The Greatest War Involved Film

Rating: 10/10 (19 August 2012)

There was one time when I showed my little brother Lawrence of Arabia. We had recently watched The Bridge on the River Kwai, another Lean favorite of mine, which he didn't love, but enjoyed. Once finishing LOA, however, he just said something that many others would agree with: "That was way too long." Okay, he got me. At three hours and forty-two minutes, perhaps the film is too long. But not for me. The first time I watched the film, it glued me to my seat. My mother called me up to dinner, and I just canceled it out. The first time Spielberg saw it, he couldn't even comprehend the effect it had on him. That was exactly how it went for me as well. It was a film that was dull at moments, but then snuck up and floored me. There has never been better editing in any film. Ever. At one moment, Lawrence picks up a match and blows it out. The next shot is of a red sunrise. This is the greatest transition of all time. It is a film showing not only the beauty of a land, but the characterization of the human being. It is not just a biopic. It is the most important biopic ever made. T.E. Lawrence, up there with Charles Foster Kane and Don Corleone, is one of the most extraordinary characters ever put to film. The only difference is that the character was based off of a true person. But much like Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network, the film version of Lawrence was very fictitious. He was changed to make the film more interesting. And boy, was it ever interesting.