Movie Masterworks

“Do you think I’m just anyone? Do you?”

Synopsis: The dramatic portrait of the famed British officer’s journey to the Middle East, ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ is one of the most critically acclaimed and beloved films of all time. Assigned to Arabia during World War I, Lawrence courageously unites the warring Arab factions into a strong guerrilla front and leads them to brilliant victories in treacherous desert battlefields, where they eventually defeat the ruling Turkish Empire.

Critique: Lawrence of Arabia is often regarded as David Lean’s masterpiece and contains some of the most amazing photography ever captured on film.

The plot involves the true story of T E Lawrence, a young English officer who led the Arabs to victory in their revolt against their Turkish imperial master during the First World War but who then after achieving so much fame and glory died in a motorbike accident that could have been suicide.

The most famous features of the film are the photography of the desert and the music. Maurice Jarre’s famous theme is now synomous with anything dry and deserty. David Lean spent several years in Jordan and Morocco making the film and is said to have spent days waiting for the “right” sunrise. However his perfectionism paid off and the shots are fantastic with wonderful pieces of editing.

However Lawrence of Arabia is not just a sandy visual feast. The performances are also superb. Claude Rains is suitably suave as the diplomat and Jack Hawkins appropriately brusque as General Allenby. Alec Guiness is almost unrecognisible in his amazing turn as Prince Feisal. However it is the performances of the two young leads (Omar Sharif as Ali and Peter O’Toole as Lawrence himself) which deserve the most credit. Neither actor had starred in an international film before Lawrence of Arabia but they proved themselves worthy of their casting and, of course, went on to have very successful careers.

Through their subtle performances, O’Toole and Sharif make one of the most interesting aspects of the film the interaction of the two main characters. When Lawrence first meets Ali, the latter guns down a fellow Arab for drinking at a well belonging to Ali. Lawrence accuses Ali of being “silly, barbarous and cruel” and yet ultimately as the plot unfolds it is shown that it is Ali who is the more humane and rational of the two for, as his career takes off, Lawrence becomes caught up in his own glory that increasingly brings out his sadism and near insanity. Lawrence of Arabia exemplifies Lean’s amazing eye for beautiful shots and brilliant editing, but is also a sensitive study of an enigmatic and tragic figure.

Review by Alicia Forsyth Taken from EUFS Programme 1996-97