"In whose name do you ride?"
Finally got around to watching Lawrence of Arabia after years of owning it and having it sit quietly on my shelf. It's made very much in the style of old classics: dramatic music, long scenes and sweeping scenery, an epic plot, and an intermission.
In short, I really liked it. Certainly, it is historically not perfect (I can't speak with authority on that since I am not familiar with British history or WWI), but it is beautiful in the sense that it was like reading a book. As I watched, I found myself thinking about what I saw as I think about a good book and the elegant way it is structured and flows and comes together.
Peter O'Toole's eyes are ridiculously blue. I mean. MY GODS MAN.
Lawrence was, at least, an incredibly complex character. Given that most people are complex, I found it impressive that even romanticized, Lawrence came across as more than just a war hero. I found it impossible to pin him or his motives down: did he really care about Arabian independence? Was he an egotist? Was he confident? Or was he just ordinary at an extraordinary moment? Did he love peace? Or was he just afraid of mortality? O'Toole's and Lean's portrayal suggests all of these things at once and is incredibly dynamic.
I'm sure the other characters were not as well done, but I was not quite paying enough attention to that. I kept getting distracted by Peter O'Toole's eyes.
I also really loved the way things went nicely together to tell the story, and the story of Lawrence's ambivalence. For instance, when Feisal asks Lawrence in whose name he really rides, the scene ends and switches to another - Lawrence never answers. And, in fact, Lawrence never does quite answer who he is, or why he does what he does, or what he cares about. He gives lip but only because he is clever... perhaps. It's a beautifully done movie centered around a man who refuses to be defined.
Again, I'm sure the film has its problems as history, but as a film about characters it is wonderfully done. The only thing I dislike is the ending. But then, perhaps that fits too: alone, Lawrence is driven through the desert, an incomplete, incoherent ending to an incomplete man.
In short, I really liked it. Certainly, it is historically not perfect (I can't speak with authority on that since I am not familiar with British history or WWI), but it is beautiful in the sense that it was like reading a book. As I watched, I found myself thinking about what I saw as I think about a good book and the elegant way it is structured and flows and comes together.
Peter O'Toole's eyes are ridiculously blue. I mean. MY GODS MAN.
Lawrence was, at least, an incredibly complex character. Given that most people are complex, I found it impressive that even romanticized, Lawrence came across as more than just a war hero. I found it impossible to pin him or his motives down: did he really care about Arabian independence? Was he an egotist? Was he confident? Or was he just ordinary at an extraordinary moment? Did he love peace? Or was he just afraid of mortality? O'Toole's and Lean's portrayal suggests all of these things at once and is incredibly dynamic.
I'm sure the other characters were not as well done, but I was not quite paying enough attention to that. I kept getting distracted by Peter O'Toole's eyes.
I also really loved the way things went nicely together to tell the story, and the story of Lawrence's ambivalence. For instance, when Feisal asks Lawrence in whose name he really rides, the scene ends and switches to another - Lawrence never answers. And, in fact, Lawrence never does quite answer who he is, or why he does what he does, or what he cares about. He gives lip but only because he is clever... perhaps. It's a beautifully done movie centered around a man who refuses to be defined.
Again, I'm sure the film has its problems as history, but as a film about characters it is wonderfully done. The only thing I dislike is the ending. But then, perhaps that fits too: alone, Lawrence is driven through the desert, an incomplete, incoherent ending to an incomplete man.