unconventional imperialists

Rating: 8/10 (22 August 2006)

This movie has been the most praised movie by David Lean and is a favorite of Greek television which plays it every year especially during religious holidays. It is a memorable film and has many affinities with A passage to India in the sense that it presents the picture of an unconventional Briton who defying his prejudiced superiors sides with the native underdogs,underdogs from the point of view of the British of course, for, for their own people they are the elite. But differences exist: while Fielding in a passage to India makes a temporary alliance with a falsely accused Indian middle-class doctor, Lawrence forms meaningfull relationships with simple Arabs as the camel boys and the Arab whom he saves with danger of his life. Of course the main course of action is the relationship of the British agents with the indigenous ruling class. The movie is based on the life of a historical personnage T.E. Lawrence, a British archaeologist,spy, adventurer and larger than life personality.The historical veracity of the movie is questionable since as Steven Spielberg said in an interview, this movie genre is not a documentary but creative use of existent historical material- creative logistics comes to mind. Of course art always has to uplift the mundane realities of life, in that case of colonial power politics. As far as we know Lawrence was not the ardent arabophile the movie presents him to be and he was loyal to his country's imperial interests which did not identify with those of the Arabs, that is of the dynasty of Prince Feisal since no institutions as referendums were utilized to express the will of the average Arab, if such a life-form existed then. While the politics of the film is unreliable and murky, its' artistry is great with unforgettable performances of the major and minor protagonists of this drama that was the Arab Revolt.Lawrence, general Allenby, Prince Feisal, the hauitat chief Abu-tayi, the American journalist are all portrayed unforgettably, although I suspect that if one was to meet those personalities in private after having seen the movie(which of course is impossible) he would be disappointed. But of course the role of art is to create role models and icons not to copy mundane reality.