Magnificent

Rating: 9/10 (10 December 2019)

Absolutely magnificent. There are so many awe-inspiring shots in this film, from the grand sweeping desert vistas, to the horseman emerging out of a mirage in that glorious long shot, to the three figures in the distance with a huge sun rising on the horizon, to Lawrence on his camel at the Red Sea after the Battle of Aqaba ... it just seems like I could go on and on. Also beautiful are the little shots that are so poetic, such as that moment when we see Lawrence's shadow as he leaps nimbly atop a Turkish train he's just derailed. The scope and grandeur of what director David Lean and cinematographer Freddie Young accomplished here can't be overstated.
There are historical inaccuracies but it seems to me that the gist is reasonably correct, and I liked how the flaws of British politics, British racism, and Lawrence's personal issues which led up to the Tafas massacre were all exposed ... even as we are blown away by some aspects of his character (and certainly by his bravery, and his desire for Arab independence and self-rule). The fact that to take Aqaba from its unguarded side he really did go through 600 miles of desert by camel over a two month period with only 45 rebels, each carrying only water and a 45 pound sack of flour at the outset, is mind-boggling to say the least.
Peter O'Toole leads an extraordinary cast, and perfectly looks the part (who cares about the height difference to the real Lawrence?). Robert Graves wrote that T.E. Lawrence's eyes "immediately held me ... they were startlingly blue, even by artificial light" - and that's certainly true of O'Toole. More importantly, he delivers an inspired, nuanced, and ambiguous performance, one that's as elusive and tortured as the desert sand being whipped up into spirals by the wind. Alec Guinness is similarly striking as Faisal, future king of Greater Syria and then Iraq. As he stares into the prospect of the British and French divided up the Middle East for its oil per the Sykes-Picot Agreement, he says so wisely:
"There's nothing further here for a warrior. We drive bargains. Old men's work. Young men make wars, and the virtues of war are the virtues of young men. Courage and hope for the future. Then old men make the peace. And the vices of peace are the vices of old men. Mistrust and caution. It must be so."
Great film, and truly worthy of being dubbed epic.