🎬 Doctor Zhivago (1965)
Doctor Zhivago (1965), directed by David Lean, is a sweeping historical romance based on the acclaimed novel by Boris Pasternak. Set against the turbulent backdrop of early 20th-century Russia, the film follows the life of Yuri Zhivago (played by Omar Sharif), a physician and poet whose personal journey is forever changed by war, revolution, and forbidden love.
The story begins in the years leading up to the Russian Revolution and spans through World War I and the Russian Civil War. Yuri is a gentle, idealistic man raised by relatives after being orphaned. He marries his kind and devoted cousin Tonya (Geraldine Chaplin) and begins a promising career in medicine. However, his path crosses with Lara Antipova (Julie Christie), a beautiful, strong-willed woman involved in a complicated and abusive relationship with the manipulative politician Komarovsky (Rod Steiger).
As Russia descends into chaos with the fall of the Tsarist regime and the rise of the Bolsheviks, Yuri and Lara’s lives repeatedly intersect. Despite their commitments to others, their shared experiences and emotional bond draw them into a passionate but tragic love affair. They reunite in the remote Ural Mountains, where Yuri is exiled and working as a field doctor. But even in isolation, the dangers of political loyalty and civil strife loom large.
As Yuri tries to maintain his humanity and poetic spirit amid war-torn devastation, he is torn between duty and desire, love and loyalty. The revolution changes everything: friends become enemies, families are torn apart, and lives are lost in the name of ideology. Ultimately, Yuri and Lara are separated once again, and Yuri’s life ends in obscurity, a broken man haunted by the past.
The story is framed by a Soviet officer searching for Lara, whom he believes to be the daughter of Yuri and Lara, bringing an air of mystery and fate to the tale.
Doctor Zhivago is celebrated for its epic scale, gorgeous cinematography, Maurice Jarre’s haunting score, and its portrayal of personal love caught in the storm of history. It remains one of cinema’s greatest romantic tragedies
