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Rating: 5 out of 5
For years, I heard how great and amazing Lawrence of Arabia was. AFI listed it as the 5th greatest movie of all time when they did a ranking in 1998 and then moved it down to 7th when they updated their list. Hell, my favorite director of all-time, Steven Spielberg, stated that this was his favorite movie of all time, and it was the one that inspired him to become a filmmaker. Now I would say that I really didn’t want to watch this film because of how freakin long it is. This film is almost pushing 4 hours. Yep, 4 freakin hours. Come on Lawrence, couldn’t you have done about 3? After watching the movie, I admit that it was fascinating to watch and didn’t feel like 4 hours.
The film is based on the life of T. E. Lawrence and his 1926 book Seven Pillars of Wisdom. Actually, it’s based on a small section of Lawrence’s life. The film opens in 1935 when Lawrence (O’Toole) is killed in a motorcycle accident. If there is one way to catch the audience’s attention, then have the main character die from the start. Another excellent example of this is Sunset Boulevard. Well, at his memorial service, a reporter tries to gain insight into the life of Lawrence. Most people say he was okay, while others argue. The film precedes to show the man’s life during his time in World War I.
The film’s first half deals with Lawrence meeting many prominent characters and establishing some relations that help the British. The first half shows Lawrence as a misfit British Army lieutenant known for being a smart ass. During his meeting with General Murray and Mr. Dryden of the Arab Bureau, they send his ass out to assess the prospects of Prince Faisal (Guinness) in his revolt against the Turks. On the journey through the desert, he becomes friends with his Bedouin guide, Tafas. They bond until homeboy drinks water from a well and is killed by Sherif Ali (Sharif). The reason? Drinking from his well without permission. That’s some cold-blooded stuff right there. During the film’s first half, Lawrence gains favor with the Prince and Sherif Ali while executing an impossible mission. He manages to ally with Auda abu Tayi (Quinn), the influential local Howeitat tribe leader, and have a successful mission. One of the highlights of the first half is when Lawrence is given some of the WHITEST Arab robes to Lawrence to wear. You didn’t have any other colors because that dirt will show up so much on those robes. How do you expect to keep something that white so clean??
The second half of the film shows Lawrence and his now strong army launching into a guerrilla war by blowing up trains and harassing the Turks at every turn. During this time, Lawrence becomes famous when American war correspondent Jackson Bentley (Kennedy) writes stories about Lawrence’s adventures. Yet, Lawrence meets hardships and even questions himself when he gets orders to push ahead and takes Damascus but also gets flogged a couple of times. Here we see Lawrence’s ruthlessness as he orders the execution of many men who can’t be taken prisoner. During the occupation of Damascus, they set up a council to administer the city, but the British cut off access to the public utilities. Yet, the British take control, and Lawrence is promoted to colonel for his time and is ordered back to the land of Britain as his mission is not complete.
I want to take a minute to talk about the cinematography and scenery. My word was the scenery amazing to look at. The orange sunset as the sun slowly rose in one scene was simply amazing. Seeing the endless amounts of sand and sometimes mountains was fantastic. The camera displayed so many ways to show how impossible a mission might be or show an army’s might. Also, you really got to see the bright blue eyes of Lawrence as the camera panned close to them. Everything about the scenery and cinematography was excellent.
How about the musical score of this film? It’s the music you hear in Aladdin when he is going to Agrabah. Maurice Jarre needs to be applauded for his work with this film because when the music needed to be epic, dude made sure it was epic. When the music needed to be somber and sad or calm and relaxing, it was.
Now, as far as the cast goes. I think they did an outstanding job. First, I want to say that I fully see the misrepresentation of this film. Films like these use many white actors to play roles that should’ve gone to people of color. If this movie ever gets remade, which I highly doubt, I hope to believe that we can have significant representation in film now. Also, I know the sexuality of T. E. Lawrence. I will not speak on that because I have no idea, nor did I read his book or historical articles. I am going purely off of what I saw from this film.
Peter O’Toole as T. E. Lawrence was fantastic. The man who was nominated for more Academy Awards than fingers on a person’s hand and didn’t win at all. Indeed the start of an incredible streak of nominations. As Lawrence, O’Toole was a great choice and took the role as his own. When O’Toole needed to be fierce, he was. He did it fantastically when he needed to show how Lawrence’s spirit was broken. It seemed like the camera always focused on his blue eyes. The eyes that showed pride sometimes and pain the other times.
Omar Sharif as Sherif Ali ibn el Kharish was great in this role. He really set the tone for his character when he was introduced. When homeboy rolled up and shot dude for taking his water without permission, you know he wasn’t a man to mess with. Yet, Sharif played Ali as a man of pride but also pessimistic because he complained about almost every plan Lawrence thought of.
Finally, I want to talk about Anthony Quinn as Auda abu Tayi. Mr. Zues himself from Hercules and the Legendary Journey. I honestly didn’t recognize it was Quinn until he started speaking, and I had to look closely. I think he did terrific as Auda. He was aggressive and spoke his mind. Honestly, he stole many of the scenes that he was in.
I can officially say that I watched Lawrence of Arabia. Did it meet my expectations? Yes, it did. I enjoyed this film as it didn’t seem like four hours. It really keeps your attention when you have a steady flow of action and drama. Can it be shorter? You bet your ass it can be. Where was the editing person at? Peter O’Toole was fantastic as the title character and took this role for his own. If you have four hours to spare, watch this film and see a man cloaked in all white do his thing.
