Doctor Zhivago story
Doctor Zhivago is a 1965 epic romantic drama film directed by David Lean with a screenplay by Robert Bolt. It is set in Russia circa World War I and the Russian Civil War of 1918–1922. It is based on the 1957 Boris Pasternak novel Doctor Zhivago. While immensely popular in the West, the book was banned in the Soviet Union for decades. For this reason, the film could not be made in the Soviet Union and was instead filmed mostly in Spain.
10 total · 1 choice · 3 major · 6 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| The Russian Revolution | choice | The film showed how life in Rusia might have changed when the Bolshieviks grabbed power and established the Soviet Union. |
| civilians suffering in war | major | The story depicts the plight experienced by various people in Russia during the Great War, and the Russian Civil War. |
| medical occupation | major | Zhivago was a doctor by profession and training. |
| romantic love | major | The eponymous Doctor had two different love interests: Lara and Tonya. |
| extramarital affair | minor | Zhivago had an affair with Lara while married to Tonya. |
| human nature | minor | There were at least two different scenes where the point was that people struggled to stay alive in the harsh winter weather of inner Russia. |
| husband and wife | minor | Zhivago and Tonya. |
| remembering bygone days | minor | An older Zhivago is recalling the days of yore, in the beginning and the end of the film. |
| sexual assault | minor | Komarovsky raped Lara. |
| World War I | minor | The first part of the story features Russia during the time of the Great War, prior to the revolution. |