Reception
The film was entered into the 1966 Cannes Film Festival.
Despite being a spectacular box office hit, Doctor Zhivago actually received mixed reviews at the time of its release. It was criticised for its length and depiction of the romance between Zhivago and Lara. Lean made Ryan's Daughter in 1970, filmed a made-for-TV short a few years later, then waited until 1984 to make his final film, A Passage to India .
The film left an indelible mark on popular culture and fashion, and to this day remains an extremely popular film: Maurice Jarre's score—particularly "Lara's Theme"—became one of the most famous in cinematic history. Over the years, the film's critical reputation has gained in stature, and today Doctor Zhivago is considered to be one of Lean's finest works and is highly critically acclaimed, along with Lawrence of Arabia, Brief Encounter, The Bridge on the River Kwai, and A Passage to India.
As with the novel itself, the film was banned in the Soviet Union. It was not shown in Russia until 1994.
Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an 85% 'Fresh' rating.
Read more about this topic: Doctor Zhivago (film)
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—Walter Pater (1839–1894)
“Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody’s face but their own; which is the chief reason for that kind of reception it meets in the world, and that so very few are offended with it.”
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