Lawrence of Arabia is a film that my father always wanted me to watch when I was a boy. The thing is, when you are seven years old, you do not really care about a 4-hour film where the main character spends time wandering in the desert. However as I got older and found a deep appreciation for cinema, and especially in the years since Peter O' Toole's death, Lawrence of Arabia is a film that I have always wanted to see. I find myself struggling to put into exact words how I feel about David Lean's sweeping epic, but I will attempt to do so in this blog.
Lawrence of Arabia is the story of T.E. Lawrence, who led the Arab tribes against the Turks during World War I. The scope and sheer enormity of this film is beyond breathtaking. Every sweeping shot of the Arabian desert reminds you that a film of this quality cannot, and never will, ever be duplicated. This movie is also driven by an emotional and powerful performance from its star, Peter O' Toole. I love his character arc in the film because T.E. Lawrence is a vastly different man at the end of the film than he was at the beginning.
David Lean is the director of Lawrence of Arabia. As I mentioned before, I love the shots of Lawrence traveling through the desert. Logistically speaking, it is completely unfathomable to imagine the lengths that the cast and crew went through to make this movie. For me, the standout scene is when Lawrence rescues the man from the desert. I love the way this is shot because you just do not know if Lawrence is going to get to him in time. Lawrence of Arabia is a rare piece of perfect cinema, and that is in large part due to the direction of David Lean.
Lawrence of Arabia is the definition of a classic that, unfortunately, seems to be lost on this generation of film fans. I absolutely loved this film. However, I must point out that if you plan on watching it than you should probably make a day of it. You will not regret it at all.
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