Just dawned on me...


I've seen this move several times and it just dawned on me, why was Lara ironing the sheets? Yes, ironed sheets are nice and all but when the hospital was a converted (commandeered) farm house with a staggering number of casualties, wouldn't her services be better utilized tending to patients? Just sayin'....

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you need to see it one more time, because she did this in the end when they had less casualties and time to iron things.

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It probably was also a means of reducing bacterial and other contamination. Nits, lice et al are not always removed by laundering.

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^ Agree. Also, they had no tumble dryers and it was too cold to hang things outdoors so ironing may have dried them faster.

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i have seen this movie at least 30 times, and it has never occurred to me that the ironing of these sheets ever meant anything other than she was just ironing the sheets. It was just one of her tasks. Her job was not only to be a nurse but to keep everything clean and orderly. Out of everything to focus on in this movie, I think the ironing of her sheets is the bottom of the barrel.

Remember us, for we too have lived, loved and laughed

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Also provided a memory for Yuri - When his wife is ironing and the camera focuses on the iron, the sound of that iron and the look in Yuri's eyes leaves no doubt as to who he is thinking of.

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[–] taikwan 10 years ago
Also provided a memory for Yuri - When his wife is ironing and the camera focuses on the iron, the sound of that iron and the look in Yuri's eyes leaves no doubt as to who he is thinking of.


Thank you for this! At first, I was thinking this is some serious overthinking. O.o But, even such a seemingly insignificant task has great significance in this film!

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why was Lara ironing the sheets?


This scene gets me every time I watch the movie. As a woman, I always want to scream at her Stop ironing! It's senseless and a waste of your time!. But I never do.

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If I remember correctly, and I've seen this film many times - there's a couple of reasons why this scene exists. First, when she was ironing the sheets, they were getting ready to leave that particular location and the hospital was nearly empty during that scene; second of all, the scene is utilized later in Zhivago's memory when his wife is ironing sheets later in the film. He remembers the last time he saw Lara when she was ironing the sheets. Just my opinion.

RIP Philip Seymour Hoffman 1967-2014... a tremendously great and talented actor.

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