half an epic

Rating: 6/10 (15 January 2008)

When I first saw this, I was leaving the phase of my life where I could be tricked by good production values into thinking I had actually seen quality. A friend of mine loves it, but you could probably write "great man narrative" on an index card and show it to him and he would get excited and start clapping. I'm open to a "great man narrative" but at 4 hours, I'd like other supporting ideas, and belonging to the most advanced species on the planet, I have this goofy idea that a movie should ask me to think. At it's worst, Lawrence is a motion-postcard. I'll watch "Being There" 20 times for each viewing of Lawrence of Arabia.
At the time of my first viewing, it did remind me how vivid location photography is, compared to junky attempts to fake it; the photography is simply amazing. Even by the half hour mark, it's really well-made; editing, crisp lenses, great restoration. As epics go, it one-ups competitors like Spartacus by shooting every single exterior scene in the great outdoors, and never cheating inside the studio. It's also remarkable to see a director in the 60s willing to shoot at a darker end of the spectrum than Hollywood is comfortable with.
But the movie is a hard sell. Maurice Jarre's theme is shoved down your throat at every opportunity. In a 4 hour movie, it would have been nice if subsequent musical motifs were developed. Whoever decided we should first hear the theme under the credits, while we look down at ten square yards of a motorcycle court should be shot. Is there something transcendent about concrete? A very clumsy & dumb decision.
Early on the movie addresses rare topics, like male camaraderie, the naturalized expatriate life arc, etc. As it continues it becomes more generic and less well-made. It gets into heraldic, hagiographic mode and can't escape. Sadly, the "only one man can save us" line of crap has been paying regular dividends ever since. (Everything from Dances with Wolves & The Postman to every Schwartzeneggar movie) To miss the very high quality of the first hour or two is a crime, but when I get nearer the end, I begin to sympathize with its detractors. Bombast is one of my least favorite flavors. I really doubt if most fans understand what the hell is going on in the movie. The developments and conflicts feel pretty arbitrary.
Despite being wrong on many many details, a movie that could both reach the western audience and not treat Arabs like villainous scum is notable for doing exactly that. What it says for diplomacy and the rewards of working past cultural barriers is, for me, more important The first two hours are a pleasure, but I've never seen a movie yet that can make art out of massive social movements. The last hour offers nothing comparable to the rest of the movie. It reaches the height of idiocy when every single person in a sort of huge Arab congress has to depend on the single white man who can save them. And scenes of O'Tooles quivering, bug-eyed version of crazy is extraordinarily unsubtle in a movie playing in 70mm.
The most annoying recurring detail is the cutesy appellation "Orrence" they give to him, despite the fact they can all pronounce "L" just fine everywhere else. Phony pidgin English is not worthy of the movies better ideas.