A Masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (26 April 2009)

This film could be considered David Lean's magnum opus, in other words his masterpiece. The late David Lean was a talented British director who made his name with films like Oliver Twist (1948) and The Bridge on the River Kwai. However in 1962 he released Lawrence of Arabia to the masses. This film was the one that won him the Oscar for best director.
The film tells the story of real life British soldier, T.E. Lawrence. The movie is partially based on Lawrence's autobiographical account, Seven Pillars of Wisdom. Lawrence is sent to Arabia by his superiors to help the Arab revolt against the turks.
The film has great cinematography by Freddie Young, and an epic music score by Maurice Jarre. This film swept the Oscars in 1962, and it deserved each and every one of them. This is one of the rare films that deserves the praise it gets. After you watch it you can see how it influenced other directors like Martin Scorsese, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.
The film features a breakout performance by Omar Sharif. And it made Peter O'Toole a star. After this Omar went on to do the extremely successful Doctor Zhivago, also directed by David Lean, and Peter went on to do other critically acclaimed films like Becket, Lion in the Winter, and Man of La Mancha, among others. Anyone who enjoys a good old fashioned epic with a lot of great performances then this is the film for you.