Rise and Fall of a Philosophical Warrior

Rating: 6/10 (1 May 2018)

The sandy front of World War I, set amongst the dunes and political turmoil of Syria, Egypt and Jordan, as seen by a cocksure British army officer with maybe a little bit of a messiah complex. A true epic, from the breath-stealing long shots of an unimaginably vast desert to the explosive, well-outfitted battle scenes, it lives up to the billing and then some. I was mesmerized by the photography in particular, which constantly discovers new ways to portray what could have been a rather redundant, flat, boring landscape. Truly beautiful, almost ruminative at times, with an appreciation for the artisanship of film.
As for the plot, well... it's a bit slow. Particularly so in the nearly four-hour director's cut, which feels completely unnecessary. I've never seen the theatrical release, which is noted for being incomprehensible in places due to the awkward cuts, but it seems suspicious that half an hour or more couldn't have been lopped off somewhere to improve the pace. It's an exhausting watch, and not just because of the draining personal transformation we see in Lawrence himself. There's good material, of course, plenty of it. The hopeless inner squabble of an Arab population that's desperately close to the unified independence they seek. The protagonist's progression from philosophical humanist to enraged berzerker to shattered shell. We get plenty to think about, long after the credits have finally, mercifully rolled, but it's a marathon to reach that point.
A Best Picture winner that's technically marvelous, thematically challenging and open-minded, but the ending left me feeling cold and there's really no excuse for it to run for as long as it does.