I guess i don't understand that much of the history of the period.
Who exactly was looking forward to kill strelnikov, and consequently, was using Lara as a bait? Was it the whites? That guess doesn't go together with Komarovski showing up in their house being scorted by red guards.
what is it that strelnikov was suspicious of regarding zhivago? he asked why yagrev had sent him there, etc.
and why does he ask if someone had shown zhivago photographs of him? the question had an ironic tone, but i had the impression it had to do with his reputation
Strelnikov knew that Yevgrav was a Bolshevik, and suspected that his brother may have been also.
Strelnikov saw that Yuri had recognised him as he entered the carriage, and so assumed Yuri had been shown photos of him.
"He was a poet, a scholar, and a mighty warrior."
with my limited knowledge of the history of the period. i assumed blocheviks and the red guard/army were the same thing or, at least, working for the same purposes.
sharewhat is it that strelnikov was suspicious of regarding zhivago? he asked why yagrev had sent him there, etc.
and why does he ask if someone had shown zhivago photographs of him? the question had an ironic tone, but i had the impression it had to do with his reputation
what about this question? anybody?
and another one:
why was pasha fighting so passionately against the germans (or, against the german upper class)?
what about this question? anybody?
Sorry. there has been a misunderstanding.
Another question i'd like to place is this:
Why did komarovsky want so badly to help zhivago and lara?
and why was pasha fighting so passionately against the germans (or, against the german upper class)?
Why did komarovsky want so badly to help zhivago and lara?
why was pasha fighting so passionately against the germans (or, against the german upper class)?
Thanks for the details, Palisade; you're impressively erudite on the topic.
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Although he was a revolutionary, Strelnikov was not a Bolshevik. After the Tsar was deposed, not just the Whites, but various factions of the revolutionaries fought each other.
"He was a poet, a scholar, and a mighty warrior."
There are only hints in the film, but the book provides more context to Stelnikov's situation (though it also has the meeting between Zhivago and Strelnikov take a different course).
It is insinuated in the film that there have been several assassination attempts on Strelnikov. These were not likely from the Whites, but from within the Bolshevik/Red coalition. Strelnikov is loosely based on the historical Leon Trotsky, who similarly morphed from an idealistic intellectual to a dedicated military commander who traveled about in a special armored train and was known for his brutality.
Yevgraf was a highly placed official in the CHEKA (later the KGB), the secret police; Strelnikov knew this, and so was suspicious of Zhivago. Was he sent by secret order of the CHEKA as part of an assassination plot? In the film, Pasha early on says he is not a Bolshevik, because the "Bolsheviks don't know right from wrong;" however as he rises in the power structure it is not clear whether or not he joined the party; his position of power suggests that he did, albeit reluctantly. Trotsky, too, was originally not a Bolshevik but a Menshevik and had some ideas about the revolution that were not consistent with Lenin's; hence he was eventually assassinated even though he had joined the Party and was very influential in it.
Strelnikov asks Zhivago if he has been shown photographs -- were he an assassin, he would have been shown pictures of his target. The watchers keeping track of Lara were also CHEKA agents. There was a lot of internal disruption in the Party during and after the civil war as Lenin (and later Stalin) consolidated their power and eliminated internal enemies or those with differing views of how the revolution should unfold. For reasons that are not spelled out, the Party hierarchy considered Strelnikov expendable and perhaps dangerous, so they were waiting for an opportunity to take him out, preferably when he was not surrounded by loyal soldiers and guards.
Strelnikov obviously is aware of potential danger and that is why he is wary of Zhivago, knowing Zhivago's brother is a highly placed CHEKA official. In the novel, Strelnikov is not as committed to the idea that "the personal life is dead in Russia" as he appears to be.