Lawrence of Arabia by David Lean (1962)

Rating: 9/10 (27 October 2014)

When we see old films, we are often struck by how slow they can moving on. The rhythm and the way it's shot is so different from what we are currently used to.Nevertheless, this film takes you out of breath throughout his 228 minutes! The plot mainly takes place in the Arabian peninsula during the first world war.Lawrence, a young English lieutenant stationed in Cairo, has to cross the desert in order to assess the situation of the Arabian uprising against the Turks. Little by little, he utterly falls in love with the desert and the Bedouin culture. But shall such a genius and foolish man and such divided Arabian tribes success in the creation of a united Arabian people? Peter O'Toole is excellent in playing Lawrence character: since the beginning, he appears as a clever,cultivated ,disobeying and quirky person who success in his most foolish aims. Despite that, he discovers later that he can lose the control as well and his mind tends to lead him into a sort of madness which O'toole plays wonderfully. Moreover, the stunning pictures of the desert can't leave you indifferent. The director David Lean leads the spectator into an unknown and exciting world that could be uneasy to film with his cumbersome equipment of that time. Anyway, see it, and you will understand why it won seven awards academy. It worth it!