Making a masterpiece is usually a nightmare. Honestly, if you look at the production of David Lean's Doctor Zhivago, it’s a miracle the movie even exists, let alone became one of the highest-grossing films of all time. Critics at the time actually hated it. They called it "sentimental" and "languid." But the public? They didn't care. They flocked to theaters in 1965, turning a three-hour-plus Russian epic into a cultural juggernaut.
People often think of it as just a "snow movie" or a sweeping romance. It is. But it’s also a story of a director obsessed with perfection to a degree that almost broke his cast.
The "Russian" Winter That Was Actually a Spanish Heatwave
You’ve seen the ice palace at Varykino. It’s iconic. The frost on the windows, the crystalline beauty of a world frozen in time—it looks like the dead of a Siberian winter.
It wasn't.
Most of Doctor Zhivago was filmed in Spain. Why? Because the Soviet Union banned Boris Pasternak’s novel and certainly wasn't going to let a British director film a "counter-revolutionary" story on their soil. So, David Lean ended up in the suburbs of Madrid and the plains of Soria.
The problem was that 1964 and 1965 saw some of Spain’s warmest winters on record.
Think about that. You have Omar Sharif and Julie Christie draped in heavy fur coats, looking soulful and cold, while the temperature is hitting 110 degrees Fahrenheit. The "snow" you see in many scenes is actually white marble dust from a nearby quarry or crushed salt. For the ice palace, the crew used sheets of plastic and buckets of melted wax to simulate frozen surfaces.
Lean was a "dedicated maniac," a term he used for his crew too. He made them plant 7,000 daffodil bulbs in Soria to capture a specific spring look. When they bloomed too early because of the heat, he had them dug up, put in cold storage, and replanted later. That’s the level of control we’re talking about.
Why Critics Initially Trashed the Film
It's hard to imagine now, but the early reviews for David Lean's Doctor Zhivago were brutal. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times was particularly dismissive. The common complaint was that Lean had turned a complex, political, Nobel Prize-winning novel into a "chocolate box" romance.
Critics felt it was too long. Too pretty.
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They weren't entirely wrong about the length, but they missed the point. Lean wasn't trying to make a political documentary about the Bolshevik Revolution. He was fascinated by the "private man" caught in the gears of history. Yuri Zhivago is a passive character. He doesn't lead the revolution; he survives it. Or tries to.
For the audiences of the mid-60s, this resonated. The Cold War was in full swing. The idea of a personal life being crushed by a massive, unfeeling state was a very real fear.
The Maurice Jarre Factor
Then there's the music. You can't talk about this movie without "Lara’s Theme."
Funny thing is, Lean actually hated the first few versions Maurice Jarre wrote. He told Jarre to go away for the weekend with his girlfriend and "forget about Russia." He wanted something that sounded like love, not a history lesson.
Jarre came back with that haunting balalaika melody. It became so popular that it reached the top of the charts and arguably saved the film's box office. It gave the audience an emotional anchor. Even if the political plot felt dense, you knew how to feel whenever those strings started up.
Casting Gambles and "Puppy Dog Eyes"
Omar Sharif wasn't the first choice for Yuri. He actually wanted to play Pasha, the revolutionary (a role that eventually went to Tom Courtenay). When Lean offered him the lead, Sharif was shocked. He had to have his skin lightened and his eyes taped to look more "Northern Russian."
Sharif’s performance is often criticized for being too "wide-eyed." He spends a lot of the movie just watching. But that’s exactly what Lean wanted. He needed a poet’s face, a mirror to reflect the chaos of the world around him.
And then there's Julie Christie.
Lean fought the studio to get her. They wanted someone more established, but Lean saw a scene in Billy Liar and was sold. Her chemistry with Sharif is strange because, according to set reports, they weren't particularly close off-camera. Sharif reportedly found her habit of eating fried egg sandwiches on set "unromantic."
Yet, on screen, they are electric. It’s a testament to Lean’s ability to manufacture intimacy through framing and lighting.
The Legacy of the "Ice Palace"
The film won five Academy Awards, including Best Adapted Screenplay for Robert Bolt and Best Cinematography for Freddie Young. It didn't win Best Picture—that went to The Sound of Music—but it has arguably stayed in the cultural consciousness just as firmly.
What really happened with Doctor Zhivago is that it marked the end of an era. It was one of the last true "Roadshow" epics—movies with intermissions, printed programs, and a scale that modern CGI simply cannot replicate.
When you see a train steaming across a 1,000-yard set of built Moscow streets, you’re seeing something that took 800 craftsmen months to build. It wasn't "content." It was a monument.
How to Appreciate Zhivago Today
If you're going to watch it (or re-watch it), don't look for a history lesson. The Bolsheviks aren't the "villains" in a traditional sense, and Zhivago isn't a traditional hero.
- Watch the background: Lean used extras—thousands of them—to tell the story of the crowd. The scene where the cavalry charges the peaceful protesters was so realistic that locals in Spain thought a real revolution was happening.
- Listen for the silence: Despite the big score, Lean is a master of using silence before a big emotional beat.
- Focus on Komarovsky: Rod Steiger’s performance as the cynical survivor is arguably the best in the film. He represents the reality of power, regardless of which flag is flying.
Actionable Insights for Cinephiles:
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- Compare the Source: Read Pasternak’s novel after watching. You’ll realize Lean actually stripped away 90% of the philosophy to find the heartbeat of the romance.
- Check the Technicals: Look for the use of "blue" in the cinematography. Freddie Young used specific filters to make the Spanish heat look like a Russian freeze.
- The "Lara" Archetype: Notice how many modern "epic romances" use the template Lean created here—the lovers separated by a world-changing event.
David Lean’s masterpiece remains a divisive, beautiful, and massive achievement. It reminds us that sometimes, the critics are wrong, and a movie’s "sentimental" heart is exactly what makes it immortal.