In terms of sheer sweep, intelligence, and star power, nothing much comes close.
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Simply put, "Lawrence of Arabia" is the best epic the screen has ever seen. In terms of sheer sweep, intelligence, and star power, nothing much comes close. It made both T.E. Lawrence and actor Peter O´Toole household names. Much as Columbia TriStar did with "The Bridge on the River Kwai," another grand entertainment from director David Lean, the studio has put together a handsome, if slightly flawed, Limited Edition two-disc set that at least begins to convey some of the scope and beauty of the 1962 Oscar-winning production.
Of course, no mere television setup can duplicate the sheer size of a movie-theater screen, which is what the splendor of the film deserves, but for all practical purposes this DVD set approaches what can be accomplished within the limited confines of home viewing. It may have a smaller screen and a less-than-perfect transfer, but "Lawrence of Arabia" remains an awesome experience.
The story begins with Lawrence´s death in a motorcycle accident in 1935; then, it flashes back from his funeral services to the beginning of his exploits in Arabia during World War I, starting in about 1915. The film does not attempt to be historically accurate and is based loosely on Lawrence´s own accounts of his adventures in his book "The Seven Pillars of Wisdom," wherein he rather immodestly makes himself even larger than life than he may really have been. Poetic license worked for Lawrence, and poetic license works equally well for director Lean in creating a figure of legendary proportions and a movie of grander dimensions yet.
According to the story, Lawrence helped the divided Arab tribes to unite against the Turkish Empire in the Great War. His hit-and-run, guerilla-warfare tactics won him triumphs in the desert no one thought possible. Through a series of audacious victories, he earned the trust, respect, and loyalty of the Arab peoples and became a hero to the world, even though it almost drove him mad. Why he wanted any of this the movie leaves up in the air.
The thing is, no one seems to have known or understood the real Lawrence, perhaps not even Lawrence himself, and the film does little to clarify the situation. He may be the twentieth century´s ultimate enigmatic celebrity. Certainly, history records him as a scholar, British soldier, military strategist, Middle East advisor, and writer. But Lawrence may best be known today as the romantic, mythic embodiment of screen star Peter O´Toole, the actor and the historical figure now so thoroughly intertwined. Of course, it helped that O´Toole was given one of the most literate scripts ever written (Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson), a terrific supporting cast (Omar Sharif, particularly, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn, Jack Hawkins, Jose Ferrar, Anthony Quayle, Arthur Kennedy), an Award-winning musical score familiar to everyone (Maurice Jarre), the vast deserts of Jordan and Morocco, and the direction of a man who had already produced not only "The Bridge on the River Kwai," "Great Expectations," and "Oliver Twist," but who would go on to do "Doctor Zhivago," "Ryan´s Daughter," and "A Passage to India."
Is it any wonder the film couldn´t lose when on every page of the script it has lines like this one from Prince Feisal (Guinness): "With Major Lawrence, mercy is a passion. With me, it is merely good manners." The whole movie is a series of such unbroken successes.
Lawrence establishes his resolve early on when he snuffs out a lighted match with his fingertips. A soldier nearby tries the stunt and burns his fingers. "It damn well hurts!" he exclaims. "Certainly, it hurts," replies Lawrence. "The secret is not minding if it hurts." When a moment later Lawrence blows out a match, Lean uses a brilliant cut to the sun rising on the desert. The young Lieutenant Lawrence would quickly rise through the ranks to major and then colonel as his peerless deeds continued. "Nothing is written" becomes his motto, and Lawrence begins puffing up his own ego by attempting the seemingly impossible. Part warrior, part showman, and part adolescent in billowing white robes, the young man seems almost like a kid at play when he says the whole adventure "sounds like fun." Perhaps he was, after all, a brilliant and daring joy rider, as his later motorcycle death attests.
The film also relies heavily on spectacle and on the sheer charisma of its star. There is nothing like those sweeping desert scenes to pump up the blood and nothing like O´Toole´s spindly, sometimes awkward, sometimes preposterous screen portrayal to maintain our attention. O´Toole really is riveting. Naturally, in a film produced back in 1962 little is made of the real-life Lawrence´s homosexuality, but that´s to be expected. There is a scene with a Turkish general (Ferrar) who appears to derive sexual satisfaction from Lawrence´s torture, there are a couple of young, handsome Arab servants who are devoted to the man, and there is O´Toole´s occasionally effeminate way of speaking and moving that are suggestive, but nothing more.
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