Beyond the Epic: The Life and Films of David Lean

14. Knight Without Armor: Dr. Zhivago

The฀Peak฀Years฀in฀Hollywood 322 neers.฀The฀film฀historian฀Kevin฀Brownlow฀has฀told฀me฀in฀correspondence฀ that,฀though฀the฀mutiny฀was฀a฀fact,฀“the฀Odessa฀Steps฀massacre฀did฀not฀take฀ place;฀it฀was฀Eisenstein’s฀invention.”฀Nevertheless,฀the฀Odessa฀Steps฀massacre ฀in฀Potemkin฀inspired฀a฀similar฀scene฀in฀Lean’s฀Dr.฀Zhivago.฀In฀any฀case,฀ the฀Revolution฀of฀1905฀was฀the฀beginning฀of฀the฀end฀of฀the฀Russian฀monarchy .฀ As฀ Roquemore฀ puts฀ it,฀ “The฀ smoldering฀ malaise฀ festered฀ for฀ a฀ decade .”2 In฀ 1912,฀ Pasternak฀ was฀ enrolled฀ in฀ the฀ University฀ of฀ Marburg฀ in฀ Germany;฀ he฀ returned฀ home฀ two฀ years฀ later฀ to฀ find฀ conditions฀ growing฀ steadily฀worse.฀After฀the฀outbreak฀of฀World฀War฀I฀in฀1914,฀the฀excessive฀ number฀of฀Russian฀casualties฀at฀the฀front,฀plus฀severe฀wartime฀shortages฀at฀ home,฀caused฀widespread฀discontent฀with฀the฀czar’s฀regime.฀By฀1917,฀riots฀ were฀ breaking฀ out,฀ most฀ notably฀ in฀ Petrograd฀ on฀ March฀ 8,฀ when฀ seven฀ thousand฀workers฀poured฀into฀the฀streets.฀On฀March฀15,฀Czar฀Nicholas฀II฀ abdicated;฀he฀and฀his฀family฀were฀eventually฀shot฀by฀a฀band฀of฀Communist฀ insurgents. By฀October฀1917,฀after฀more฀riots฀and฀mutinies,฀Vladimir฀Lenin,฀the฀leader ฀of฀the฀Bolsheviks,฀a฀cadre฀of฀Marxist฀fanatics,฀was฀fully฀prepared฀to฀take฀over฀ the฀government.฀On฀October฀25,฀Lenin’s฀forces฀stormed฀the฀Winter฀Palace฀ and฀seized฀power.฀John฀Reed,฀the฀American฀journalist-poet,฀wrote฀an฀eyewitness ฀account฀of฀the฀coup฀d’état,฀which฀he฀published฀in฀1919฀as฀Ten฀Days฀That฀ Shook฀the฀World.฀When฀Lenin฀turned฀out฀to฀be฀a฀tyrant,฀however,฀Reed,฀whose฀ life฀ was฀ dramatized฀ in฀ the฀ film฀ Reds฀ (Warren฀ Beatty,฀ 1981),฀ had฀ second฀ thoughts฀about฀his฀endorsement฀of฀Lenin’s฀insurrection. The฀October฀Revolution฀was฀in฀due฀course฀followed฀by฀a฀civil฀war฀pitting ฀the฀Bolsheviks฀(Reds)฀against฀the฀czarist฀counterrevolutionaries฀(Whites).฀ Between฀1918฀and฀1921,฀the฀White฀Guards฀fought฀“an฀endless฀series฀of฀ isolated,฀bloody฀brawls”฀against฀the฀Red฀Guards.฀By฀1921,฀the฀Bolsheviks฀ finally฀prevailed,฀“quickly฀building฀a฀gigantic,฀bureaucratic฀apparatus฀of฀centralized ฀control฀throughout฀Russia.”3 When฀the฀Bolsheviks฀took฀over,฀tight฀censorship฀was฀imposed฀on฀Russian฀ writers.฀Lenin฀died฀in฀1924,฀but฀his฀successor,฀Joseph฀Stalin,฀was,฀if฀anything,฀ more฀brutal.฀Dissident฀writers฀were฀shipped฀off฀to฀the฀gulags฀(internment฀ camps)฀that฀Lenin฀had฀instituted.฀Some฀of฀Pasternak’s฀short฀fiction฀and฀essays ฀from฀the฀early฀1930s฀implied฀his฀growing฀disillusionment฀with฀the฀repressive ฀Communist฀regime฀and,฀thus,฀met฀with฀official฀disapproval.฀As฀a฀ Communist฀official฀ruefully฀remarks฀to฀the฀outspoken฀Yuri฀Zhivago฀in฀Lean’s฀ film฀version฀of฀Dr.฀Zhivago,฀“Your฀attitude฀is฀noted;฀oh฀yes,฀it฀is฀noted.” So฀Pasternak฀curtailed฀his฀creative฀writing฀and฀from฀1934฀to฀1944฀turned฀ to฀ translating฀ Shakespeare’s฀ plays,฀ many฀ of฀ which฀ were฀ presented฀ at฀ the฀ LeanChap14B.indd 322 9/21/06 2:59:19 PM Knight฀without฀Armor 323 Moscow฀Art฀Theater฀by฀the฀renowned฀Russian฀stage฀director฀Konstantin฀ Stanislavsky.฀He฀also฀translated฀other฀Western฀writers฀as฀well,฀to฀make฀a฀living .฀Pasternak’s฀sister,฀Lydia,฀states฀that฀he฀had฀certainly฀begun฀thinking฀in฀ terms฀of฀composing฀a฀big฀novel฀by฀the฀early฀1940s฀and฀that฀“the฀characters฀ in฀it฀grew฀and฀matured”฀until฀in฀the฀winter฀of฀1945฀he฀began฀working฀on฀ what฀would฀become฀Dr.฀Zhivago.฀“I฀want฀to฀write฀something฀deep฀and฀true,”฀ he฀said฀at฀the฀time.4 Yuri฀Zhivago,฀the฀novel’s฀central฀character,฀is฀a฀physician฀and฀a฀poet฀who฀ marries฀his฀childhood฀sweetheart,฀Tonya฀Gromeko.฀But฀he฀then฀falls฀in฀love฀ with฀Lara฀Guishar,฀a฀nurse,฀and฀writes฀some฀lyric฀poems฀dedicated฀to฀her.฀ The฀novel฀is฀semiautobiographical,฀in฀that฀it฀is฀informed฀with฀Pasternak’s฀ personal฀experiences.฀Like฀Pasternak,฀Yuri฀lives฀through฀the฀great฀social฀upheavals ฀of฀the฀First฀World฀War,฀the฀Russian฀Revolution,฀and฀the฀fierce฀civil฀ war฀that฀followed. Yuri฀at฀first฀believes฀firmly฀in฀the฀Revolution.฀When฀the฀czar฀abdicates฀ and฀the฀Revolution฀takes฀hold,฀he฀exclaims฀to฀Lara,฀“Just฀think฀of฀it,฀the฀ whole฀of฀Russia฀has฀had฀its฀roof฀torn฀off.฀.฀.฀.฀Freedom!฀Freedom฀dropped฀ out฀of฀the฀sky,฀freedom฀beyond฀our฀expectations.”5 ฀He฀sees฀the฀Revolution฀ as฀guiding฀the฀Russian฀people฀to฀a฀better฀future. But,฀as฀time฀goes฀on,฀Yuri’s฀positive฀attitude฀gradually฀changes฀to฀one฀of฀ profound฀ disillusionment฀ with฀ the฀ Bolshevik฀ brand฀ of฀ communism.฀ As฀ Kudova฀explains,฀“Material฀deprivation,฀hunger,฀epidemics,฀brutality,฀and฀ the฀ bureaucracy฀ of฀ the฀ Bolshevik฀ regime฀ all฀ inexorably฀ lead฀ Zhivago฀ to฀ change฀his฀view฀of฀the...