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source: Lawrence of Arabia

Lawrence of Arabia

The moment David Lean makes you aware you are in the hands of a master comes early on in "Lawrence of Arabia." Lawrence (Peter O'Toole) holds a lit match close to his lips and with one quick puff of air blows it out. Before the action is even completed, however, Lean has cut to a shot of a desert vista, with the sun slowly rising over the lip of the horizon. It's one of the most famous elliptical edits in cinema history, second maybe only to the bone/spaceship cut in "2001: A Space Odyssey." And it's only the first of countless memorable moments in "Lawrence of Arabia." The appeal of David Lean epics has always been his ability as a director to maintain an equilibrium between the scope of his films and the characters in them. Character development is never sacrificed to massive set pieces or knock-your-socks-off action sequences. "Lawrence of Arabia" has these elements too, but at heart it's a character study of one remarkable man. Lean seemed to understand that impressive landscapes alone are not inherently interesting; but if you place a fascinating character among those impressive landscapes, you can have movie magic. "Lawrence" feels unlike other historical epics of its time. In most "big" films--I'm thinking of movies like "Ben-Hur," "Spartacus," "Cleopatra," all movies that premiered roughly around the same time as "Lawrence"--one gets the sense that directors framed compositions based on how much they were able to fit into their widescreen lenses. One rarely sees characters filmed from anything closer than a medium shot, and usually the background is stuffed to overflowing with garish art direction. Everything feels static and wooden. But in "Lawrence," Lean keeps his frames constantly alive by juxtaposing huge landscape shots with extreme close-ups of actor faces. In one especially brutal scene, after a battle that results in the slaughter of many people, the action cuts to a close-up of O'Toole, looking panicked and crazed, gripping a bloody knife in his hand as if he's reluctant to drop it, obviously both disturbed and titillated by the carnage he just witnessed. It's moments like that---not just an impressive battle scene but a character's reactions to the results of that scene---that set "Lawrence" apart from other standard epics. And of course, I have to reserve space in my review for the performance of Mr. O'Toole. He is perhaps my favorite actor, not one of the most prolific, but certainly one of the most unpredictable. He has a flair for choosing eccentric characters that give him almost unlimited room in which to perform. He carries "Lawrence of Arabia" almost singlehandedly on his slim shoulders. That's not to say the supporting cast isn't great, but O'Toole towers above them all. O'Toole understands that the most influential figures in history could also be the most difficult and ruthless when they needed to be, and he gives Lawrence an incredibly complex characterization, leaving his audience in doubt as to whether he should be worshiped or feared, or perhaps both. Lean would never direct an equal to "Lawrence of Arabia" again. His later films are certainly more than watchable, and "A Passage to India" is even quite remarkable in its own way, but we would never get another "Lawrence." Even more reason to appreciate it now. My Grade: A+

It's more than a little frustrating that "Lawrence Of Arabia" is still considered a great motion picture... how long must we all pretend that this over-puffed, over-stuffed bag of sand is a good movie? It isn't- it's a terrible, slow-moving, monotonous, sleep-inducing, four-hour waste of time. There. I said it and I'm glad. There's no deep analysis necessary here... endless desert sequences are supposed to carry a story about war and Arabs and blah, blah, blah... Sometimes the classics are classics... "Citizen Kane" is a great film, and if you don't know why, you should find out. "Casablanca" and "Gone With The Wind" are just as brilliantly entertaining today as the day they were released. Same for "The Wizard Of Oz." But "Lawrence Of Arabia" is a long, dry, miserable waste of your time, pompous and bulletproof, a perfectly-crafted imitation of Cinema, an absolutely hollow and pointless experience, and a movie that should be avoided at all costs. You've been warned. GRADE: D-

If they ever give out an award for the most overrated film ever made, this would obviously not win it, but in my opinion it should. And "Gone With the Wind" should place. Don't get me wrong, I actually enjoy movies that take their time in developing a story, character, mood, etc. I admire intelligent subtlety in a film. But this was like watching paint dry. Or trying to detect the motion of the hour hand on a clock. Which you may find yourself doing several times during this film. I have watched this whole movie once, and tried re-watching it several times to see if I could "get" what all the accolades are about. I always end up discovering that my first impression was correct. This is one of the most boring films I have ever seen. At least "Gone With the Wind" isn't that. The film begins with Peter O'Toole's character getting killed in a motorcycle accident. I think the film makers chose to begin the movie this way so that they get the only interesting thing that happens in the film out of the way and over with. Then David Lean and company could really settle into and sink their teeth into the tedum of the rest of the film. Anyway, all I can say is that this film deserves to be likened to the parade of the Emperor in the well known fable. Except the emperor isn't only buck naked, he's moving at a snail's pace.

I've heard about Lawrence of Arabia for years, but not really knowing what it was about. One day, while I was on the internet, I came across information about the film. I've learned that it won best picture in 1962; I've learned about how it influenced filmmakers like Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg; and I learned about how it adapted the memoirs of T.E. Lawrence and made them into a feature length film. This interested me so much that I decided to head down to blockbuster and rent it. Now that I've watched it, what do I think of it? Well, to be honest, I thought it was just plain out boring. The problem I had with this movie is that not once I cared about Lawrence or his conflict. I did not see any depth in his character and I did not for once care for what he was fighting for. To me, this felt more like a boring history lecture than an actual film. There is a plot in this movie, but it doesn't really surface in an interesting way and the viewing of this film just becomes tedious. I do admit that this film was very well made, but it's only icing covering a bland, tasteless cake. There are some good scenes in this film, but why couldn't the filmmakers make Lawrence or his conflict more interesting. At least in Seven Samurai, the conflict was simple enough and the characters were well developed to keep me interested, but Lawrence doesn't have that. I can't recommend the film, but I know other film buffs will want to see it. If you want to see, by all means go ahead. I hope you enjoy it. I sure know I didn't.

This film requires no introduction. It's one of the greatest movies ever made if not the best. Truly inspiring. It leaves me with the feeling that I would have liked to have met Lawrence but being born 37 years after his death regrettably this will never happen! I went to see the movie in the National Film Theatre, London in order to see the panorama on the big screen. Well worth the trip even if you have seen the movie on DVD. He was arguably one of the greatest englishmen to walk the earth. Why doesn't anyone make films like this anymore?! Thank God for David Lean's work. Looking forward to viewing this film again and again on DVD.

I have seen this movie many times. It is a movie to be seen in a large movie theater on a very wide screen. One of the persons responsible for the restoration of this great film is my cousin Robert Harris. Bob did a masterpiece in restoration. He invited me to the opening of the restoration in Los Angeles, and I was introduced to Omar Shariff. Unfortunately, the Cineplex Odean in Centuty City has been demolished to make way for a modern office complex. The demolition of this movie house coincides with the demolition of movie making in this town. The scene of Ali coming into view on the desert is the best piece of cinematography I have ever seen. This movie prompted my wife and I to travel through Syria, Jordan and Israel, where this movie takes place. I brought with me on this trip Lawrence's autobiography, "Seven Pillars of Wisdom". I used this book to instruct my car and guide to take me to all of the places that Lawrence visited in Syria and Jordan. I even hired a 4 wheel drive vehicle to take me into Wadi Rum, the canyon that Lawrence sung Tum Te tum Te tum. The place really echoed. My Bedu driver took me to a cave at the end of the Wadi where I was introduced to a very old Bedouin who fought with Lawrence during the "Arab Revolt". There was even graffiti on the wall of the cave written by Lawrence's followers. Before Lawrence involved himself in the "Arab Revolt" he lived among the Arabs in the land once called "The Ottoman Empire", which was administered out of Constantinople. His book discussed his visit to the most preserved Crusader Castle still in existence today in Syria, north of Damascus, Craque DE Chevalier, where the Crusaders held off Saladin during a great siege. That movie and my visit will never be erased from my memory. Thank you Bob for that wonderful restoration.

When it come to making epics, David Lean is the master and what better proof than this masterpiece. "Lawrence Of Arabia" was first shown in 1962 and after almost 40 years later, it is still beautiful. The story of T. E. Lawrence is wonderfully brought to us by David Lean, director of another masterpiece called "The Bridge On The River Kwai". David Lean has shown us a man's long, yet never boring (at least for me) journey into the deserts of Arabia. Lawrence (Peter O'Toole) is an ordinary man that becomes a hero (at least in my eyes) during his extensive tenure in Arabia. He becomes a traveler, a great man, and a leader to the people that he has associated with. Only director David Lean could have given us a movie experience like this. An assortment of phenomenal actors are collected for this movie and what a cast! Peter O'Toole, Omar Sharif, Anthony Quinn, Alec Guiness and so much more portray their characters with intensity and believability. Never have I been so impressed. As Lawrence, Peter O'Toole plays the role of which his name is most associated with and is surprising for me that he made the role his own because before I got a chance to see this movie I imagined a man opposite from someone like Peter O'Toole. Omar Sharif as Ali is one of the most charismatic characters in film history. I will not say anymore about the cast because I'm allowed only 1,000 words to use in my comment. Will all do respect to classics such as "Gone With The Wind" and even "Bridge on the River Kwai"this is without a doubt the most exciting epic of all time. I highly recommend it!