The mother of all Epics is a true cinema miracle

Rating: 10/10 (23 July 2013)

The epic of the epics, the film that if never had been done, not only today's cinema wouldn't be the same but we would never know the great man that was T.E Lawrence.
"Lawrence of Arabia" was the epic that redefined cinema forever, not only gave us a cinematic spectacle of grandeur but also gave us one of the most beautiful stories ever told in cinema.
By the beginning, the film suggests that it is a biography (which partly is) where we witness Lawrence (Peter O'Toole) suffering a motorcycle accident that leads him to a terrible death. Then the movie jumps to a younger Lawrence, a young playful, petulant and worship lieutenant, that is being highlighted for a mission in the desert that at the beginning was just a reconnaissance mission that ended up being one of the salvations of the 1st world war.
Screenwriters Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson not only try to show the historical side of the film featuring various encounters and battles that marked the history (which are well represented in the film) but mainly it tries to show the man that was Thomas Edward Lawrence ("T.E" get it?). Lawrence was mostly known for being a hero by some and a charlatan or sadist by others, the film shows that with a tremendous mastery that try to say that Lawrence was much more than that, he was a human like any other.
Lawrence establishes several visions of himself throughout the film: at the beginning for his comrades English he is a young petulant and playful lieutenant; later for his Arabs comrades a true messiah that crosses whole deserts without tiring and joins people without rivalry; and later by their British comrades a petulant and playful and very courageous now Major. Even nourishing various visions throughout the film, the script never loses focus giving a great evolution of the character and also the historic events in their correct time line, always with an amazing mastery.
The story itself is already beautiful but the direction of David Lean makes it magnificent. A film that seems to improve with each passing scene and also gives the film an incredible magnitude with lush landscapes of the Arabian desert. Not only landscapes but also the incredible epic battles, one that stands out is the massive invasion of the city of Aqaba filmed in a large-scale placing the huge Arab army in one shot of the camera during the massive invasion. Such a scene would be filmed today with the use of visual effects, losing the brilliance of David Lean magic that is felt in each of his scenes throughout the film.
The cast also stands out without difficulty; each of the historical figures had superb performances since Omar Sharif as Sheriff Ali to Alec Guinness as Prince Feisal. All great in their roles, but who stands out with a lush performance is undoubtedly the great Peter O'Toole as Lawrence, showing his character the man that Lawrence was from a playful to rebel; from peaceful to a warrior; from a English gentleman to an Arab messiah, all in with a great perfection.
If one word could describe the masterpiece of David Lean it would undoubtedly be magnificent. Everything works marvelously since the pacing to a brilliant script and a lush direction that tells's the incredible journey of a man in a film that goes from a huge adventure to a war epic. "Lawrence of Arabia" is the miracle of cinema, an epic film that is seriously required to be seen by all cinema lovers.