Review of Lawrence of Arabia (1962) by Ryan H — 08 Jun 2012

Some scenes make Lawrence of Arabia not worth watching on a television, not matter how big or how high the definition. David Lean does a fantastic job of putting the audience in the shoes of a man who crosses the desert and how much a little speck can be a glimmer of hope.

Unfortunately I saw this on my television and I would do anything to get to see this on the big screen to fully comprehend everything. But what I saw, and what I can imagine what I missed, this is one of the greatest adventure films ever told.

Nothing like it could be made today. The budget was huge, the lead actor wasn't very well known at the time, and there's no love interest in the story. In fact, I don't remember seeing a single woman.

It's all about T.E. Lawrence and his relationship with the Arabs during a two year period towards the end of WWI. Another ballsy move: O'Toole plays up the homosexual side of Lawrence. He doesn't hit on guys or anything like that, but his mannerisms lean more towards the feminine side.

It was probably the only way to show he was gay and get away with it back in 1962. What makes Lawrence of Arabia work so well is that David Lean gives his audience an interesting character. Lawrence isn't always simply the good guy.

It's according what you see is good and what's bad. He doesn't follow the orders of his British commander, but instead wants to lead the Arabs to freedom. It all starts out with him going to Arabia and travelling with an Arab on camelback to his destination.

One day they stop to get a drink of water and a man kills his companion for drinking out of a well. The man says it's his people's well and he should have known better. It all just seems like simple facts because afterwords he asks Lawrence if he needs help getting to his destination and he refuses.

He realizes now that the Arabs are set up in tribes and these tribes aren't friendly with each other. They kill without care. What he sets out to do from here is to unite the Arabs and give them their country back even after he discovers the British want to take control over Damascus.

It doesn't matter, this is their country. As the film progresses, he begins to see himself as an Arab as well. He's not just helping them fight, he's becoming a part of them. You see the full transformation happen when they burn his uniform and give him their own clothes that he wears for most of the film.

He becomes such a huge part of them that when they walk into a city he thinks he will be invisible; he's just like them, right? But he's captured and they make remarks about him having white skin and blue eyes.

He realizes at this point he's not like them and perhaps skin color has something to do with who you are. He's fighting a battle that's not his. O'Toole plays this so we can see the battle inside of him just through his eyes.

O'Toole was perfect for this role not only because he looked similar to T.E. Lawrence, but because we didn't need dialogue to know how he felt. I always had a connection to him. One of the scenes that drew me to him the strongest was when he was forced to kill the soldier he saved because he killed a man and if he didn't kill him then there would be an outbreak.

Lawrence doesn't give himself enough time to think; if he did then he wouldn't have been able to go through with it. Sometimes it did seem a little silly to have every person speak English and have Alec Guiness play Prince Feisell and Anthony Quinn play Auda.

If it was done today they probably would have had them speak their own language and have subtitles in order to really put you in the film. But if it was done today there would have also been some ridiculous side love story and would probably have CGI.

So I will take the old-fashioned way that was presented in the film. Lawrence of Arabia is undeniably one of the best adventure epics ever made.