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Shatnoff, Judith. "The Warmer Comrade". Film Quarterly. Volume 20, No. 1. pp. 28-34. Autumn, 1966. http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0015-1386%28196623%2920%3A1%3C28%3ATWC%3E2.0.CO%3B2-K
In researching Doctor Zhivago, I found this article appealing because it offers a different perspective on adapting novel to film, and more specifically, on the adequacy of David Lean's adaptation of Doctor Zhivago. In essence, this article refutes my last resource; the analysis by Michael A. Anderegg. Whereas Anderegg compliments Lean's brilliant use of camera and motifs in order to enhance the Zhivago experience, Judith Shatnoff reduces the movie to an overdone specimen of cinematography that is more interested in making a political statement rather than doing justice to Pasternak's masterpiece. Shatnoff begins by attacking the color photagraphy that garnered the oscar for "Best Photography in a Color Film" in 1966. Shatnoff claims that David Lean and Freddie Young (cinematographer) use their color schemes in order to emphasize a political point during this period of anti-communist sentiment. She claims that Lean typically portrays the Communist revolutionaries in a dark and sober lighting, whereas the members of the old Russian bourgeoise class are often depicted with pastel colors, brilliant backdrops, and vivid scenery. Through this depiction, the old-world citizens of Russia are romanticized, and the revolutionaries are paraded as mischevious troublemakers with nothing better to do. Shatnoff further develops her point by criticizing Lean's final cut of the "peaceful protest". While characters in Pasternak's novel truly endure the hardships of the blackest times of the Revolution, Lean's depiction of the massacre of the protesters is unrealistic and fails to do justice to the literary version of the story. While the massacre ensues, Lean chooses to focus his camera on the teary-eyed Zhivago, rather than the individuals of the mob. At one point in the article, Shatnoff comments on how Lean's "massacre" pails in comparison to the legendary "Odessa Steps" sequence in The Battleship Potemkin. Lean's lack of any kind of concrete portrayal of the Revolutionaries and their hardships undercuts the film's ability to form a tight-knit context. In short, Judith Shatnoff harshly criticizes Lean's adaptation of the novel not because it is a bad film, but because it fails to adequately establish the troubled waters through which Zhivago and Lara must wade. Audiences cannot empathize with the characters because they do not truly believe the protgonists are struggling. Lean and Young's use of cinematography and film editing weakens the plot of the film. Shatnoff feels that by the end of the film, it has digressed to a standard Western romance, all the while attempting to uphold the values of Western Democracy. Unfortunately, Pasternak's original intention, to construct a meaningful novel about life during the Russian Revolution, is lost in all this Hollywood fluff.
In researching Doctor Zhivago, I found this article appealing because it offers a different perspective on adapting novel to film, and more specifically, on the adequacy of David Lean's adaptation of Doctor Zhivago. In essence, this article refutes my last resource; the analysis by Michael A. Anderegg. Whereas Anderegg compliments Lean's brilliant use of camera and motifs in order to enhance the Zhivago experience, Judith Shatnoff reduces the movie to an overdone specimen of cinematography that is more interested in making a political statement rather than doing justice to Pasternak's masterpiece. Shatnoff begins by attacking the color photagraphy that garnered the oscar for "Best Photography in a Color Film" in 1966. Shatnoff claims that David Lean and Freddie Young (cinematographer) use their color schemes in order to emphasize a political point during this period of anti-communist sentiment. She claims that Lean typically portrays the Communist revolutionaries in a dark and sober lighting, whereas the members of the old Russian bourgeoise class are often depicted with pastel colors, brilliant backdrops, and vivid scenery. Through this depiction, the old-world citizens of Russia are romanticized, and the revolutionaries are paraded as mischevious troublemakers with nothing better to do. Shatnoff further develops her point by criticizing Lean's final cut of the "peaceful protest". While characters in Pasternak's novel truly endure the hardships of the blackest times of the Revolution, Lean's depiction of the massacre of the protesters is unrealistic and fails to do justice to the literary version of the story. While the massacre ensues, Lean chooses to focus his camera on the teary-eyed Zhivago, rather than the individuals of the mob. At one point in the article, Shatnoff comments on how Lean's "massacre" pails in comparison to the legendary "Odessa Steps" sequence in The Battleship Potemkin. Lean's lack of any kind of concrete portrayal of the Revolutionaries and their hardships undercuts the film's ability to form a tight-knit context. In short, Judith Shatnoff harshly criticizes Lean's adaptation of the novel not because it is a bad film, but because it fails to adequately establish the troubled waters through which Zhivago and Lara must wade. Audiences cannot empathize with the characters because they do not truly believe the protgonists are struggling. Lean and Young's use of cinematography and film editing weakens the plot of the film. Shatnoff feels that by the end of the film, it has digressed to a standard Western romance, all the while attempting to uphold the values of Western Democracy. Unfortunately, Pasternak's original intention, to construct a meaningful novel about life during the Russian Revolution, is lost in all this Hollywood fluff.