Doctor Zhivago (film)

Doctor Zhivago
Theatrical release poster design by Tom Jung
Directed byDavid Lean
Screenplay byRobert Bolt
Based onDoctor Zhivago
1957 novel
by Boris Pasternak
Produced byCarlo Ponti
Starring
Cinematography
Edited byNorman Savage
Music byMaurice Jarre
Production
companies
Distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release dates
  • 22 December 1965 (1965-12-22) (US)
  • 26 April 1966 (1966-04-26) (UK)
  • 10 December 1966 (1966-12-10) (Italy)
Running time
  • 193 minutes[1] (1965 release)
  • 200 minutes (1992 re-release)
Countries
LanguageEnglish
Budget$11 million
Box office$111.7 million (US/Canada)[4]
248.2 million tickets (worldwide)[5]

Doctor Zhivago (/ʒɪˈvɑːɡoʊ/) is a 1965 epic historical romance film directed by David Lean with a screenplay by Robert Bolt, based on the 1957 novel by Boris Pasternak. The story is set in Russia during World War I and the Russian Civil War. The film stars Omar Sharif in the title role as Yuri Zhivago, a married physician and poet whose life is altered by the Russian Revolution and subsequent civil war, and Julie Christie as his love interest Lara Antipova. Geraldine Chaplin, Tom Courtenay, Rod Steiger, Alec Guinness, Ralph Richardson, Siobhán McKenna, and Rita Tushingham play supporting roles.

Although immensely popular in the West, Pasternak's book was banned in the Soviet Union for decades. As the film could not be made there, it was instead filmed mostly in Spain. It was an international co-production between Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Italian producer Carlo Ponti.

Contemporary critics were critical of its length at over three hours and claimed that it trivialized history, but acknowledged the intensity of the love story and the film's treatment of human themes. At the 38th Academy Awards, Doctor Zhivago was nominated for ten Oscars (including Best Picture) and won five: Best Adapted Screenplay, Original Score, Cinematography, Art Direction, and Costume Design. It also won five awards at the 23rd Golden Globe Awards including Best Motion Picture.

As of 2022, it is the ninth highest-grossing film worldwide after adjusting for inflation. In 1998, it was ranked 39th by the American Film Institute on their 100 Years... 100 Movies list, and by the British Film Institute in 1999 as the 27th greatest British film ever.[6]

  1. ^ "DOCTOR ZHIVAGO (A)". British Board of Film Classification. 25 February 1966. Archived from the original on 11 July 2015. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
  2. ^ "Doctor Zhivago (1965)". AFI Catalog. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Doctor Zhivago (1965)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016.
  4. ^ "Doctor Zhivago (1965)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 2 January 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference guinness was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ British Film Institute - Top 100 British Films Archived 12 January 2018 at the Wayback Machine (1999). Retrieved 27 August 2016