Since the film takes place in Russia, why do so many of the actors and actresses speak with upper-class British accents and inflections? Particularly in the Moscow scenes - I expected the actors to speak with Russian accents, but those scenes come across as an upper-class British drama, almost Jane Austin-esqe. What's the deal with that? Everyone should have a Russian accent.
shareWhy did everyone in Spartacus have American or British accents?
shareWhy would non-Russian actors speaking English in a Russian accent be any better than non-Russian actors speaking English in their own accents?
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Simple, it was made during the Cold War by the British!
share"Since the film takes place in Russia, why do so many of the actors and actresses speak with upper-class British accents and inflections?"
My sentiments exactly, and if I hadn't spotted this Thread I would have started one myself - this is one film wherein the abundance of British accents really was a distraction - some attempt should have been made to at least neutralize the accents.
"Stone-cold sober I find myself absolutely fascinating!"---Katharine Hepburn
For American audiences, Hollywood uses the British accent as a device for depicting (almost)any foreign language, while still speaking English.
Q: Do British filmmakers have a similar device for their audiences?
This film was made by a British director and an Italian producer. Your point is not invalidated, but strictly speaking this is not a "Hollywood film".
There may be honor among thieves, but there's NONE in politicians!
Actors speaking English with mock-Russian accents would be even more annoying and actor's speaking Russian with subtitles would be unsaleable.
It's probably not the thinking of the time, but perhaps the rational was to establish the 'class' of character through a recognizable accent?
Think about the time when this film was made... 1965.... height of Cold-war craziness, a time when people still had the imagination to consider the class struggle depicted in both the original novel by Pasternak and this film. Someone suggested in a post on this topic that they should have used "neutralised" British accents... thanks heavens they hadn't discovered political correctness back then and carried out that foolish notion. I also agree on the use of the accents they used and it was no accident that they did. A quality cast such as this were directed to use the accents they used because it would have been tested as the most appropriate ... at the time! I thank my lucky stars that they didn't "Hollywoodise" it by casting appalling B-grade actors and bloody awful false accents.
I have just viewed this film again this afternoon and was also amazed by the technical qualities of the film and sound 42 years after it was first released.
Near perfection in both the creative and technical qualities of this excellent production.
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Locked my wire coat-hanger in the car - good thing that I always carry spare keys my pocket :)
Not to mention that in the mid 60's Brit accents were all the rage here in America - everything from the Beatles to 'Yardley' commercials on tv. Not that I think for one second that Lean was looking to make hay with this trend/Americans but I'm sure he knew it wouldn't hurt in one of the biggest markets - the USA. If I had to guess, I think he figured he'd get the best performances from his actors if they weren't pre-occupied with doing a convincing Russian accent. Better to deal with the one (Steiger) than the majority of the cast. How many films have successfully pulled this off (faking accents) ?
I was a kid the first time I saw this in the theater. I thought about the accents for all of 2 seconds then got over it pdq. It was more 'upsetting' to me to find out how much was filmed in Spain !! Nothing against Spain, just that it didn't occur to me at that age that it couldn't be filmed in Russia. This film WAS Russia to me for decades ...
Just a quick after thought here... the accents worked for me as the USSR was such a mysterious, un accessible place to me growing up in the US of A. The mere mention of 'Russia'/USSR set off images of dark, foreboding places - scary actually. I knew the author was Russian so obviously there were Russians capable of some human feelings/compassion and love of beauty but hearing/watching the characters speak their lines in Brit accents worked to break down the stereotyped image I had of all 'Rooskies'/Reds/Commies' ie., cold, unfeeling and ruthless. I don't think there was a moment during watching this film for the first time that the 'accents' led me to believe the events depicted in the film were happening anywhere other than in Russia. I really wasn't that aware of how a Russian, speaking English, would sound in '65. Other than Khrushchevs televised antics, I can't think of another Russian I had heard talk. James Bond movies :-) etc., maybe a short interview of a Olympic athlete ?
This film did get me interested in 'Mother Russia' and the Russian people, authors,history etc (NOT Comm. Russia). My mom once told me, when I was complaining about the amount of home work I was assigned, that 'In Russia, they execute children for not doing their home work". True story and it really stuck in my craw as she sounded dead serious ! LOL !! This and 'Finish your dinner, there are people starving in China..." were my introductions to life in Communist countries/behind the Iron Curtain.
Strictly speaking, they should have been speaking Russian, not English with Russian accents.
Komorovsky (Rod Steiger) spoke with an American accent; Zhivago (Omar Sharif) with an Egyptian accent -- because those two men are an American and an Egyptian respectively.
I think Steiger was trying a Russian accent, actually. He might not have been successful at it, but he definitely wasn't using his usual speaking voice.
"Go and do something sensible, like shooting yourself! But don't be an artist!"
Kudos to Steiger for trying and in such a way that, if not completely convincing, at least he didn't sound bad. In fact, I liked his "accent" and diction in the film. He was still very well spoken.
sharei never understand why this is a problem for people.
this is a british movie. everyone is speaking in a standard british accent. i think that rod steiger is the only one with a fake accent. to have the cast affect a russian accent would be cumbersome and a distraction.
to my (american) ear, a british accent suggests something exotic. i wouldn't want Dr Zhivago to sound like Peyton Place.
"Who put the pineapple juice in my my pineapple juice?"
"i wouldn't want Dr Zhivago to sound like Peyton Place."
Yup.
I expected the actors to speak with Russian accents, ... Everyone should have a Russian accent.Then this must have been the first time you've ever seen an English-language film that takes place among natives of a foreign country. There are hundreds, maybe thousands of such movies, and I can't think of a case where the actors are not using a standardized English or American accent, or their own accents in the case of an international cast.
I watched this film again when it was shown on Public Television last night (in New York). For the first time the British accents bothered me especially the super upper class accent of Ralph Richardson. It was as if he was in some Oscar Wilde play. I then started thinking about how poorly cast the movie is. Omar Sharif is just not convincing physically as Zhivago though he's a pretty good actor. But then again the film is so beautifully photographed and breathtaking in its scope that I can forgive these flaws. I'd watch it again.
shareit didn't really bother me.
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