Review of Lawrence of Arabia (1962) by Jacob M — 16 Dec 2013

"We can't fight a bloody war without bloody artillery.".

I've reviewed many films on RT, and I've just realized, I've never reviewed a Best Picture winner. I've reviewed films that were nominated for the award, such as To Kill a Mockingbird, The Music Man, Yankee Doodle Dandy, and Sunset Boulevard, but I've never reviewed an actual Best Picture winner... until now. David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia, based on the true story of military leader TE Lawrence, clearly defines the term of the word epic. What follows is a four-hour journey of brutality, heroics, and complexity that the film deserved to win Best Picture, even if I preferred fellow nominee To Kill a Mockingbird a little more.

TE Lawrence (Peter O'Toole, in his film debut) is a bored, but fun-loving British officer who enjoys a good adventure. He's called upon by General Allenby (Jack Hawkins) to travel to the country of Arabia to aid Prince Fiesal (Alec Guinness) in the Arab revolt against the Turks. Lawrence gains trust from Fiesal, concern from Sherif Ali (Omar Sharif, in his film debut as well), and confidence from fellow Arab leader Auda Abu Tayi (Anthony Quinn). Together, Lawrence bands the Arabs together and leads them in a rebellion against the Turkish empire, unaware that his quest for power will drive him mad.

Other stars appearing in Lawrence of Arabia includes Claude Rains as military helper Dryden and Jose Ferrer as a sadistic Turkish Bey who shows up in one of the screen's most disturbing torture sequences.

Looking back at my experience from this film, it's hard to put my opinions on this film into clear words, cause Lawrence of Arabia is one, ginormous, stunning epic. I was disappointed in some of the things David Lean decided on in Great Expectations, but in Lawrence of Arabia, Lean shows how brilliant of a filmmaker he really was. Because of how excellent this film was in Lean's epic style of filmmaking, he influenced future directors in Hollywood, such as George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, and Martin Scorsese, just to name a few.

The character of TE Lawrence is one of the most complex characters I've seen in film. He starts off as a happy, free-spirited, fun-loving Englishman who loves heroics and the desert, but is transformed into a crazy lunatic in the second half. I don't know what to think of how insane Lawrence really was, but either way, his performance by Peter O'Toole is portrayed brilliantly. What's original about the film is it begins where Lawrence dies, and picks up what made the character famous. Lawrence's opening scene is fantastic ("The trick, Mr. Potter, is not minding that it hurts.") and his performance is fantastic for a screen debut. People have cried foul over the years that he lost the Best Actor award to Gregory Peck, but if you look at Peck's performance from To Kill a Mockingbird, Peck's win was well-deserved. But O'Toole plays the part of Lawrence mighty well. If this film was released in a different year apart from To Kill a Mockingbird, I'm 100% confident that O'Toole would have won that Oscar. Omar Sharif is fantastic as Sherif Ali and his chemistry with O'Toole is brilliant. Alec Guinness is fantastic as always as Prince Fiesar, Jose Ferrer is chilling in his one scene as the Turkish Bey, and Claude Rains, in one of his final roles, delights as the old officer Dryden. Lawrence of Arabia has one of the most epic castings out there, and Lean picked a talented group of actors in the roles.

Even more stunning in this delightful epic is the cinematography. It's some of the best cinematography ever shot in a film. The cinematographer, I don't know his name, shows us phenomenal shots of the deserts of Arabia and wows in the widescreen panoramic shots of Lawrence's army in action, My favorite sequence is when Lawrence blows up the Turkish railways. I also enjoyed the sequence towards the end where Lawrence goes on a rampage and hollers "NO PRISONERS!" An interesting thing about the cinematography: the crew didn't have the right technology to film at night, so when Lean had to film nighttime scenes, the crew dimmed the focus on the cameras and filmed the night scenes in broad daylight. While you can tell that now when watching it today, the uniqueness of Lean's idea and perseverance of getting the job done makes Lawrence of Arabia that more special.

Last thing to note about the film is the score by Maurice Jarre, I believe is his name. The score is fantastic. The heroic Lawrence theme is memorable and heroic, and the whole score adds into the epicness of the story. Some moments I believe inspired future composers like John Williams, Howard Shore, and Michael Giacchino.

It's called the "epic of all epics", and while I believe Ben-Hur deserves the title more, Lawrence of Arabia is a fantastic epic, and deserving of the word, with a brilliant and chilling performance from Peter O'Toole, phenomenal cinematography, fantastic direction from David Lean, an epic score, and a story that delights in heart and heroics. It's a deserving winner of Best Picture, and man, they don't make epics like they used to.

RIP Peter O'Toole.