Despite early mixed reviews from some critics who found its three-hour-plus runtime and focus on romance over politics indulgent, the film was a massive commercial success. It won , including Best Adapted Screenplay for Robert Bolt and Best Original Score, and helped solidify Omar Sharif and Julie Christie as international icons. Why It Still Matters
If Gone with the Wind was the epic of the fire, Dr. Zhivago is the epic of the ice. David Lean and cinematographer Freddie Young utilized the then-new technology of 70mm Panavision to create images of staggering scope. dr.zhivago film
Lean famously shot the film almost entirely in Spain (specifically in Madrid and Soria) because the Cold War made filming in Russia impossible. They built Moscow street sets that stretched for miles, diverted rivers, and imported 40,000 tons of white marble and plaster to simulate the Russian winter. When it didn’t snow, the crew sprayed tons of crushed white marble and industrial salt onto the streets. It created a blinding, ethereal look that has become the visual trademark of the . Despite early mixed reviews from some critics who
The is a monument to a type of filmmaking that no longer exists. It is an epic about internal life, a war movie where the hero refuses to fire a gun, and a romance that ends in separation. As you watch Omar Sharif trudge through endless snow, you realize that Zhivago isn't just a doctor or a poet; he is the ghost of old Russia, a man who loved too much to survive the 20th century. Zhivago is the epic of the ice