John Box, Terry Marsh, and Dario Simoni), costume design (Phyllis Dalton), and music score (Maurice Jarre). The original New York premiere ran for 200 minutes, Lean later cut it to 180 minutes for general release, though some critics still believe the film to be over-long.