Desert loving English

Rating: 10/10 (12 March 2020)

One cannot really add much to the superlatives heaped upon this undisputed masterpiece, adapted by playwright Robert Bolt from T. E. Lawrence's 'Seven Pillars of Wisdom'. Director David Lean himself has admitted that he 'got it wrong' on a few occasions. Firstly in not having the courage to hold Omar Sharif's entrance for longer and secondly in not making it clearer that Lawrence was not only beaten but also buggered by the Turks. The film suggests that Lawrence did not know about the Sykes-Picot Treaty but only 'suspected'. He almost certainly did know hence his sense of guilt at having betrayed the Arabs. These are minor quibbles of course and do not detract from the films magnificence. It would be nigh on impossible to assemble a cast of this quality now and in the highly unlikely event of its being remade, everything would be CGI'd, even the camels! When Lean and cinemtographer Freddie Young met on the set, Young said 'Don't teach your grandmother to suck eggs'. Lean very wisely took his advice. At the films premiere the Duke of Edinburgh enquired of Lean:'good flick is it?' Lean's response? 'I hope so, sir'.