A Unique Landmark

Rating: Null/10 (29 September 2009)

Lean's tremendous 'Lawrence of Arabia' is truly one of a kind. Compared to epic Hollywood movies that have been made before and since, the strength of 'Lawrence of Arabia' is that the film's heart lies in its story and character rather than lavish sets, action scenes or special effects. That is not to say that this movie was lacking in the aforementioned department. Quite the contrary because Lean has used a lot of rawness and subtlety. The desert is so wonderfully captured that it is successfully portrayed as ruthless and yet seductive. The viewer can understand why Lawrence is drawn towards it. During the action sequences, the camera would shift back to the characters' faces allowing the viewer to see their emotional reaction to the ongoing horror rather than merely showing 'cool action scenes'. Beautifully shot and edited and thanks to a solid screenplay, 'Lawrence of Arabia' follows a very smooth pace and even though the running time is more than 4 hours long, there was not a moment when I felt that it dragged. The soundtrack is mesmerizing.
However, what would have 'Lawrence of Arabia' been without the immensely talented Peter O'Toole? I was very surprised to discover that this was his first film. Whether it's his spontaneous reaction, impressive improvisation, or terrific dialogue delivery. The actor plays the part very naturally. There is not one scene where he acts formulaic or theatrical (a risk many actors ran into those days, especially with such roles). It is a prototype performance that portrays a heroic character as very human.
Of the supporting cast, Omar Sharif is very likable as Sheriff and Anthony Quinn provides some comic relief. The rest of the actors do fairly well. Only Alec Guinness's portrayal of Prince Feisal falls flat.
Overall, 'Lawrence of Arabia' can be described as a one-man show because of Peter O'Toole, but then that would be unfair to David Lean and Robert Bolt as this also marks their best work (or at least one of their best works) to date. This is truly a unique epic film experience and there is hardly any other picture of its genre that has achieved remotely close to what 'Lawrence of Arabia' has.