The GONE WITH THE WIND of the 60s

Rating: 10/10 (8 February 2002)

The incredible vistas... the intricate costumes... the star-making performances... and the great Peter O'Toole at the start of his career... LAWRENCE OF ARABIA offers up a rare type of motion picture that only the prolific Sir David Lean could fashion. This was O'Toole's first lead role and only a small percentage of his later work (BECKET and THE LION IN WINTER) would equal this part.
As Lawrence, O'Toole puts himself right at the center of danger, risk and compromise but he stands his ground through one conflict after another and still remains mysterious and elusive to all around him as well as the audience. Its a story that you want to understand only after one viewing but its the kind of movie that you have watch at least three or four times more before everything falls into place and the story makes sense.
Lean's vision is second to none when it comes to making an epic. There have been very few filmmakers like him... Spielberg and Scorsese don't come close to his type of stature. You can almost feel the sands blowing across your face during the windstorm sequences and taste the blood and sweat during the battles. The one drawback of the film was the endless, grueling shooting schedule, it took nearly two years due to the heat and the unforgiving sun beating down on the exteriors. But they managed to pull it all off and turn in a brilliant work of art that holds up extremely well 40 years later.