"...Nothing is written"

Rating: 10/10 (5 December 2006)

What a gigantic cinematic boom Lawrence of Arabia makes. It's an epic that's controlled by one of the most assured and basically visionary directors that the material could have asked for. And it leaves its final thirty minutes not with a totally triumphant hero, but one with more conflicts and despair than one might expect. Not that I would really expect a lot of Lawrence of Arabia on total fact, even as it is based on T.E. Lawrence's writings. Like with any other given number of biopics, we're given the 'character' of Lawrence, not the full-on man himself. And in Lean's ultra-masculine, heroic take on the man, it's got enough great scenes to knock others in other films out of the park.
Why then did I feel as if I hadn't seen one of the very greatest films ever made? It's definitely not that i can't understand why some would say it so, as it contains that great need to tell a story that's worth telling (in the context it's presented), and with a cast of characters acted with the most finite of professionalism and passion. It's also the sort of picture, rarely made today it seems, that without a doubt is one of those meant to be seen on the big screen- practically all of the images captured by Lean and his crew out in that desert make a very convincing kind of metaphor for the picture, as man, no matter how much he ambitions or seeks out this or that or might think he is invincible for a little while, is quite small when seen in the 'grander scheme of things.'
But like some other epic works I can think of, like Alexander Nevsky (albeit its short length I think of it in epic terms), or even more contemporary the Lord of the Rings, amid such a brave and undaunted work of superior craftsmanship there are some things that, subjectively, aren't totally in synch for me. One of those, chiefly, is Peter O'Toole's performance. It was his first big starring performance, and it's sort of mixed for me how I view him in this character. He ends up, by virtue of his own talents, being terrific in many scenes, like when he has to come to a fate with the same man he previously had saved en-route to Ackaba, or when he returns back to Cairo to tell of his "impossible" victory.
Even the last half hour or so that I mentioned before is better than expected, as we see more of an opening up of the sort of mythical representation of the character of Lawrence. But for a lot of it I just didn't really see him as much as a conflicted and ambiguous legend as I did as a, well, light-voiced British guy. In some scenes I almost felt as if it was someone still coming to terms with playing such a larger-than-life guy, and with the same attitude and mannerisms of someone doing (not to put him down too much but) lesser-ring theater. He's actually kind of 'neat' for the role, and unfortunately in comparison with his counterparts he's not one of the most notable parts even as Lawrence himself is the main juice of the picture.
Meanwhile, other actors get their time on screen wonderfully, with Shariff probably never (or rarely) better as Sheriff Ali, as he and Lawrence have the most fascinating connection of all. Quinn is quite good, if a little hammy (as to be expected) as the Tayi, the rival warrior who first wants gold and then goes along with what Lawrence might have in mind. It's always great to see Guiness with such control and nuance with a character who gets such limited time when compared with the other supporting players. They're all pit in a story that has a great energy in the first half, as Lawrence goes from shuttered in soldier to a near prophet for a whole mass of Arabs by crossing a desert deemed uncrossable, and storming a city thought to have been impossible to take. Then, as he continues military campaigning in part two however, things start to change, if maybe a little too fast one might think following his tense scene with Jose Ferrer's character.
And all the while this is put to Lean, with his DP Freddie Young, in creating a larger-than-life atmosphere for a man who has highs and lows of how his perception goes, including to himself. A lot of times as Lawrence and/or his men went across the desert, or a character looked into the near abyss of sands, it was nearing being too picturesque, as if the style vied to overtake the substance. But Lean is always in service of the story, and the deliberate but wise screenplay. Not matter how grandiose Lean can get, he shoots with a sense of some conviction. One more note that makes Lawrence of Arabia quite worthwhile is the musical score, the kind that you rarely hear in big studio pictures with the exceptions of maybe John Williams or Howard Shore. Of all the Oscars given out to this film, the only one probably more deserved after Lean was for Jarre's compositions, which compliment the images and add just the right touches of emphasis.
It's not un-probable that I could come back to Lawrence of Arabia some years from now and maybe even find it greater, even more towering an achievement of using insane lots of money to add flesh and bones to adapting history onto celluloid. For sure, if it ever does get re-released again, I probably would even check it out. That I might not put it so high in my favorite films though is also hard to deny: it is, like Lawrence, "not perfect". But it is still quite a ride getting through it all.