Those of you
who have actually read the annoying biographical stuff that “blogger” spews out
every time you want to read one of little essays will be aware that I list Lawrence of Arabia as one of my all-time
favorite movies. (Currently there are
six others, one of which – The Big Year – I already have reviewed). It
happens that I have not watched L of A
for at least 30 years, so two nights ago I sat down with my little iPad and
dove into it. Boy, was I ever surprised.
My first
comment is this: watch it on a big
screen. Much (most?) of the attraction
of L of A is provided by the
spectacular desert backdrop, which doesn’t lend itself to being viewed on a
screen measuring 4X6 inches, even if held 12 inches from ones nose. The desert landscape shown was filmed largely
in Jordan and Syria – places where TE Lawrence actually lived and fought. It deserves to be appreciated. Not the Atacama, but close.
As to the
movie itself – well, you know the story.
Lawrence is sent out from Cairo to stir up the Arabs against the Turks,
who were on the wrong side of WW1. This
he does with spectacular success, partly by promising independence and self-government to the Arabs when the war ends and the Turks are forced to cough up their empire. But, of course, in the end France and Great
Britain conspire to carve up the Arabian pie, leaving the Arabs still a largely
subjugated people and Woodrow Wilson sulking on the sidelines. This so depresses Lawrence that he commits
suicide, using a motor cycle as his instrument.
The acting,
I say without fear of disagreement, is absolutely superb. Peter O’Toole* is Lawrence; he should have
won an Oscar, but lost out to a worthy rival, Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird. Other important cast members, all great,
include Alex Guinness, Omar Sharif, Claude Rains, and a delightfully evil Jose
Ferrer. Anthony Quinn, as Sheik Auda Abu
Tayi is worth the price of admission all by himself.
So, if you
are part of the 10% of all English-speaking persons who have never seen this
movie – find it playing in a comfortable theatre with a big screen and a good
sound system, sit back and let it roll over you. Warning:
it is very long, over three hours.
It is so long, in fact, that it has a ten minute musical intermission! Bring lots of popcorn and Milk Duds. A
*The picture
itself did win an Oscar, as well as many other awards. Including Best Director.
No comments:
Post a Comment