My Favorite Movies: Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

British director David Lean is best known for his enormous epics like The Bridge on the River Kwai, Doctor Zhivago, and A Passage to India. His most famous work is probably Lawrence of Arabia, which is also arguably his best picture. Years before he ever made his “big” movies, he had made small, relatively quiet ones like Brief Encounter and his Dickens adaptations Great Expectations and Oliver Twist. Lawrence of Arabia, I think, combines these two sides. It is a big film to be sure, but it is also a quiet deconstruction of human emotions, particularly when it comes to our more violent sides.

After the success of The Bridge on the River Kwai, Lean looked for the subject for his next epic and initially selected the life of Mahatma Gandhi. The story of T. E. Lawrence, though, probably seemed like a more personal solution. It seems to me that it would be easier to criticize the life of an already controversial political figure, then that of a beloved religious one (Although, it was later proven that the only good way to make a movie about Gandhi is to leave all criticism at the door.).

Oddly enough, the movie about Lawrence sparked more controversy than the man himself did. Many felt a movie would not do the guy justice, especially if it went too deeply into the more, shall we say, crazy sides of his character. Actually, all speculation about the errors of the film’s presentation of the man was not so much a problem as the film’s small dismissal. It did do good critical business, even winning the Academy Award for Best Picture, but many audiences and critics were not so enthralled by this sprawling drama, which contained no big stars, no women, and no traditional thrills.

This was, after all, an era dominated by the new discoveries of film-making without boundaries. The French New Wave was already beginning to reach America, and we were testing our own limits as far as content and delivery were concerned. Then here comes a movie that is content to be traditional, with a style and a story more akin to the popular epics of the 50s then with the movies that were currently in fashion.

Regardless of all this, Lawrence of Arabia did do good enough business initially to be remembered, and it is now recognized as the masterpiece it is. There is nothing wrong with movies that set out to be awe-inspiring. David Lean could have made Lawrence on a Hollywood set, but he wanted to shoot in desert locales such as Jordan and Morocco, alongside some scenes shot on British sets. The desert scenes, and most of the movie takes place in the desert, are extraordinary for the very reason that they are genuine. The realism of the scenery and the dramatic way in which it is used make the film so much more impressive then if it had been simply created on a green screen.

Take Omar Sharif’s first appearance. We can barely see him at first. He is riding a camel so far off in the distance that he is simply a black speck. Lawrence and his guide stand perfectly still watching the black speck grow larger and larger. Finally, the guide realizes that offence will be taken at their having drunk from the well they are resting beside. He makes a mad dash for his gun and is shot by Sharif, who has now entered our reasonable view.

This is just one example of the superb way in which the vastness of the desert is used in subtly thrilling ways that other directors would not have had the patience to attempt. Other images, such as the long line of camels solemnly marching across the enormous landscape, the immense battle scenes using hundreds of extras, and the actual exploding of a train (similar to what was done in River Kwai) all showcase Lean’s incredible aptitude to present us with the things he knows will wow his audience, who he clearly knows very well.

As I said earlier, this is not only a movie of splendor, but it is also a deep character study about a real-life man whose image may have been very recognizable for a time, but who was not really known so well as a person. Peter O’Toole stars in his first role as this interesting individual, and it may just be the highlight of his entire career. It is only right that his image is immediately associated with Lawrence’s. His character is immensely proud and patriotic, as well as supremely confused and down-trodden.

Watching the movie, one can see his slow emotional downfall. At the beginning, he is a quiet, clumsy person whose most outrageous action involves burning his fingers to prove that he can endure the pain. When he is sent out into the Arabian desert, he feels he must constantly overcome his tame British origins to better the lives of the desert’s inhabitants. At first, he becomes a respected leader. He then gets such a very big head that he decides he is some sort of prophet and that he is going to take over the entire country single-handed, losing all of his closest allies in the process.

O’Toole’s portrayal in the second half of the film is one of the film’s highlights. From the time that Lawrence absently admits to having enjoyed carrying out an execution, we know that this is an unstable man. The moment in which he officially cracks is during a battle that he has begun unnecessarily, in which he runs around, with insanity all over his face, randomly slicing people with his sword. This insanity is never really cured, and the film ends with his being more or less dismissed from any kind of authority by his country, and the last shot shows him simply contemplating his great failures.

The film actually begins with his death via motorcycle accident, followed by the funeral full of people who don’t really miss him. This is actually a case in which it was alright to show the end at the beginning, a device of which I’m not usually fond. This is not a movie in which the ending could be a real surprise, so it is instead the intensity and power of the images and emotions that drive the story. I certainly am glad it was made when it was, because new Hollywood conventions couldn’t have made it any greater.

Lawrence of Arabia does remain a very powerful movie. Watching it in 2012 sparks comparisons to the big political leaders of our modern world and starts to make you wonder how long it will be until they have their own inevitable downfalls. Above all, I still consider this one of the most beautiful movies ever filmed and it will never fail to take my breath away.

With its new high-definition restoration, the timeless images look even better than before. Whether seeing it for the first time or the twentieth, on a big theater screen or a big small screen (A phone is not an option for a movie of this scale.), there has probably never been a better time to experience this great masterpiece. Do so.