A film that has always been gorgeous is now also prescient

Rating: 10/10 (20 October 2002)

Watching it for the third time (in its 2002 re-release) I experienced, along with the rest of the NY City audience, a chilling insight into the roots of our present-day wars with that part of the world. Even though Middle East history is just a background to this wonderful film, the audience was clearly moved when watching the sad irony and significance of a land being divided by the great powers of the early 20th century - the British and the French. We came to call this great stretch of desert Syria, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon - and many other names. Yet the peoples in this story wanted nothing more than to be called by their tribal names, like "Bedouin".

The film, though, is really about T. E. Lawrence - and on this account alone it is a triumph. What a fascinating person - brought to life in a memorable performance by Peter O'Toole.
Taken on another level, this is also cinemagraphic greatness. As you watch this film, it's such a pleasure not even thinking about how good the special effects are - because there are none. Somehow, our subconscious mind relaxes knowing that we're watching the real thing - the sun rising over the desert, a man on camel appearing like a ghost in the rippling heat of the sun, hundreds of warriors on horseback fleeing the attack of WWI-era biplanes, the relative cool of the officers' club in Cairo.
And then on another level, the subtle poetry of Robert Bolt's screenplay is unsurpassed. Take, for example, the scene where Lawrence loses his compass in a sandstorm. When the weather clears and he notices that it's gone, he says, "Well, no matter", and pointing to the setting sun he says, "West!" In the context of his agony over his identity as either an Englishman or Arab, this is a beautiful way of showing his ultimate choice.
If you haven't seen this film on the big screen I envy you: you're in for the most wonderful three and a half hours of your film-going life.