Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

Director: David Lean
Story: Robert Bolt, Michael Wilson
Cast: Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness, Omar Sharif, Anthony Quinn 
Music: Maurice Jarre
Time: 222 minutes 
Bottom-line: A true epic

One does not simply make a four hour long film, with no female leads, with no romance, wit a multi-million dollar budget, with a completely new actor playing the lead, and turn it into a masterpiece, unless he is David Lean. From the director of The Bridge on the River Kwai comes one of the greatest epics ever made, Lawrence of Arabia. Starring Peter O’Toole, Omar Sharif, Alec Guinness and Anthony Quinn in the lead roles, the film is a biopic on T.E. Lawrence, a British army officer, whose activities during World in War I earned him the title ‘Lawrence of Arabia’.

The story is told in two parts. It starts with Lawrence’s (O’Toole) death in a motorcycle accident, and then we see the life of Lawrence. He is ordered by General Murray to go to Arabia, and assess the prospects of Prince Faisal (Guinness) in his revolt against the Turks. En route, Lawrence meets Sherif Ali (Sharif). Faisal is soon interested in Lawrence, who asks Faisal to make a surprise attack on Aqaba. What follows is how Lawrence leads the army against Aqaba, and later against Damascus. Along the film, we also see Lawrence’s struggles, with his identity and change in emotions towards wars and violence.

Peter O'Toole as Lawrence

The story is not that great, and it certainly could have been less than 200 minutes long. But that is because Lean wanted to concentrate on the portrayal of the harshness of the desert, and also on the portrayal of the behaviour of Lawrence. The battle scenes are well shot, for a 1962 film, for I felt that in few places, the fighting didn’t look that realistic. But if there is a film (among the ones I have seen) where the cinematography is perhaps the best aspect, two movies come to mind. One is Gravity; the other is Lawrence of Arabia.

Omar Sharif as Sherif Ali

But the camera work in other places is brilliant. One notable scene is Omar Sharif’s entry, which is supposed to be one of the most spectacular ones in Hollywood cinema. And Sharif doesn’t do anything do make it so! It is all made stylish by the camera work. First a small black speck and some dust can be seen on the horizon; you may think it is a mirage. But then, the speck (very) slowly becomes bigger. Then you see that it is actually a man on a camel. Enter Omar Sharif! Now, it may not sound spectacular, but I felt that this piece of photography was superb, where a minute speck becomes a human on a camel (and without effects, but just with photography!).

Anthony Quinn as Auda abu Tayi, the leader of
the Howeitat tribe 

Lean shows barely any violence on screen, even though there is lot of killing and bloodshed in the story. The portrayal of the harshness of the desert, as I said, is also visually stunning. Close-ups of the hot sun and distant shots of the desert are shown alternately, so one can get an idea of the unflinching heat and also the vast expanse of sand. And what makes this even greater, is that these were shot in actual deserts, with sand constantly entering the cameras. I feel that here, Lean can be compared to Alistair Maclean, who too, gave lots of importance to the cruel nature of the surroundings in his stories (mostly in the Arctic). Another important aspect is the score by Maurice Jarre. This film took him from obscurity to a very high position. The score is magnificent. It adds effect to the portrayal of the desert’s brutal nature; it is also dramatic when it should be so.  

Alec Guinness as Prince Faisal 

Now, the acting is next best thing. Peter O’Toole does not show a wide range of emotions, but his body language conveys the emotions equally well. He shows lots of subtle expressions of fear and sadness in the movie. But he does very well to play such a ‘weird’ character. Lawrence is not an ideal hero – he is egotistic, at times overconfident... but no doubt, brave; and his bravery is the trait which one should admire. He takes many unpleasant decisions in his life, which affect him deeply. He also is affected by his allegiance to both Arabs and British. Lawrence also has a dual attitude towards violence – at times he is shocked (like when he is executing Gasim), and at other times he is actively participating in battles. Though O’Toole is marvellous in the film, I still feel that Gregory Peck (in To Kill a Mockingbird) deserved the Oscar. Omar Sharif and Anthony Quinn have done splendidly too. Guinness has done well do put on an Arabian accent, but compared to his performance in The Bridge on the River Kwai, this role was almost nothing!

A scene from Sharif's entrance. This camera is maintained
in the same position, and slowly, the shape of Sharif on a camel
starts to form at the horizon. 

The film has been recognised as one of the greatest films ever made, by the American Film Institute, who placed this film at #5 in their list. The film was placed third in the list of the top hundred British films of all time. AFI recognised the character of T.E. Lawrence as the 10th greatest hero of all time, and also placed Jarre’s score third in the list of the 25 best scores. In the list of the top hundred thrillers, this film was placed 23rd.

To sum up, David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia is indeed ‘the epic of all epics’ (among the films I have seen so far), as the Rotten Tomatoes consensus of this film states. Classy performances by the actors, sublime cinematography and direction, sterling background music and the art direction are the things to look out for. The film won seven Oscars, including Best Picture and Director, and rightly so! The running time is nearly four hours long, but in my opinion, once you start watching, you will be oblivious to the time that flows by. Another related fact is that, this was the film that convinced veteran director Steven Spielberg to become a filmmaker!

My Rating: 5/5
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 99%