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Writer's pictureKristina Lang

“Lara's song”/“Larina pjesma”

Updated: Mar 7, 2022

Many have watched the movie "Doctor Zhivago", which in my opinion is one of the most beautiful and romantic love stories ever filmed. In the film, Russian doctor and poet Yuri Zhivago is in love with Lara, whom he meets and is separated from during a turbulent time covering the Russian revolution of 1905, World War I, the Civil War of 1918-1920 through to his death in 1928.

Zhivago was married to Tonya with whom he had two children. He was devoted to his wife and children but struggled with his strong feelings of love and passion for Lara. He leaves Tonya for Lara, but the whirlwind of war separates him from her as well. The story does not have a happy ending and he leaves Lara when he believes that it will save her life. Zhivago is waging an internal struggle not only for his love of Lara but also for his sense of dichotomy between the aristocracy to which he belonged and his feelings of affection for Russian revolutionaries. In the end, he dies of a heart attack on the streets of Moscow. It is unclear what happens to Lara, but it seems that she died in one of the labour camps “gulags”. Their daughter grew up without parents and appears at the very end of the film carrying a balalaika on her shoulder and is said to play it extraordinarily. “Lara's song” runs through the whole film, which made me dream of calling my second daughter, whom I never had, Lara.


Although the film "Doctor Zhivago", starring Omar Sharif, is widely known, less people know that it was based on a novel by Russian poet and writer Boris Pasternak. Pasternak based this short story on his own life, and he found inspiration for Lara in his love for Olga Ivinskaya. Like Zhivago, Pasternak loved Olga while he was married to his second wife with whom he had a son. He met Olga in 1946, when he was already a famous poet in Russia and Olga was a widow who lived with her parents and two children. Since they both had families Pasternak and Olga at the beginning of their relationship spent time together on long walks. Pasternak could not leave his wife, but he could not resist his love for Olga.

During Stalin's regime, many of Pasternak 's colleagues were killed for being “anti-communism”, but Pasternak did not know that Stalin adored his work and personally issued an order not to touch him. But Stalin's protection did not apply to Olga who was tortured and ended up in a “gulag” labour camp for her association with Pasternak. It was already known that Pasternak was working on the novel “Doctor Zhivago” which he showed to a few loyal people and which Olga helped him to write.

During Olga's stay in the gulag, Pasternak took care of Olga's family and therefore finally gained the affection of Olga's mother. After Stalin's death and three and a half years in the gulag, Olga was pardoned and returned to Moscow, where she resumed her relationship with Pasternak, who remained married to his wife. Olga then helped to smuggle the novel from Russia to Italy.

Pasternak later died of lung cancer, but even so Olga was once again sent to a labour camp in Siberia for her relationship with him. However, this time her daughter Irina was also accused. Olga was released a few years later. Over the years, Olga repeatedly asked the KGB to return her letters and poems written to her by Pasternak. The last time, shortly before her death, she wrote to Russian President Boris Yeltsin with the same request, but unfortunately the letters and poems were never returned to her.

Pasternak was nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1958, but the Communist Party of the Soviet Union forbade him to accept it. Pasternak 's successors accepted the award on his behalf in 1989.


Kristina

Friday, December 24th, 2021




“Larina pjesma”


Mnogi su gledali film “Doktor Živago” koji je po meni jedna od najljepših i najromantičnijih ljubavnih priča ikada snimljenih. U filmu, ruski liječnik i pjesnik Jurij Živago zaljubljuje se u Laru, sa kojom se sreće i razdvaja tijekom turbulentnog razdoblja koje pokriva rusku revoluciju 1905., Prvi svjetski rat, građanski rat 1918.-1920. pa sve do njegove smrti 1928.

Živago je bio oženjen Tonjom s kojom je imao dvoje djece. On je bio odan svojoj ženi i djeci, ali se borio sa svojim snažnim osjećajima ljubavi i strasti prema Lari. Od Tonje odlazi zbog Lare, ali ga i od nje razdvaja ratni vihor. Priča nema sretan kraj i on napušta Laru kada vjeruje da će joj to spasiti život. Živago vodi unutarnju borbu ne samo zbog svoje ljubavi prema Lari već i zbog osjećaja razdvojenosti između aristokracije kojoj je pripadao i osjećaja naklonosti prema ruskim revolucionarima. Na kraju umire od srčanog udara na moskovskim ulicama. Nejasno je što se događa s Larom, no čini se da je umrla u jednom od radnih logora, gulaga. Njihova je kći odrasla bez roditelja i pojavljuje se na samom kraju filma noseći balalajku na ramenu koju navodno izvanredno svira. Kroz cijeli film se provlači “Larina pjesma” zbog koje sam sanjala da svoju drugu kćer, koju nikad nisam imala, nazovem Lara.

Iako je film “Doktor Živago”, s Omarom Sharifom u glavnoj ulozi, nadaleko poznat, manje ljudi zna da je snimljen prema romanu ruskog pjesnika i književnika Borisa Pasternaka. Pasternak je ovu ljubavnu priču temeljio na vlastitom životu, a inspiraciju za Laru pronašao je u ljubavi prema Olgi Ivinskaya. Poput Živaga, Pasternak je volio Olgu dok je bio u braku sa svojom drugom ženom s kojom je imao sina. Olgu je upoznao 1946. godine, kada je već bio poznati pjesnik u Rusiji, a Olga je bila udovica koja je živjela s roditeljima i dvoje djece. Budući da su oboje imali obitelji, Pasternak i Olga na početku veze provodili su vrijeme zajedno u dugim šetnjama. Pasternak nije mogao ostaviti svoju ženu, ali nije mogao odoljeti svojoj ljubavi prema Olgi.

Za vrijeme Staljinova režima mnogi Pasternakovi kolege ubijeni su zbog “antikomunizma”, a Pasternak nije znao da Staljin obožava njegov rad i osobno je izdao zapovijed da ga se ne dira. Ali Staljinova zaštita se nije odnosila na Olgu koja je bila mučena i završila u radnom logoru “gulagu” zbog svoje povezanosti s Pasternakom. Već se znalo da Pasternak radi na romanu “Doktor Živago” koji je pokazao nekolicini vjernih ljudi i koji mu je Olga pomogla urediti.

Tijekom Olginog boravka u gulagu, Pasternak je preuzeo brigu o Olginoj obitelji i stoga je konačno stekao naklonost Olgine majke. Nakon Staljinove smrti i tri i pol godine u gulagu, Olga je pomilovana i vraćena u Moskvu, gdje je obnovila vezu s Pasternakom, koji je ostao u braku sa svojom suprugom. Olga je tada pomogla prokrijumčariti roman “Doktor Živago” iz Rusije u Italiju.

Pasternak je kasnije umro od raka pluća, ali je Olga zbog veze s njim ponovno poslana u radni logor u Sibiru. No, ovoga puta optužena je i njezina kći Irina. Olga je puštena nekoliko godina kasnije. Tijekom godina Olga je više puta tražila od KGB-a da joj vrati pisma i pjesme koje joj je napisao Pasternak. Posljednji put, neposredno prije smrti, s istim zahtjevom pisala je ruskom predsjedniku Borisu Jeljcinu, ali joj pisma i pjesme, nažalost, nikada nisu vraćene.

Pasternak je 1958. bio nominiran za Nobelovu nagradu za književnost, ali mu je Komunistička partija Sovjetskog Saveza zabranila da to prihvati. Pasternakovi nasljednici primili su nagradu u njegovo ime 1989. godine.


Kristina

Petak, 24. prosinca 1921.

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