Classic Film Review - Lawrence of Arabia

T.E. Lawrence, as portrayed in David Lean’s 1962 epic motion picture, Lawrence of Arabia, is a man of conflicted interest. He is a kind of man that has no qualms about displaying his emotions on his face and making his motives well known when he chooses to act. He wears his internal conflict externally, and although that is primarily a testament to Peter O’Toole’s magnificent portrayal of the man, it is also a reflection of the director’s attitude toward the controversial figure himself and the personality of the film. By following his exploits while assisting the Arab rebels in fighting the Turks, the film covers a lot of ground, both physically and within the mind of Lawrence himself. It is a story about a man’s internal conflict brought out into the external world, and the toll it takes on his mind. At the same time, it is also about the ego that develops out of this conflict, and how Lawrence comes to believe the myth that the Arabs have constructed for him. He embraces his role (and robes) wholeheartedly and falls from grace in the end because of his mistake. Ultimately, though, the film just as conflicted about its ideals as Lawrence himself. It gives equal treatment and consideration to all aspects of war, religion, and dreams of primary individuals represented throughout the film. In doing so, none of its questions and problems raised throughout the proceedings of the story are resolved by its conclusion. David Lean seems content enough to present everything as it is, and to let the audience draw its own conclusion. It is this distinct lack of subjective storytelling and the commitment to objective perspective that strengthens the power of the film and what it brings to the viewer.

Now, on to the film itself. It is a masterwork of cinematography, absolutely beautiful to look at, and the score is a wonder placed upon the eardrums. It is easy to get swept up in Lawrence’s adventure, because the visuals take the audience there, out of Cairo and into the sweltering, wild Arab desert. Every detail is captured, every frame is perfectly composed on the screen and edited in such a way that you can’t but be pulled along by its unrelenting pace. Unrelenting is hardly a detractor, either, as it suits the nature of Lawrence’s long, involving, and merciless quest. There is one scene in particular, in which I was absolutely stunned by what I was seeing captured on film. The scene in question is the storming of Aqaba by the Arab rebels, led by none other than Lawrence himself, in a brilliant, if not brazen, display of tactics and intelligence. Seeing such strategy come to fruition in one truly epic, sweeping motion is quite exhilarating to watch, and the way the camera captures it all in one long, wide, panning shot is just absolute genius. I could just feel the sense of being overwhelmed by the charge of horses and swords and guns and the thought of oh my god, it actually worked. You feel the success, and can’t help but want to partake in the victory of the moment and the spoils. It is a truly magical moment among many in the film, but the others will come later.

The defining characteristic of the look of the film is in its grandiose nature, in the sense that it perfectly captures nature’s ability to be truly grand. Thanks to the cinematography, the audience can see the beauty of the delicate curves of the sand dunes during the day and how it is met with the harsh, weathering winds of night. The graceful unveiling of the rising sun is later contrasted to the withering heat and blinding brightness of midday. Combined with the enthusiastic and adventurous score by Maurice Jarre, there is an undeniable quality about the film that captures and embraces the unforgiving, yet enrapturing nature of the savage nature and its inhabitants, both good and bad.

There are a number of character-defining moments in Lawrence of Arabia, not all of which are demonstrated by the title character, but those will come later. For now, it will satisfy to linger on the climactic scene in the film’s final act, where Lawrence leads the rebels against a band of Turks who have just laid waste to a small village. The director gives us a close-up of Lawrence’s face as he looks out over the devastation, and then to the fleeing raiders. His eyes are bright blue and brimming with brilliant emotion. The audience can’t help but feel the same way. They want justice. They want revenge. Up until this point, Lawrence has been a thoughtful and considerate man, who has done his best to remain in control of the situation. However, at this very moment, against his best friend Sherif’s pleas, he lets his emotions take over, and he gives the order to charge, screaming, “No prisoners! No prisoners!” and then they descend on the defenseless hoard, laying waste to them, leaving no one alive. The audience is witness to hot-blooded emotion that gives way to cold-blooded murder. It is this moment that redefines Lawrence as a different kind of man, a villainous man who no longer passes judgement.

There is another moment toward the end of the film outside the Arab National Committee, where Sherif Ali (Omar Sharif) is confronted by Auda Abu Tayi (Anthony Quinn) about his interest in politics. When Sherif is first introduced, he is a brazen, thieving murderer, and is not viewed in high regard by Lawrence upon their initial encounter. As the film progresses, they become very close friends, developing deep feelings for each other. As we see at the end of the film, Sherif is making an effort to change his ways and become more civilized as Lawrence was when they first met. Now, they have essentially switched places from a psychological point of view. When they first met, Lawrence said to him, “As long as fight tribe against tribe, they will always be a little people - a silly people!” And now Sherif wants to change that. But as Auda proves, by having Sherif drawing his blade in anger, Sherif is ultimately unable to change who he is inside. However, this is not the case for Lawrence. He has been changed forever by his experience, and certainly not for the better.

When I initially viewed this movie, I developed my own assumptions about the character and the story that was unfolding before me. Given its date of production, and some interesting production decisions (like casting only one Arab actor and having all the other major Arab characters like Auda Abu Tayi and Prince Feisal being played by distinguished English actors putting on accents - and the lack of any women in on-screen roles), I assumed that this would be a whitewashed production about the blond-haired, blue-eyed Western ideal coming in and saving the native population from invaders. Indeed, there are certainly racist connotations to the way certain characters speak (“They do not understand what modern weapons do!” “They are unused to explosives and machines”). However, that only provides support for my assumptions in the first half. The second half of the film strikes a different tone altogether, with Lawrence experiencing the downward spiral into madness and savagery, something he criticized the Arabs for earlier. After the scene with Lawrence’s suggested rape by his captors, he has a different look in his eyes not unlike the painful gaze he has before he orders the charge on the raiders later. By the end of the film, it has become a subversion of the expected cliche “White Savior” story, and rises above it to become something more: a criticism of man and his brutal nature, the very nature of war itself and the toll it takes on his humanity. As foreshadowed in the beginning of the film, Mr. Dryden says to Lawrence, as Lawrence is holding a lit match, “It is recognized that you have a funny sense of fun,” before Lawrence blows it out.

Of course, a director is only as good as his writers, so equal credit for this achievement is deserved by the film’s two writers, Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson, for extracting the heart and soul out of T.E. Lawrence’s writings and reinterpreting them into a masterful screenplay. In turn, David Lean’s deft ability to bring it to the silver screen is an amazing feat in itself. Together, these men have taken the essence of the human condition and made it digestible for audiences everywhere.

Dino-Score: 5/5