Lawrence of Arabia

Rating:
Summary: Beauty in the desert
Review: David Lean's "Lawrence of Arabia" is the story of World War One hero British Colonel T.E. Lawrence and his adventures in the deserts of the Middle East. His great success was in uniting the Arab tribes and fighting the remnents of the Ottoman Empire (or Turkey) in the early 20th Centery. This was the star making role for Peter O' Toole as the eccentric Lawrence, and indeed he is very much a great actor here (for some reason he has fizzled out lately, just look at "Troy"). But he is also surrounded by a great supporting cast. Omar Scherif as a bandit leader who helps Lawrence; Adian Quienn another, more materialistic, outlaw leader who also lends support to Lawrence; and Alec Guieness who plays a prince who stands to gain a lot from a new national state of Arabia. But as far as these people are, it is O' Toole's egotistical, nearly fanatical Lawrence who commands us to watch the screen. Much is made of the widescreen aspect of the film. Unfortunately I had to watch it on a 17 inch TV, so I missed a lot of the "epic" effect. But it is still amazing photography, and the mountains, crags, and sheer beauty of the desert still came through more or less in perspective.

Rating:
Summary: "Appreciate the situation": It is one of the best films ever
Review: This movie is by far one the greatest of all films. This is largely due in part to its superior screenplay and dialogue. The movie is loaded with various motiffs and symbols. The overall theme of the movie is the psychological transformation of T.E.Lawrence. The switch of personalities between Lawrence and Ali is all too apparent. Lawrence after all, suffers an identity crisis throughout the film. Lawrence first starts off as a humble soldier. Once he undergoes his mission to "appreciate the situation" he states that he will accomplish a "miracle" which he eventually does. From there he compares himself to Moses as he crosses Sinai. He eventually goes so far as to compare himself to Christ as he walks in splendor and transfigured white on top of the train. He shortly thereafter states that he will "walk on water". He however not only comes back down to earth, but he sinks to the bottom, covered with mud and filth after his rape by the Turks. He even goes so far as to cover himself with a filthy cloak. He however cannot cover the bloody scars on his back (this is about as close to Christ as he gets), which are a result of the Turks' torture.

I will not proceed to describe the rest of the deep elements of the movie. Just bare in mind that the movie begins with a motorcycle and ends with one. The more you see the film the more you will love and understand it. It is this quality which sets movies apart. Those who claim the movie is boring are those who do not "appreciate the situation". They need to read more literature.



Rating:
Summary: Required viewing
Review: I am embarrassed to admit I never watched David Lean's 1962 film "Lawrence of Arabia" until quite recently. I never went out of my way to avoid the picture, and I'm definitely a fan of Peter O'Toole (a rather passive one, I admit), but this movie just never found its way onto my play list. A lot of my hesitation to sit down with this epic centered on its incredible run time. "Lawrence of Arabia" clocks in at nearly four hours, or the amount of time it would take me to watch two or even three schlock pieces of junk. A friend at the university finally convinced me to rent the movie, although his claim that "you just gotta watch it" fell on deaf ears. I don't "gotta" do anything as far as I'm concerned, especially when it comes to motion pictures. My rental patterns operate on fairly obscure principles that even I don't understand, and it sometimes takes a lot of work for me to move a film to the top of my list. I conceded in this argument, however, and promised that I would green light "Lawrence of Arabia" immediately. Of course, I couldn't believe I waited so long to see the movie after watching it.

Lean's film begins with a very short introductory piece showing us the demise of T.E. Lawrence (Peter O'Toole) in a motorcycle accident followed by a rather prestigious looking funeral service. Several English elites make contradictory statements about the man, ranging from panegyric to barely disguised scorn. It's an intriguing way to start the film because it makes the viewer wonder what sort of chap could rub people in so many different ways. Then we learn the backstory. Lawrence works for the British as a map maker and reader in Cairo when he learns about a rare opportunity: the country needs men to visit with the Bedouins in order to secure their support for war against the Ottoman Turks. It's a tough job, one that requires brains as well as brawn, but Lawrence eagerly signs on despite very real doubts concerning his ability to accomplish the task. Off he goes, into the desert and to his destiny as a military genius. His adventures in the sands of Arabia soon attain the mark of legend, as he manages to unite various warring factions into a cohesive army that causes serious damage to the Turkish forces on the continent. He is less successful reconciling the strategic aims of the British and Arabs as the war draws to a close.

I'm going to depart from my standard two-paragraph summary with "Lawrence of Arabia." There is too much going on this film, too many plot twists and turns, to do justice in a short review. The first thing that strikes the viewer about this movie is the stunning cinematography. Lean wisely recognizes that to tell the story of T.E. Lawrence, he must include the desert as a major character. It is the harsh, sun blasted environment of the Middle East that informs every action taken in the film. Sand dunes and rocky crags stand in the background of the film with grim oppressiveness as well as stunning beauty, either pressing down on the small humans wandering among them or embracing them depending on the circumstances. Extraordinarily long tracking shots filmed with special lenses bring home the arduousness and danger of traveling through the desert. Just as important as the climate are the characters, and to fill these roles Lean chose his cast very wisely. The venerable Alec Guinness injects an air of gravitas mixed with incredible humor into his role as Prince Feisal, a central figure to the Bedouin tribes. Anthony Quinn and Omar Sharif work wonders alongside O'Toole's Lawrence as Auda Abu Tayi and Sherif Ali respectively. Arthur Kennedy shows up as reporter Jackson Bentley, a man interested in Lawrence the warrior. Claude Rains, Jose Ferrer, and Jack Hawkins turn up in critical roles, too.

But it's O'Toole's Lawrence who sits at the center of the film, and it's O'Toole whose subsequent career flowed from the promise he showed in this picture. By all accounts, T.E. Lawrence was an incredibly enigmatic, complex individual impervious to definitive character study. Lean does as good a job as any trying to define the man. We see Lawrence as the quintessential Englishman, an Arab warrior, a preening narcissist, a diplomat, a learned scholar, a tyrant, and a man plagued by insecurity and doubts. He is, in other words, an everyman and an extraordinary man with the same strengths and foibles we all share to some degree. The memorable scenes involving O'Toole's depiction of the character would fill a book: He dances through the desert looking at his reflection in a knife blade after donning his Arab accoutrements, poses atop a train after a battle as though reveling in the understanding of his power and accomplishment, and he cowers with the fear of a man broken when the Turks torture him. What impressed me most about the film--a small thing, really--was the absence of a romantic subplot. No woman emerges to cast her charms on our lead character, which is incredible for any film. Then I realized that the love affair is there for all to see, namely the love Lawrence has for the desert and the Arab people.

Check out the extras for the film. Four featurettes, a documentary, original newsreel footage, and a few other odds and ends will keep you glued to the television set long after the movie ends. An epic that Hollywood probably couldn't pull off today, "Lawrence of Arabia" is an exceptional piece of cinema every fan of the medium should watch at least once. Actually, subsequent viewings reveal even more of its magic if you can find the time to watch it again. Lean and O'Toole went on to make many other films, but neither ever topped this one.