Review of Lawrence of Arabia (1962) by Jake C — 10 Jul 2017
One reason this film works so incredibly well-and I am one wont to call it the most epic epic-is that Lean balances nimbly the same literary aesthetic that Lawrence himself strikes so perfectly in his "Seven Pillars".
Like Lawrence's personality and his politics, as a poet he aimed to give equal voice to (in his time, dying; in our time, dead) the heroic Romance and, at the same time, (in his time, burgeoning; in our time, post-) the bleak and introspective Modernist.
Like horizon landscapes that make up so much of the movie, as Lawrence balances between where sand meets sky, on one side (bright and empty) is a 19th C. hope in man's enlightenment, while on the other (filthy and dry) is a 20th C.
arthouse nihilism. Lawrence, as the film notes, is a double-edge sword, cutting both ways, wielded by two masters, but like Joyce his contemporary, servant to none. Which is to say, the film-notably split down the middle, between the action of its first exhilarating half, and the stultification of its bureaucratic ending-is Lawrence through and through.
This review of Lawrence of Arabia (1962) was written by Jake C on 10 Jul 2017.
Lawrence of Arabia has generally received very positive reviews.
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