Runs out of steam in the 2nd half as the main character gets simplified

Rating: 8/10 (13 November 2018)

Undoubtedly this is very good film. Filled with iconic images, scored with some of the most rousing music and anchored by O'Toole's deeply charismatic performance this is the film most people think about when they hear epic film making. If the 2nd half was as engaging as the 1st half I would wholeheartedly agree. As it stands I only halfheartedly agree. The 2nd half runs out a steam as the screenplay repeatedly decides to make Lawrence fit into the disillusioned soldier tropes. Worse the tensions and ironies of the character, say his love-hate relationship with violence, slowly and surely get resolved. By doing so the film is robbed much of narrative momentum.
As scripted the story needs to be tightened up as the last hour or so simply crawls to a stand still. In particular a reworking of the Deraa assault should have occurred. While that scene is the impetus for Lawrence to be humbled and to realize he was "ordinary" it stands out as utterly unwarranted in the narrative. The film only hints at T.E. Lawrence's masochism and it doesn't imply that scene was an invention of his (as it probably was). It makes Lawrence's eventual descent into barbarism and setting up his disillusionment to pat and straight forward. This is especially true as the 1st half resists giving easy answers.
Nonetheless this is a grand film that everyone should see once. It has a so much pure cinema in it.