Epic in every way

Rating: 8/10 (2 April 2016)

Epic in every way.
The story of TE Lawrence, the English officer who united and lead the diverse, often warring, Arab tribes during World War 1 in order to fight the Turks. This unity and fight for freedom ultimately lead to the independent Arab states that we now know.
Grand in its ambition, grand in its scale, grand in its scenery and cinematography, grand in its running time. Director David Lean captures well the adventures and achievements of Lawrence, as well as his personality, contradictions and inner conflicts.
Superb cinematography - the desert vistas are a key positive of the movie.
The running time - 3 1/2 hours - does make the movie a bit of an endurance test though. Not that it is ever dull, it is just the sheer amount of time you need to set aside to watch it. Usually I would say, for something like that, that a bit of editing is in order, but there is very little that can be edited out. Almost every scene is integral to the plot. Towards the end, however, there were one or two scenes that could possibly have been cut though.
Great work from Peter O'Toole in the lead role, for which he received an Oscar nomination. Good support from a cast that includes Omar Sharif, Anthony Quinn, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Jose Ferrer, Anthony Quayle and Claude Rains. Omar Sharif received a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his performance.