Dr. Zhivago - the novel and the movie

[Koa]

Well the tile of the thread says it all... I read Doctor Zhivago, I finally got to see the movie, which i was curious about, so I wonder if there's someone who wants to discuss it.

I enjoyed both the book and the movie. At first I was a bit disappointed in the movie cos I was waiting for everything to be exactly like in the book, but it wasnt...of course I know it's not meant to be the same, but I can't help having such expectation.

It seems to me that in the movie Lara was more involved with Komarovsky than in the book...In the book she's sort of attracted to him but she despises him a lot too, in the film she seems more to be pretending to despise him... I didn't like Lara much in the movie, especially in the first part. Even in the book, she wasn't my favourite because she is so perfect...and I hate figures of perfect women. Though i didnt manage to hate Lara, cos she was portrayed very well (in the book), but still too perfect to me. Yes, i preferred Tonya, she felt more real to me (even if my mum made me notice that she was 'betrayed and happy with it'...). It felt in a way like the eternal fight between the good, blck-haired woman, and the perfect blonde one, which the other can't equal no matter what. Maybe in the film even more, after all blonde in the 60s was considered close to perfection, if I'm not wrong.
And in this cases, I can't help being on the 'loser's side (and especially, not on the blonde's side). Btw, I was wondering... does the book describe Tonya as black-haired and Lara as blonde? I guess so, cos that's how I expected them to be...

Talking of appearances, I would have liked Zhivago to look different in the movie, just because in my imagination he was different...more feminine in a way, I guess even his appearance should have looked 'sensitive' to me.

I think that the character that came out better in the movie was that of Antipov-Strelnikov. Again i don't particularly agree with the look, but he expressed such strength...Even if again, in the book he was deeper I think, his choices had a deeper explanation. But the movie seems to sum up a lot. I actually think in this case the expectations from the book spoiled the movie for me a bit, cos it feels much more superficial and simplistic compared to the book...but of course, if it had followed it literally it would be at least 6 hours long...

Any more thoughts for discussion? I'd like to comment more on the book, but I need some input as I have the movie's impressions first in my mind now...And the book is a vast material for discussion. I read it in a long time, sometimes not touching it for a few weeks, and dspite this I never got realyl lost, even if the plot wasn't the simplest, especially at the beginning. There is some detai that got lost in this process but I'm surprised I didnt have to start it again at some point as i feared..

[Helga]

I am glad someone finally started this thread, I have been planning to do so in a while. I love the movie, in my opinion Zhivago was pretty accurate to what I had imagined. I do agree that he could have been a bit more sensitive. He seemed like a shadow of the real Zhivago.
The book is a lot deeper than the movie and you understand the characters a lot better in the book. Lara was not the best one in the movie, she was too simple in some way. Tonya on the other hand was great. Not the perfect look compared to Lara and she loved her husband so much that she was ready to forgive him. The ending so beautiful cause he always loved them both. I am shure he did love both but Lara was somewhat foreign to him. She came from a different life and didn't know the same things as he did.
I think Zhivago realized that he was 'supposed' to marry Tonya, it was expected, and he loved her but first only as a sister and a friend, maybe always but the love he had for Lara was of a different sort. It was perfect to me that they all end up alone, and when he saw his son he felt the same way as when he saw Lara for the first time. Like he had known him for along time. Lara's husband Strelnikov was not very good in the movie, he didn't look right and I just didn't see the same person as in the book. He had more reason for everything he did in the book, the movie seemed to portray him as a lovesick fool or something like that.....

[Koa]

Yes I agree that Strelnikov in the movie is just a sort of madman and in the book there were deeper reasons to his behaviours, but I really liked his self-confidence in the first part of the movie. To me he still is one of the most impressive characters in the movie... more than Lara, and even more then Zhvago, who as I said lacks intensity to me, you said it right in saying he is a shadow.
I think the story is perfect as it is yes, the way they all end up alone and I also understand about the women, Tonya was like something solid to him, something sure that had to be there, while Lara was the unknown, but I can't help being on Tonya's side for the reasons I mentioned...I would have preferred Lara to be less perfect and less idealised...

[Helga]

yes Strelnikov was very good in the first part of the movie, he was really in love. Unlike Zhivago he seemed more reliable in a way. Not as romantic and wise but smart in his own way. He had feelings he wouldn't deny, but both Lara and Zhivago did. They both abandoned their kids and life, and in the movie she just left, I didn't see any real reason for staying so long.... in the movie I would say Tonya was my fave but in the book probably Strelnikov, but I'm not shure......

[byquist]

I thought Strelnikov was perfectly done in the movie by Tom Corteney, is that the actor's name. His line "The personal life is dead" said a lot. His interview with Zhivago on the train is very well done. Great movie!

[Libram]

Dr Zhivago is fantastic - the movie, as I have yet to read the book. We are talking about the one with Omar Sharif and Julie Christie, aren't we? I haven't seen the other one with...whatever his name is...

[Koa]

I thought Strelnikov was perfectly done in the movie by Tom Corteney, is that the actor's name. His line "The personal life is dead" said a lot. His interview with Zhivago on the train is very well done. Great movie!

I agree, as I said I liked the character as he was portrayed in the movie, and how he represented the ideology somehow... In the book he's a good character too, thought totally different.

Libram, yes it's the one with Omar Sharif we're talking about...is there another one??? I really didnt know.

[Helga]

The one with Omar Sharif is from 197something, but there is another one from 199something were Kiera Knightley plays Lara, that is the one I have seen...

[Libram]

Well we have the Omar Sharif one on DVD. Absolutely fantastic.

[Koa]

The one with Omar Sharif is from 197something, but there is another one from 199something were Kiera Knightley plays Lara, that is the one I have seen...

Wow, so we were talking about two different movies??? LOL! Sorry I didnt specify but I had no idea of the existence of another movie besides the one with Omar Sharif (which is from 1965 if I'm not mistaken).

[Ursa-Major]

Hi all,

well am a newbie here...for me, The movie was GREAT!!!
It shows the everlasting need to break the laws of ordinary love and duty...though he loves Tonya, but Lara represents the love he feels but not always can get!
As mentioned before in this topic, Lara's love was like the revolution to his life...
For me, the best moments where when Zhivago were writing in the hut while its so cold inside, as well this is a perefect reflection of the real cold life outside, and the warm senstive love inside Zhivago!

Omar was great, and so was Lara and Tonya!!!

N.B. I need the novel plz, anyone has the e-book?!

[samah]

hey, I havent read the book yet but I have seen the movie with Omar sherif its a great movie and actually its my favourite and i watched the other movie too with Kiera knightly as lara It was more like a mini series but i'm not sure ,but i liked the first one more and about lara and tonya I think that lara was much more powerful than tonya and more daring ,maybe that was one of the things that attracted Zhivago to her especially in that party when he first saw her when she shot komarovsky.

[bazarov]

Hi all,



N.B. I need the novel plz, anyone has the e-book?!

Nobody, I think. It's not that old book and it's protected.

[dr-zhivago]

...I will never forget those days in Varykino, where me and a Woman of my life spent time loving each other endlessly. Endlessly. I wish it could be so.

And the feeling when I let Her and Katya go with Komarovskiy...

Why?...

I am still in doubt... maybe I thought that I wasn't worth Lara, I didn't deserve Her.......

I wanted Her and Katya to live a better life....

...probably I was mistaken

[Idril]

It seems to me that in the movie Lara was more involved with Komarovsky than in the book...In the book she's sort of attracted to him but she despises him a lot too, in the film she seems more to be pretending to despise him..

I haven't finished watching the movie yet, I just got it from netflix yesterday and got through the first half before my kids kicked me off the tv but I, too, thought movie Lara was certainly a more willing participant in her relationship with Komarovsky than I remember her to be in the book. I always thought she felt obligated to him because of his help to the family, that she was always somewhat uncomfortable with his attentions but in the movie, we don't really see a lot of that until the incident that led to her shooting him. She seemed to...almost...revel in his attentions.