Doctor Zhivago (Доктор Живаго) is a novel by Boris Pasternak, which was also adapted by Robert Bolt into a 1965 epic film. The novel is named after its protagonist, Yuri Zhivago, a medical doctor and poet. It tells the story of a man torn between two women, set against the backdrop of the 1917 Russian Revolution

The novel

Although it contains passages written in the 1910s and 1920s, Doctor Zhivago was not completed until 1956. It was submitted for publication to the journal Novyi mir but, thanks to Pasternak's difficult relationship with the Soviet government, it was rejected. The following year, it appeared in an Italian translation, and this publication was partly responsible for the fact that the author was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1958. The book was finally published in Russian in 1988, ironically in the pages of Novyi mir.

Zhivago is sensitive and poetic nearly to the point of mysticism. He is distracted by the beauty of ice crystals on a window pane. In medical school, one of his professors reminds him that bacteria may be beautiful under the microscope but does ugly things to people. Yuri Zhivago's idealism stands in brutal contrast to the horrors of the Russian Revolution. He must witness cannibalism, dismemberment, and a young man shot dead for wanting to see his family. Even the love of his life, Lara (sometimes called Larisa), is taken from him.

Pasternak's description of the singer Kubarikha in the chapter 'Iced Rownberries' is virtually identical to how Sofia Satina (sister-in-law/cousin of Sergei Rachmaninov) described Gypsy singer Nadezhda Plevitskaya (1884-1940). Since Rachmaninov was a friend of the Pasternak family, and Plevitskaya a friend of Rachmaninov, Plevitskaya was probably Pasternak's 'mind image' when he wrote the chapter; something which also shows how Pasternak had roots in music.

The film

Primary cast

• Omar Sharif  : Dr. Yuri Zhivago
• Julie Christie  : Lara Antipova
• Geraldine Chaplin  : Tonya
• Rod Steiger  : Victor Komarovsky
• Alec Guinness  : Gen. Yevgraf Zhivago
• Tom Courtenay  : Pasha Antipova/Strelnikov
• Siobhan McKenna  : Abnna
• Ralph Richardson  : Alexander Gromeko
• Rita Tushingham  : The Girl, Lara's daughter
• Klaus Kinski  : Kostoyed Amourski
• Ingrid Pitt  : extra

Award wins:

• Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Drama
• Golden Globe Award for Best Director - Motion Picture – David Lean
• Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama - Omar Sharif
• Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay - Motion Picture - Robert Bolt
• Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay - Robert Bolt
• Academy Award for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color - John Box, Terry Marsh, Dario Simoni
• Academy Award for Original Music Score - Maurice Jarre
• Grammy Award for Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture - Maurice Jarre
• Golden Globe Award for Original Music Score - Maurice Jarre
• Academy Award for Best Cinematography, Color - Freddie Young
• Academy Award for Best Costume Design, Color - Phyllis Dalton

Award nominations:

• Academy Award for Best Picture
• BAFTA Award for Best Film from any source
• Cannes Film Festival - Palme d'or
• Academy Award for Directing - David Lean
• Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor - Tom Courtenay
• Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer - Female - Geraldine Chaplin
• Academy Award for Film Editing - Norman Savage
• Academy Award for Sound - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer : A.W. Watkins & Franklin Milton

Doctor Zhivago is also a miniseries with Hans Matheson and Keira Knightley, first appearing on Masterpiece Theatre in 2002.

There is also an eight-part Russian miniseries expected in 2005.

External links

• Masterpiece Theatre | Doctor Zhivago
• Pasternak, Boris: Doctor Zhivago
• Борис Пастернак/Доктор Живаго
• Сериал Доктор Живаго (2005)