 Starring: Omar Sharif, Julie Christie, Rod Steiger, Alec GuinnessDirector: David Lean Year Of Release: 1965 Plot: Tracing the life of Russian doctor Yuri Zhivago, the film is set against the backdrop of the First World War and the October Revolution in Russia, with Zhivagos life getting caught up in the events as he marries, becomes a battlefield doctor in the war, has his poetry censured for being anti-communist, escapes to the Ural Mountains, gets conscripted by communist partisans and tries to deal with tumultuous change. All the while, he keeps meeting Lara, a woman he feels a deep passion for (which eventually develops into a love affair), even though hes already married. |
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No epic movie is complete with tales of the difficulties of making it, and how the whole thing was nearly a disaster, and Doctor Zhivago is no exception. Beset by casting problems, accidents on set, a year long shooting schedule and bad critical reaction, its almost a miracle that movie has become the classic it is.
The project started off as essentially a vanity project for producer Carlo Ponti and his then wife Sophia Loren. Well, just as an aside, its worth mentioning that technically they werent married. Although they had a wedding ceremony in 1957, it was later discovered that because hed divorced his first wife in Mexico, this wasnt legally recognised in Italy, making Ponti a bigamist. He and Loren had to have their marriage annulled in 1962, before getting legally wed in 1966.
Doctor Zhivago was a popular novel and so Ponto decided to buy the rights and make a massive epic along the lines of Lawrence Of Arabia, to show off Loren as a true star. As it was Lawrence Of Arabia he wanted to ape, he went off and tried to hoover up as many of the crew as possible, including director David Lean, screenwriter Robert Bolt and production designer John Box.
Lean seems to have allowed Pontis wooing of him to rather go to his head, especially since his last two movies, Bridge Of The River Kwai and Lawrence of Arabia, had been such massive critical and commercial successes. To say he was a bit of a diva is rather an understatement, with even those whod worked with him for years saying he was demanding and awkward right through the Doctor Zhivago experience.
One of the first things Lean did was tell Ponti he didnt want the movie to star Loren. Although this was the whole reason to make the film to start with, Carlo was so pleased to have snagged the Oscar-winner director that he acquiesced and essentially fired his own wife from the movie. One of the first people Lean then cast was Omar Sharif. While the actor had initially asked Lean about playing the smaller role of Pasha, he was surprised when he discovered the director wanted him to play the lead. So were many others, with quite a few people wondering whether Lean had gone too far by casting an Egyptian born and bred actor to play an early 20th Century Russian. Although there are reports Dirk Bogarde and Max Von Sydow for the title role, its believed the director only ever really intended to give it to Sharif.
The rest of the cast was more difficult to find. Despite Lean always being desperate to work with Marlon Brando (he offered him roles in nearly everything he made from Lawrence Of Arabia onwards), the actor didnt even bother to respond to offers of the role of Viktor Komarovsky, and so Lean cast James Mason instead. However after disagreements, largely over how long hed be expected to stay on set despite only having a comparatively small part, Mason left and the role eventually went to Rod Steiger.
The role of Lara was even trickier. After telling Ponti he didnt want Sofia Loren in the role, Lean needed to find a woman the producer would accept, while not feeling the director had merely snubbed his wife and replaced her with someone inferior. While the likes of Yvette Mimieux, Sarah Miles and Jane Fonda were considered for the role, it ultimately went to Julie Christie, based on her appearance in Billy Liar, and the recommendation of John Ford, who directed her in Young Cassidy.
Elsewhere Audrey Hepburn was considered for Tonya, but she felt the role was too small, while screenwriter Robert Bolt wanted Albert Finney to play Pasha. However, Lean wouldnt consider him for the role, due to the fact that Finney had turned him down for Lawrence Of Arabia. Instead Lean plumped for Tom Courtenay.
The next problem was where to film it. Although set in Russia, going there was completely out of the question, due to the fact the Boris Pasternaks novel was banned in the country (and so was the film once it was made, with the first Russian screening not happening until 1994). After considering Scandinavia, they decided it was too cold for the summer scenes, while negotiations to film in Yugoslavia got so embroiled in red tape that the makers of the movie eventually gave up. They then decided on Spain, which might have been under General Francos control, but did at least seem fairly welcoming.
However, Spain doesnt look much like Russia, so on the outskirts of Madrid, a 10-acre mini-Moscow was built, including streets with trolley cars, a replica of the Kremlin and even a train viaduct. It was one of the most elaborate and expensive sets ever built.
Shortly after filming began, Leans temperament started to become a problem. He quarrelled so much with cinematographer Nicolas Roeg, that after only two weeks, Roeg was fired and Lawrence Of Arabia director of photography, Freddie Young, was brought in instead. Lean was apparently so dissatisfied with what Roeg had done, that he ordered everything shot up to that point to be refilmed.
They also discovered that despite assurances Spain would fulfil their needs most notably Lean wanted to be able to show the changing seasons accurately the weather wouldnt play ball. This meant that in the winter scenes, which were mostly filmed in a place called Soria where it was meant to be snowy in the winter, it simply didnt snow. As a result the entire place had to be covered in marble dust and plastic so it looked wintry, while the actors had to be constantly dabbed so they didnt look like they were sweating (some winter scenes, largely massive snowy landscapes, were shot in Sweden and Canada, but this was always part of the schedule).
Likewise, when Lean wanted it to be Spring, he had to import it, with over 4,000 daffodils brought in from Holland to give the sense of a new year starting, in scenes set on Zhivago’s father-in-law’s country estate.
It wasnt just the lengths Lean was going to see his vision fulfilled that was starting to annoy some, with his attitude also causing ructions. Despite Lean and Alec Guinness (who plays Yevgraf in Doctor Zhivago) having had a long working relationship stretching back to 1946s Great Expectations, the actor and director started to fall out. According to Guinness, Lean was “acting the part of a superstar director” and almost seemed to resent having the actor whod helped him have such success with Lawrence Of Arabia and Bridge Over The River Kwai on his set. Lean constantly insulted Guinness, both personally and for his performance, leading to a 20-year rift between the pair, which wasnt resolved until they worked together once more on 1984s A Passage To India.
It also didnt help that Lean pretty much refused to speak to any of the actors off the set. He maintained this was because he didnt want the real personalities of the actors diluting the vision he had for their characters, but many felt he was just being a complete diva and resented him for it.
It also turned out that making a film in a country run by a military dictatorship had its pitfalls. While shooting a sequence where a group of revolutionaries chant songs, as part of the events leading up to the Soviet October revolution, the police were called in as they thought it was a real rebellion they needed to quell. Although the police allowed filming to continue, they stayed and watched, scanning the crowd for anyone who looked too enthused by what they were doing.
And then there was possibly the most famous incident that happened while filming, where Lili Murati was hurt doing a stunt that involved her running alongside a train. This has since developed into a Hollywood legend where its said her legs were cut off in the accident, it wasnt quite that dramatic. The scene called for Murati to run alongside the train, holding onto Zhivagos hand, while he mimicked trying to pull her onto the train. However rather than her hold him (which was safe), Sharif grabbed onto her, and didnt understand when she was calling out for him to let go. She then stumbled and tripped, but luckily had the foresight to tuck herself into a ball, which ensured she didnt lose any limbs. She was indeed hurt and needed to go to the hospital, but was back on set three weeks later. The take with the stumble is included in the final cut of the movie.
That said, although there are reports Lean was privately concerned, those on the set once more didnt seem to think much of his behaviour. Geraldine Chaplin later recalled the incident saying, And everyone hated David Lean the day after that, because you know what he did? … They took her out, and they rushed her to the ambulance, and David just stood there and he said, “Dress the double,” and we continued. And we continued with the double. And everyone said, “How dare he!” but what could he do? We were making a movie, what could he do? Call a day’s rest? No, he said, “Dress the double.”
With all the problems, a planned 10-month shoot stretched to a year, but finally the movie was completed and screened at the Cannes Film Festival. However if Lean was expecting the applause his last two films had gotten which he most decidedly was he was in for a rude awakening. While a few critics defended it, most ripped it apart, calling it schmaltzy Hollywood tripe, with most criticising its lethargic pacing and 220 minute length. While Lean eventually agreed to chop 17 minutes out of the film, he was incensed, and at the time announced that hed never make another movie again.
However he had the last laugh, as while critics may not have liked it, it was a box office smash, and by far the most successful movie of his career. Indeed, adjusted for inflation, BoxOfficeMojo ranks it as the eighth highest grossing movie ever at the US box office, taking $986 million in adjusted dollars, which puts it well ahead of the $741 million Avatar recently made. It also won five Oscars, although while both his previous movies picked up Best Picture gong, Zhivago won for Art Direction, Cinematography, Costume Design, Score and Screenplay.
It was certainly quite a journey to get Doctor Zhivago to the screen, although most would suggest it was a worthwhile one.
TIM ISAAC
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