# Was Dr. Zhivago (Movie) Poplar In Russia? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 1, 2013, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dr-zhivago-movie-poplar-in-russia/649069 "2013-02-01T21:04:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2013, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dr-zhivago-movie-poplar-in-russia/649069/1 "2013-02-01T21:04:34Z")
I just saw this 1965 classic-it is an all-time favorite of mine. The story was tragic, but the characters were real-and Julie Christie was so beautiful. The score by Maurice Jarre was as close to perfect as can be. Now, I understand that the film was not released in Russia until years afterward…what did Russian audiences think of it-did they like it? ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2013, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dr-zhivago-movie-poplar-in-russia/649069/2 "2013-02-01T22:57:59Z")
I keep checking back for tree puns. Yew guys are slipping. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2013, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dr-zhivago-movie-poplar-in-russia/649069/3 "2013-02-01T23:05:05Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > I keep checking back for tree puns. Yew guys are slipping. 😉 (Hee hee) Anyway, FWIW , when I was on a river tour from Moscow to St. Petersburg , the ship played the movie in the room . ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2013, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dr-zhivago-movie-poplar-in-russia/649069/4 "2013-02-01T23:17:26Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > I keep checking back for tree puns. Yew guys are slipping. 😉 Stop being such a birch. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dr-zhivago-movie-poplar-in-russia/649069/5 "2013-02-02T00:49:04Z")
It was Oak Kay. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dr-zhivago-movie-poplar-in-russia/649069/6 "2013-02-02T00:49:04Z")
Wouldn’t beech have been more appropriate? I’ll leave you to pine over that. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dr-zhivago-movie-poplar-in-russia/649069/7 "2013-02-02T01:12:07Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > I keep checking back for tree puns. Well, many Poplars are susceptible to borers and pasture nicks. Ralph, the movie, although faithful to the novel’s plot, has depictions of several characters and events that are noticeably different. Overall though I believe the Russians were glad to see there was a new Sharif in town. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dr-zhivago-movie-poplar-in-russia/649069/8 "2013-02-02T04:56:37Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > Well, many Poplars are susceptible to borers and pasture nicks. This may well prove to be the worst pun I hear all year… ---
**Author:** ![Cayuga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Cayuga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cayuga)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dr-zhivago-movie-poplar-in-russia/649069/9 "2013-02-02T18:12:11Z")
Sorry, no jokes. I can’t compete. I read somewhere (Hedrick Smith’s _The Russians_, maybe?), that Russian audiences generally liked the movie, but practically wet themselves laughing at a scene where the doctor is reunited with his parents — I think at a train station. Apparently, he shakes his father’s hand and kisses his mother on the cheek. Real Russians are much, much more effusive than that. One factor that may have worked in the film’s favor is that the USSR only let in a couple of US movies a year. When I was there in early 1984, it was _Tootsie_ and “_Kramer Against Kramer_.” Every single Russian I met had seen both movies and loved them. Yeah, they’re both good films. But I’m sure simply being American raised them up in the locals’ estimation. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dr-zhivago-movie-poplar-in-russia/649069/10 "2013-02-02T18:56:54Z")
I read once in Hedrick Smith’s [_Russians_](http://www.amazon.com/Russians-Hedrick-Smith/dp/9994442546/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1359831297&sr=1-1&keywords=the+russians+hedrick+smith) (1975) about a group of Russians who saw a private screening of _Dr. Zhivago._ They laughed out loud at the scene where Yuri greets his family on the train platform with smiles and handshakes, like an Englishman. Real Russians would be laughing and bear-hugging all around, they are emotionally unrestrained. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dr-zhivago-movie-poplar-in-russia/649069/11 "2013-02-02T19:59:20Z")
[late to the pun party] it was pretty much pined ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dr-zhivago-movie-poplar-in-russia/649069/12 "2013-02-02T20:20:34Z")
Acting was kinda wooden, though. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dr-zhivago-movie-poplar-in-russia/649069/13 "2013-02-02T20:23:24Z")
Well, it was only the rough cut… ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dr-zhivago-movie-poplar-in-russia/649069/14 "2013-02-02T21:23:16Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > I read once in Hedrick Smith’s [_Russians_](http://www.amazon.com/Russians-Hedrick-Smith/dp/9994442546/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1359831297&sr=1-1&keywords=the+russians+hedrick+smith) (1975) about a group of Russians who saw a private screening of _Dr. Zhivago._ They laughed out loud at the scene where Yuri greets his family on the train platform with smiles and handshakes, like an Englishman. Real Russians would be laughing and bear-hugging all around, they are emotionally unrestrained. Another thing he mentions is that the opening was inappropriate to them, looking like a film celebrating Soviet accomplishments with that damned dam. Of course, that’s precisely why that’s there in the first place – it sets the mood for Western filmgoers. But it didn’t work for the Russians. I suspect that they would’ve been annoyed by the trimming of the narrative and the time given to many of the stories, although I haven’t encountered anyone saying that. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dr-zhivago-movie-poplar-in-russia/649069/15 "2013-02-02T22:34:01Z")
I was thinking about the characterization of the evil Strelnikov -he’s a dedicated communist, and also a soulless monster. He does experience a reawakening of his love for Lara-who killed him? Zhivago’s half brother Yefgrav is a complex character-he has managed to stay alive in the Stalin era, and he risks his life to help Lara find her daughter-maybe he is so confident of his position, that he can take some risks? I also wonder what Russian audiences would make of Komarovski-knowing that the revolution did business with such reactionary criminals-not good for the myth of selfless communism. Of course, even after Kruschev’s denunciation of Stalin, who would know enough about what went on during the revolution, to have any sympathy for a character like the doctor/poet? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dr-zhivago-movie-poplar-in-russia/649069/16 "2013-02-02T22:41:26Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Of course, even after Kruschev’s denunciation of Stalin, who would know enough about what went on during the revolution, to have any sympathy for a character like the doctor/poet? Well, I doubt the Western audiences for whom it was made knew much about that either. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2013, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dr-zhivago-movie-poplar-in-russia/649069/17 "2013-02-03T05:57:48Z")
You know, I heard that the film played to larch, enthusiastic audiences all across the country. People loved it. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2013, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dr-zhivago-movie-poplar-in-russia/649069/18 "2013-02-03T16:11:42Z")
It was on a different plane to previous movies, for sure.