It is difficult to parse how exactly David Leans “Doctor Zhivago” holds up to postmodern standards, given it is an epic historical drama that intertwines the personal with the political in a rather uneven way. The movie is based on Boris Pasternaks novel, which was banned in Russia during the time of production, and both versions end on a note of multiplicity, featuring unconventional ways to conclude a historical romance and highlighting the apolitical nature of Dr. Yuri Zhivagos poetry. While Leans “Doctor Zhivago” still manages to sweep audiences away with its grand scale and decade-spanning central romance, how well does it perform through a politically-charged lens?
Some aspects of “Doctor Zhivago” that portray the October Revolution come off as too vapid on second viewing, while others remain strangely visceral, such as the sudden reveal of a ravaged village during a train journey near the halfway point. However, it is impossible to deny the epic appeal of the film, as the core central conflict within Zhivago himself — a man expected to evolve with the world while nurturing the heart of a poet — remains relevant to this day, albeit in a wholly altered context.
If one simply were to understand the ending in literal terms, the trajectory is simple enough: The film ends with the confirmation that Tonya Komarov is indeed Yuri (Omar Sharif) and Laras (Julie Christie) long-lost daughter. Zhivagos death takes place long before the ending, and whatever ensues afterward plays out as an epilogue that is meant to offer explanations regarding key characters fates (although some are never explained at all). The ending is better contextualized if “Doctor Zhivago” is analyzed as an ever-entwined oppositional motif, wherein the personal and the political always mesh in order to paint an arresting picture.
A good example of the enmeshing of these spaces is the parallel sequence between Yuri and Lara even before they meet one another. While Yuri watches from a high vantage point as Tsarist soldiers attack a group of peaceful protestors on a Moscow street, Lara rides a sleigh alongside the treacherous Komarovsky (who later assaults her), which is intercut with the disruption of the protest. These varying levels of violence — both personal and political at the same time, in both aspects — extend right up until the films ending.
Pasternak ended “Doctor Zhivago” with several threads: Yuris fatal heart attack just as he is within the reach of his lost love, Laras harrowing death in a forced labor camp, and the final conversation between Zhivagos daughter and Misha Gordon (a character who isnt in the movie).
The film ends with a shot of the balalaika, the stringed instrument passed on to a young Zhivago that he has since passed on to his own daughter: Visual confirmation of the familial bond Tonya shares with him. But it also ends with the revelation that Tonya is an artist when it comes to the instrument, a self-taught player who has a natural “gift” — just as Zhivagos mother had with the instrument before the story begins. To be a poet amid a war-torn, volatile world can mean several different things, but in Zhivagos case, the heart eclipsed the mind, and the idea of the individual was greater than that of the state. This is probably why Zhivagos poetry is so utterly divorced from his immediate reality, painting him as a dreamer and an escapist at the same time:
Despite the fact that Zhivagos poems are bereft of true agency, his work is condemned as antagonistic to the Communist regime — much like his character, who harbors a kind of passive acceptance throughout. Despite his poetry being banned, Yuris funeral is well-attended, which is a nod to his legacy and the power and inherent romanticism of his “Lara” poems, which offered hope to suffering Russians even during the dreariest of nights. Although “Doctor Zhivago” remains a hugely imperfect film, often oozing with saccharin sentimentality and relegating the horrors of war to a mere backdrop, in the end, the celebration of the artist is extremely hopeful and life-affirming.
Today, “Dr. Zhivago” is most remembered for the dazzling 1965 movie version starring Omar Sharif and Julie Christie. The long and passionate love affair between Dr. Yuri Zhivago and his nurse Lara Antipova, set amid the terrors of World War I, the Russian Revolution and the Russian Civil War, moved the world. Somewhere in the deep freeze of your brain, the balalaika-played strains of its hallmark song, “Lara’s Theme,” may still tinkle away (I heard it just last week on KING-FM).
Currently at the tiptop of my books-about-books list: “The Zhivago Affair: The Kremlin, the CIA, and the Battle Over a Forbidden Book,” (Pantheon, 352 pp., $26.95), a deeply researched history by Peter Finn, national-security editor for The Washington Post, and writer and translator Petra Couvée. This true account rivals any spy novel in its twists and turns, as it reveals the extent of Russian author Boris Pasternak’s trial by fire after he published his epic novel “Dr. Zhivago.”
Young people still visit the grave of Boris Pasternak, and many recite these lines from his poem “Hamlet”:
Pasternak began creating the story of Zhivago, a doctor whose medical training thrusts him into the horrors of war and revolution, in the early 1930s. He put it aside, then returned to it in 1946, believing that in the postwar atmosphere, the Soviet authorities might allow its publication.
The first concerns Olga Ivinskaya, a young editor and translator that Pasternak fell in love with, despite having a wife and children at home. The character of Lara is partially based on Olga. Olga was arrested, thrown into prison or sent to a labor camp on multiple occasions, because of her association with Pasternak.
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Doctor Zhivago tells the story of Yury Zhivago, a man torn between his love for two women while caught in the tumultuous course of twentieth century Russian history. Yurys mother dies when he is still a young boy, and he is raised by his uncle Kolya. He enrolls at the university in Moscow, studying medicine. There he meets Tonya, and the two marry and have a son, Sasha.
Yury becomes a medical officer in the army and is stationed in a small town. He meets Lara, a woman whom he has seen twice before. The first time, he visited the house of a woman who tried to commit suicide, and he saw Lara, the womans daughter, exchanging glances with an older man, Komarovsky. The second time, Lara tried to shoot Komarovsky at a party and instead wounded a prosecutor from the courts. Lara is married to Pasha, a young soldier who is missing, and she has come west to find him. She has a daughter, Katya, whom she has left in Yuryatin, her birthplace in the Urals.
Yury is captivated by Lara, but he returns to his wife and son in Moscow. Times are difficult, and the family must struggle to find food and firewood. They decide to move east to Varyniko, an estate once owned by Tonyas grandfather but now being worked as a collective. The journey is long and difficult, but when they arrive they find plenty of food and wood. Yury goes to the nearest city, Yuryatin, to use the library. There, he sees Lara once more. They begin an affair that lasts two months before Yury decides to break off contact and confess all to his wife. On his way, he is captured by the partisan army, which conscripts him as a medical officer.
Yury is forced to remain with the army through the end of the war between the Tsarist Whites and the Communist Reds. When he is released, he returns to Yuryatin to find Lara. The two spend several months together, and then they go to Varykino to hide. Laras former husband, Pasha, became a leader in the Urals but is now wanted. Komarovsky returns and urges them to go east with him to avoid being killed. Yurys family has been exiled to Paris, and he is promised the opportunity to join them. Yury tricks Lara into taking her daughter and going with Komarovsky, while he remains at Varykino.
Yury returns to Moscow and finds work. He begins living with Marina, the daughter of a family friend. He and Marina have two children. Yurys old friends Misha and Nicky encourage him to resolve his divided loyalties toward Tonya and Marina. He finds a new job but on the way to his first day at work he dies of a heart attack. Lara comes to the funeral and asks Yurys half-brother, a lawyer, if there is any way to track the location of a child given away to strangers. She stays for several days and then disappears, likely dying in a concentration camp. Years later, Misha and Nicky are fighting in World War II and encounter a laundry-girl, Tanya, who tells them her life story. They determine that she is the daughter of Lara and Yury.
If one simply were to understand the ending in literal terms, the trajectory is simple enough: The film ends with the confirmation that Tonya Komarov is indeed Yuri (Omar Sharif) and Laras (Julie Christie) long-lost daughter. Zhivagos death takes place long before the ending, and whatever ensues afterward plays out as an epilogue that is meant to offer explanations regarding key characters fates (although some are never explained at all). The ending is better contextualized if “Doctor Zhivago” is analyzed as an ever-entwined oppositional motif, wherein the personal and the political always mesh in order to paint an arresting picture.
The film ends with a shot of the balalaika, the stringed instrument passed on to a young Zhivago that he has since passed on to his own daughter: Visual confirmation of the familial bond Tonya shares with him. But it also ends with the revelation that Tonya is an artist when it comes to the instrument, a self-taught player who has a natural “gift” — just as Zhivagos mother had with the instrument before the story begins. To be a poet amid a war-torn, volatile world can mean several different things, but in Zhivagos case, the heart eclipsed the mind, and the idea of the individual was greater than that of the state. This is probably why Zhivagos poetry is so utterly divorced from his immediate reality, painting him as a dreamer and an escapist at the same time:
It is difficult to parse how exactly David Leans “Doctor Zhivago” holds up to postmodern standards, given it is an epic historical drama that intertwines the personal with the political in a rather uneven way. The movie is based on Boris Pasternaks novel, which was banned in Russia during the time of production, and both versions end on a note of multiplicity, featuring unconventional ways to conclude a historical romance and highlighting the apolitical nature of Dr. Yuri Zhivagos poetry. While Leans “Doctor Zhivago” still manages to sweep audiences away with its grand scale and decade-spanning central romance, how well does it perform through a politically-charged lens?
A good example of the enmeshing of these spaces is the parallel sequence between Yuri and Lara even before they meet one another. While Yuri watches from a high vantage point as Tsarist soldiers attack a group of peaceful protestors on a Moscow street, Lara rides a sleigh alongside the treacherous Komarovsky (who later assaults her), which is intercut with the disruption of the protest. These varying levels of violence — both personal and political at the same time, in both aspects — extend right up until the films ending.
Despite the fact that Zhivagos poems are bereft of true agency, his work is condemned as antagonistic to the Communist regime — much like his character, who harbors a kind of passive acceptance throughout. Despite his poetry being banned, Yuris funeral is well-attended, which is a nod to his legacy and the power and inherent romanticism of his “Lara” poems, which offered hope to suffering Russians even during the dreariest of nights. Although “Doctor Zhivago” remains a hugely imperfect film, often oozing with saccharin sentimentality and relegating the horrors of war to a mere backdrop, in the end, the celebration of the artist is extremely hopeful and life-affirming.
FAQ
What happened to Dr Zhivago’s wife and son?
What happened to Lara’s first daughter in Dr Zhivago?
What happened to Lara’s two daughters in Dr Zhivago?
Who is Tanya in Dr Zhivago?