An Epic Both Astounding and Subtle

Rating: 10/10 (4 August 2001)

David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia is often referred to as an epic, a term usually reserved for grand and sweeping works, painted in broad strokes, in which the more subtle nuances of character and motivation are swept aside in favor of sheer sensuality. And, to an extent, Lawrence fits this bill-- few films can match it in the department of grandness. Yet the film is anything but simplistic in its approach to its characters and the themes they represent. Indeed, Peter O'Toole's Lawrence is surely one of the more complex and perplexing heroes to ever grace a movie screen. Just who is this man? What does he stand for and what makes him great? For that matter, can he really be called great at all?
Viewers may be persuaded by this lack of resolution inherent in O'Toole's Lawrence to criticize the film on the grounds that it fails to adequately tell us about the person it purports to portray, the British officer of the first world war, T.E Lawrence. But they would, I think, overlook one of the most noteworthy aspects of the film. For Lean never claims to really know who this man was; he never saddles his protagonist with a pat identity or set of values from which we might glean an opinion as to his intentions.

From the outset of the movie, in which we are shown Lawrence's funeral, we are told that the subject of this film is a man about whom little can be readily agreed upon. Several men at the funeral praise Lawrence; they call him a "great man," reciting phrases that sound as though they were memorized out of history books. Others are not so kind; they refer instead to his oddness and penchant for self-promotion. Still others admit to ambivalence; they never really knew Lawrence, they confess, even though they spent considerable amounts of time with him during the war.
Lean proceeds throughout the rest of the film to show us the character of Lawrence from many contradictory angles. He is both Arab and Englishman, idealist and fatalist, messiah and murderer. Lawrence, the film suggests, was a man who was defined by his lack of resolution. What's more, Lawrence himself recognized this; indeed, his struggle with his own duality was central to his very being. At the end of it all we the audience are in no better position from which to judge Lawrence than were the funeral-goers from the film's beginning. That Lawrence accomplished great things cannot be denied. But the man remains a mystery.
Of course, Lawrence of Arabia doesn't just examine the character of T.E. Lawrence; it also demonstrates how he affected (or failed to affect) the tribal Arab factions he attempted to unite. In doing so it asks us, What is the nature of a great man? How does he inspire himself and those around him, and to what end? Can one simply will a miracle, and if he does, will it be enough to support a revolution? Those who watch this movie will see that Lawrence did indeed will a miracle. But the end result of his efforts was perhaps not what he had originally hoped for.
No discussion of Lawrence of Arabia should be without a mention of Lean's artistry as a director; the film is overflowing with extraordinary images and larger than life action. Utilizing many long shots of tiny, ant-like figures transversing great stretches of sand, Lean makes us feel the vast, brutal power of the desert in a way that no other filmmaker ever has. Additionally, the score is memorable and epic enough to match its visual accompaniment, and the performances by the cast are for the most part outstanding. O'Toole in particular turns in one of the more unique performances in movie history, and every single word uttered by Alec Guinness' Prince Faisal is positively captivating.
If you can't tell, I admire this film a great deal, both for its qualities as an "epic" and its ability to somehow encapsulate a man who was perhaps beyond easy definition.