Doctor Zhivago

"A Love Caught in the Fire of Revolution"

1965 3h 20m EN

🙌

7.6

BANGER

★7.6TMDB · 1,323

DramaRomanceWar

Synopsis

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The life of a Russian physician and poet who, although married to another, falls in love with a political activist's wife and experiences hardship during World War I and then the October Revolution.

“A Love Caught in the Fire of Revolution”

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Cast

Omar Sharif
Dr. Yuri Zhivago
Julie Christie
Lara Antipova
Geraldine Chaplin
Tonya Gromeko
Rod Steiger
Viktor Komarovsky
Alec Guinness
Gen. Yevgraf Zhivago
Tom Courtenay
Pasha Antipov / Strelnikov
Siobhán McKenna
Anna
Ralph Richardson
Alexander Gromeko

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: David Lean
Writers: Robert Bolt
Languages: English, Russian
Countries: Italy, United Kingdom, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

At 200 minutes, this is a three-hour-plus commitment — longer than 95% of films ever made.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $112M — a 10.2× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

61 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Russian.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 3 countries: Italy, United Kingdom, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by David Lean, shot by Freddie Young. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Maurice Jarre. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Norman Savage shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

David Lean directs. Freddie Young behind the camera. Maurice Jarre scores. Norman Savage cuts. A long sit — settle in. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in Italy, United Kingdom, United States of America. Dialogue in English, Russian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1At 200 minutes, this is a three-hour-plus commitment — longer than 95% of films ever made.
2Grossed $112M — a 10.2× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
361 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Russian.
5International production across 3 countries: Italy, United Kingdom, United States of America.
6Directed by David Lean, shot by Freddie Young. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Maurice Jarre. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Norman Savage shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Omar Sharif and Julie Christie and Geraldine Chaplin carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "A Love Caught in the Fire of Revolution".
11IMDB entry: tt0059113 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12Classified under 14 themes, including "daughter", "based on novel or book", "love triangle", "nurse".

The technical file

Cinematography: Freddie Young
Original score: Maurice Jarre
Editing: Norman Savage
Production design: John Box
Costume design: Phyllis Dalton
Makeup / hair: Grazia De Rossi
Sound: William Steinkamp
Runtime: 200 min · 3h 20m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $11,000,000
Box office: $111,858,363
Return: 1017% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Doctor Zhivago (1965)

Awards

Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score
Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama
Academy Award for Best Costume Design
Academy Award for Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay
Academy Award for Best Production Design
Silver nugget for the best foreign film
Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media
National Board of Review: Top Ten Films
Academy Award for Best Art Direction, Color
Academy Award for Best Costume Design, Color

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

David Lean

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2023-04-02
★ 7/10
David Lean has assembled an excellent cast and together with Maurice Jarre's memorable score and some sweeping cinematography from Freddie Young does considerable justice to the lengthy Pasternak tale of "Yuri" - a Russian physician (Omar Sharif). Alec Guinness, now a General in the Soviet army, takes on the mantle of narrator - using the expertly innocent Rita Tushingham as the conduit for the flashbacks - and gradually we discover that it's all a bit internecine at the start. "Yuri" falls in love with the enigmatic "Lara" (Julie Christie) who just happens to be the love interest for "Komarovsky" (Rod Steiger) who would sell his own mother, he is certainly cheating on her's. Frustrated on that front, he ends up marrying his own cousin "Tonya" (Geraldine Chaplin) but with the end of the Great war looming and the October Revolution subsequently reducing the country to war-torn chaos, nothing is simple as families are split asunder trying to flee the guns and bullets. It turns out that "Lara" ended up marrying Communist big-wig "Pasha" (Tom Courtenay) but the war put paid to that relationship and when "Yuri" discovers this he wonders what might have been! This is a collection of love stories. Love for people, for their country, for a cause - and Lean manages to weave the complexities of the themes without bogging us down in doctrine or too much brutally. We know all of that is going on, but Robert Bolt's inspired screenplay drip feeds us the politics in an eminently appetising fashion whilst ensuring the human stories prevail. The vast expanses of Russia - especially as seen during their train journeys - are impressive, chilling, and allow us a respite from the constant barrage of dialogue that is usually pretty essential in enabling us to follow the plot. If you ever get the chance to sit for three hours and watch this on big screen then take it. This is cinema at it's more powerful and the sheer logistics of mass participation, mass transportation and glorious photography - without a computer to be had - is certainly worth sitting through as this epic washes over you.

Production companies