The Legacy Of An Epic

Rating: 10/10 (27 December 2001)

After adapting a novel called The Bridge On The River Kwai and adding a Hollywood feel to it through the controls of Sam Spiegel, master film craftsman David Lean set out on another search for his next grand feat of cinema making. After garnishing 7 oscars, Lean thirsted for a new challenge. He found it in the book called, 'The Seven Pillars Of Wisdom', by Major T.E.Lawrence. An autobiographical account of his time in World War I under the command of Prince Faisal and his campaigns against the turk, the legend of Lawrence could have made for more than 20 hours of filmmaking.

Rounding up an all star cast including Academy Award Winner Alec Guiness, Anthony Quinn, the remarkable Omar Shariff, was a debuting actor named Peter O'Toole. Lean was wise to choose a so-called 'beginner'. For no actor of the time could play Lawrence without letting it go to their heads. But Peter O'Toole personified Lawrence to a staggering point of clarity. On film, he IS Lawrence.
David Lean has the power in his films to envoke a sense of grandeur in natural landscapes, and how the environment reflects the characters. One only needs to go so far as to watch A Passage To India, Doctor Zhivago, In Which We Serve or The Bridge On The River Kwai to see such an effect.
In the scene where the Arab party cross the Sun's Anvil in the mighty Nefu desert, the sweat builds up on the audience's skin. And when they finally storm Aqaba, the adrenalin builds in a panning long shot, as the Arabs sweep towards the seaside like a rollicking wave.
Robert Bolt's debut screenplay is the best debut screenplay ever. The intensity of his characters on paper is staggering. Auda abu Tayi's dialogue can send shivers down anyone's spine.
Made for the last generation who preferred different films than those of today's (with Titanic, Lord Of The Rings: Fellowship Of The Ring and Gladiator slight exceptions) and with a running length close to four hours, Lawrence Of Arabia remains one of the greatest films ever made and in my opinion, the best.
Lawrence of Arabia is the story of a man changed in the desert, and in watching it, so too are we changed.