Visually Stunning, Yet Without Enough Structure

Rating: 7/10 (24 May 2014)

Some time back I read, ' The Uncrowned King of Arabia ', Michael Asher's BIO of T. E. Lawrence. In the book, Asher traces Lawrence's history, his sexual conflicts, his motives, as well as the geo-politics of the region, in great detail.
So as visually breathtaking as Lean's film is, it is still nonetheless frustrating to watch, for me at least, because it makes little if any attempt to touch on any of the above topics.
This frustration starts right at the beginning, when Lean devotes several minutes in the main title sequence, to a static shot of Lawrence's parked motorcycle (???). Then, after we are shown Lawrence crash, and his church memorial service, we are abruptly transported back in time.
Now those of us with some familiarity with the story will of course know that this is WW1, in which Lawrence is serving as a young British Intelligence Officer, & where he started out as essentially a map clerk, somewhere in Arabia.
Yet the uninitiated are basically just left to guess.
And soon, and again abruptly, Lawrence is assigned to make contact with the nomadic Arab tribes, in order to facilitate revolt against the enemy German-allied Turks.
Did Lean not believe that any back story was necessary to explain how Lawrence arrives at this point in his life? Such as:
-How he came to serve in the Military?
-How he came to speak Arabic?
-How he came to be selected for such an esoteric assignment?
Moreover, as I watched the film, it was striking to me that there was not a single subtitle or voice-over to provide the date/location/details of any of the events.
Contrast this with other historical films such as, ' The Longest Day ', or, ' Raging Bull ', or even, ' Chaplin ', which provides such info, and also makes its significance clear.
The absence of this info creates the effect of a circular panoramic mural: Beautiful to look at, but challenging to follow, without a clear beginning, or clear direction, or clear ending.
So IF this, ' Panoramic ', effect was in fact Lean's intention, then he succeeded brilliantly, but I would have preferred more clarity.
M