LAWRENCE OF ARABIA
Directed by: David Lean - Written by: T.E.Lawrence, Robert Bolt, Robert Harris - Starring: Peter O'Toole, Omar Sharif, Anthony Quinn
Jack Hawkins, Claude Rains, Jose Ferrer - Awards: Best Picture, Best Director: David Lean - Best Sound: John Cox, Best Cinematography:
Freddie Young, Best Sound, Score: Maurice Jarre, Best Writing: Robert Bolt, Robert Harris - Best Actor: Peter O'Toole, Best Actor in a
Supporting Role: Omar Sharif - Best Editing: Anne Coates - Released: I962

A story about the exploits of Lawrence of Arabia, one of the last of the British adventurers of the Empire "on which the sun never set". His job was to fire-up the Arabs of the Arabian Peninsula to revolt against the Turks (allied to Germany) and thus help the British to keep control of Egypt and the all-important Suez Canal during World War I.

The film opens with T.E. Lawrence coloring maps in the British headquarters in Cairo. Since he’s fluent in Arabic, he’s given a mission to contact Prince Faisal at his encampment in the desert of Arabia. Cut to: Lawrence in long-shot amidst the truly monumental landscapes of Arabia, jauntily singing The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo to the accompaniment of echoes from the cliffs. After a few adventures which demonstrate forcefully that he’s no longer in jolly old England anymore, he reaches Faisal, and thanks to his Oxford training in history, figures the precise spot the Turks can be attacked by the Arab cavalry without being blown to pieces the Turkish artillery.

But first they have to cross a burning desert. When one of his servant boys goes missing, he re-crosses the so-called Anvil of the Sun to rescue him, thus showing the Arabs how the British gentleman values human life. Later the same servant kills a tribesman, and to avoid a blood-feud, Lawrence has to execute him himself, to the amusement of the tribesmen. This is all prelude to the attack on Aqaba, a Turkish stronghold on the Red Sea, where all the big artillery points seaward.

These things all happen in the context of the most staggering landscape, so that the desert becomes one of the main characters. That Lawrence is “one of those desert loving British” is a foregone conclusion - so apparently was David Lean. One of the characters, played by Anthony Quinn with his usual forcefulness, says to Lawrence, “For you, there is only the desert”. The film only hints at one of Lawrence's predictions, that of masochism.

By then, Lawrence was wearing Arab garb and was burnt by the sun, so that a British sentry, spotting Lawrence, shouts across the Suez Canal, “Who are you . . .Who are you? The reaction shot says it all, as Lawrence, wearing his burnoose, searches himself for the real answer, and says nothing.

This would have been the perfect place for the film to end, but it staggers forward for another hour fulfilling plot points and further wartime exploits. The final shot is great as Lawrence is driven across the desert to a ship that will take him back to England. The war is over, his mission has succeeded beyond the wildest dreams of the High-Command, and both the Arabs and the British want him out of there, as the real power struggle begins over who controls the Middle-East.

All educated Arabs know this history by heart, and they feel they were used by the Allied Powers and then thrown-away after the war. This is the important thing about the film, not some praise of this or that acting performance or tracking shot. Yes, it’s a great film, and stunningly visual, by a truly great director, David Lean. But it’s importance as background to the present-day hostilities of the Mid-East is beyond words.

scenes from the film: Original film Trailer --- Theme Music --- Match dissolves to sun --- Dwarfed by Landscape --- "No Prisoners"

"Lawrence of Arabia"," David Lean", "T.E.Lawrence", "Omar Sharif"

Notes:

(a) Peter O’toole said that he had to buy some foam rubber to soften the ride on his camel.




A REVIEW OF THE FILM "LAWRENCE OF ARABIA"