Doctor Zhivago (2002) (TV)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Giacomo Campiotti

Writers:

Boris Pasternak (novel)
Andrew Davies (screenplay)

Release Date:

2 November 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

Young and beautiful Lara is loved by three men: a revolutionary, a mogul, and a doctor. Their lives...

Plot Keywords:

Doctor | Civil War | Female Nudity | Breasts | Remake

Awards:

5 nominations

Cast

Sam MacLintock	...	Little Yury
Keira Knightley	...	Lara Antipova (neé Guishar)
Bill Paterson	...	Alexander Gromyko
Celia Imrie	...	Anna Gromyko
Sam Neill	...	Victor Komarovsky
Daniella Byrne	...	Little Tonya
Nick Stewart	...	Orthodox Priest
Hans Matheson	...	Yury Zhivago
Alexandra Maria Lara	...	Tonya Gromyko Zhivago
Jeremy Clyde	...	Professor
Daniele Liotti	...	Misha Gordon
Anne-Marie Duff	...	Olya Demina
Maryam d'Abo	...	Amalia Guishar
Robert Orr	...	Agitator
Kris Marshall	...	Pasha Antipov / Strelnikov

Also Known As:

Doktor Schiwago (Germany) (DVD title)
Zhivago (UK) (working title)

Runtime:

226 min (3 parts)

Country:

UK | Germany | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Australia:M | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Prague, Czech Republic

Company:

E-Vision

Trivia:

Ioan Gruffudd was originally offered the role of Doctor Yuri Zhivago, but he turned it down.

Quotes:

Yuri: [to Sasha] Perhaps we're standing still and it's the world that's moving past us.

Movie Connections:

Version of "Doutor Jivago" (1959)

Soundtrack:

Korobochka

This is so believable, so true to life!

I am not going to compare two versions of "Doctor Zhivago". To me they are so different that there is not much grounds for comparison.

I possibly can not share fascination with 1965 movie. It could be viewed as a love story performed by two great actors. But it is anything but Boris Pasternak's story. In Russia they would call it "lubok" - a colorful picture, work of one's imagination. Beautiful but having nothing to do with reality.

2002 version is a story that carries one away not only with its plot but also its truthfulness. And I don't mean just following the events of the book.

Boris Pasternak's book is full of pain - personal and collective. 2002 "Doctor Zhivago" shows true Russia, in so many small details - a woman calling chickens, a library in a church building, hospital beds in a corridor, Russian conversations in the background...And pain.

And it is also full of hope, as no matter how horrible life was, hope never died. And you can see hope in the movie - in Lara's eyes, in Yury's smile.

Thumbs up!