Lawrence of Arabia

Lawrence of Arabia is one of the biggest epic films to ever grace the screen, rivaling Cecil B. DeMille and David O. Selznick for the sheer scale of production. It also happens to be a film that most people, when sitting down to watch it, consider to be homework. There is no denying how great a film it is, and it is well deserving of its spot on the AFI 100 list, but there are few who would sit through the nearly four-hour running time because they consider it to be entertaining. That was also my thoughts when I loaded up my 4K-UHD copy, a restoration I have owned for quite a while now and had yet to watch. I viewed this on my biggest screen because this film demanded it, but I was nervous that this would be a film that I would struggle to keep my attention with, and my recollections from past viewings seemed to confirm that that is what I was in for.  

I’m not saying here that I find Lawrence of Arabia boring, far from it. But my experience in the past was that I really enjoyed the film right up until the intermission, then it starts to lose my interest, and I get lost in the complicated politics. Perhaps the length was at fault because whenever I thought back on this film, it was always stuff from the first half that came to mind. Yet, when I knuckled down and really gave this film a chance, I discovered that the second half is a fascinating look at the fall of a man whose pride and arrogance led to his erosion. The Lawrence in the second half is a far more interesting character than the one in the first half. T. E. Lawrence is an enigmatic character, and even watching this film, he remains so. It matters not that much of this story is fictional. It’s not about the details at all but the study of a character who defies that study. 

We get the first inklings of that in the opening scenes that serve as an epilogue to the story proper. The first scene we see is of T.E. Lawrence (Peter O’Toole) getting into a motorcycle accident and dying. From there, we cut away to an event funeral where we see a mixture of people who will play parts later in the film and people who have nothing to do with the events. Of the latter group, we get a sense of the legend that preceded Lawrence. Those that did know him well are less enamored with the man. We get a sense that Lawrence was touted in the papers as some great individual, but those that knew him personally didn’t really like him all that much. This will be a major theme of the film that we will get to explore for the next three and a half hours. 

When we are introduced properly to Lawrence, he is serving Britain in Cairo during the onset of the First World War. During this time in history, the Turkish people, the Ottomans specifically, had sided with Germany in an attempt to preserve their empire. This put them on opposite sides with the British and the Arabian tribes whom the Brits were siding with as additional support for protecting and maintaining the Suez Canal. It was therefore in the Brits’ best interest to support the Arabs in their fight against the Turks. Lawrence is called up to travel into Arabia to visit with Prince Faisal (Alec Guinness), a leader of the Great Arab Revolt and member of the Hashemite family. Lawrence is to meet with the man and gauge what kind of a man he is. Along the way to that meeting, Lawrence’s guide is killed by one of Faisal’s military leaders, Sherif Ali ibn el Kharish (Omar Sharif), for the offense of drinking from his well without permission. Lawrence judges “Ali” as being a barbarian for the casual killing, something Ali finds amusing.

Upon meeting with Faisal, Lawrence impresses him with his knowledge of the Quran as well as his insights into the revolt and his willingness to speak up, even when in contradiction with his British leaders. Lawrence expresses his belief that the Arab interest is better aligned with attacking the Turks than defending the Suez Canal and is granted permission, and fifty of Faisal’s men, to do so. The plan is to launch a surprise attack on the port of Aqaba. Aqaba resides on the waters and has several large guns mounted facing the ocean as this is considered the only possible direction an attack can come. This is because the opposite direction faces the Nefud desert, a twenty-plus-day journey with no wells to resupply a team. It also is home to Auda Abu Tayi (Anthony Quinn), a Howeitat tribal leader on the payroll of the Turks. In order to mount a successful attack and siege of Aqaba, Lawrence and Faisal’s men will have to cross the Nefud desert, convince Auda to change his loyalties, and overcome the port’s defenses. 

Along the way, Lawrence gains the respect of Faisal’s men, including Ali, when he risks his own life to turn back and save one of the men who fell from his camel unnoticed and was given up for dead. Lawrence’s decision comes back to haunt him when that same man kills one of Auda’s men later on. Tribal custom demands his blood, but if any of the Howeitat kill him, it will launch a feud between the two groups. Lawrence, being not of either tribe, chooses to be the executor to avoid such a feud. He later admits that it scared him because he enjoyed doing it. 

Throughout the course of the remainder of the film, Lawrence grows prideful of his accomplishments, boastful of his abilities, and has to be humbled when one of his plans is immediately defeated and he is not only beaten but violated by the Turks. He loses the support of the very men he led into victory earlier and has to rely on mercenaries to continue the fight. Eventually, he becomes as barbaric as he accused Ali of being when the two first met. Having served his purpose amongst both the British and the Arabs, he is given a token promotion and sent back to Britain, a broken man.

While this is not Peter O’Toole’s first acting credit, this is his first major role on screen, and thus he is credited as such. It’s impressive seeing that credit—Introducing Peter O’Toole— and then seeing just how good he is in this. There are very few moments in this nearly four-hour epic where he isn’t on-screen, and he is always magnetic, especially with those piercing blue eyes. It is fascinating to see the transformation that goes on with him throughout the course of the film. Aside from the brief moment on the motorcycle in the opening scene, he is really introduced to us in Cairo. There we see him being awkward and showing us that he is not a social person. He puts out a lit match with his fingers, claiming that the trick isn’t that it doesn’t hurt but that he doesn’t mind that it hurts. This is not a man who fits in with societal norms. 

When he is brought in to speak with his superior officer, he is called out for being insolent when he offers his salute, something that Lawrence passes off as just being his manner and not an intended insult. Lawrence is sent off into the desert, and it is there that he finds himself. His education garners him some respect from the Arabs, particularly Prince Faisal, but his initial successes and the growing respect from Faisal’s men feed into his ego. Early on, he is presented with some local robes and a knife, and he goes off on his own to admire his new look, prancing around and using the sheen on the knife as a mirror. This outfit, bright white when presented to him, will slowly yellow and grow ragged as time goes on, much like himself. Peter O’Toole does an impressive job of showing this change in ego and self-worth, a change that is only brought back down at the hands of the Turks.

There is a lot of debate over whether the altercation with the Turks actually happened. Lawrence wrote about it in his journal, but the authentication of that moment is debatable at best. The film presents it in such a way that if you are not paying attention, you might not be aware that Lawrence is sexually assaulted by the leader of the Turks in Deraa. Up until this point, Lawrence’s exploits have brought him much fame with some assistance from the press. This kind of romanticization of his exploits has made him famous back home. But the realities have left him with few remaining followers. His poor decisions in Deraa, fueled by his overinflated view of his abilities, lead to swift capture. When he makes it back to Cairo, he is a broken man who no longer wants to be involved in the rebellion. Instead of honoring that, he is promoted and sent back out with mercenaries, a decision that even turns Ali, who has stayed with him through all of this, away from him. Ultimately, Lawrence gives in to his baser nature and becomes more bloodthirsty and brutal than Ali ever was. 

This is a gorgeous film to look at. It was filmed primarily in Jordan and Morocco, and it is very obvious just how hot and dry it is at all times during this shoot. One of the most beautiful shots introduces us to the desert with a view of the blood-red sun coming up above the horizon and blanketing the sand in its rays. Because of the remoteness of the location, there were little to no opportunities to film at night, necessitating the use of filters to hide that the night scenes were filmed during the day. This is obvious but not too distracting. There are other wide shots that depict the vastness of the desert and showcase, from a technical standpoint, just how much effort was taken to mask the realities of a film production with multiple takes. Every shot like this required meticulous production work to hide tracks and showcase the “untouched” dunes for miles in every direction. 

The more you know about World War I and what was going on in this part of the world, the better you will be able to keep up with this story. But that doesn’t mean you have to have a familiarity of the history to enjoy this film. I know a lot more about the Second World War than the First, and the film spoon-feeds just enough information to keep you up to speed with the events that pertain to this part of the war. Additional knowledge adds to the flavor and the background but is not necessarily needed. 

While this film can be looked at as homework, necessary viewing for anyone wanting to seriously get into classic cinema, there is so much more to it than just that. This is a fascinating character study of a real-world figure that few really knew. Many of the individuals that were a part of this bit of history were still alive when this film came out, and that has led to a lot of opinions of the film based solely on historical accuracy. These debates carry on to this day. Still, the film, as it is, is one of the greatest films in motion picture history and really needs to be seen, preferably on the biggest screen possible. There is a reason it is currently number 7 on the AFI top 100 movies of all time. I would argue that it deserves to be even higher on that list.

Academy Award Nominations:

Best Picture: Sam Spiegel (won)

Best Director: David Lean (won)

Best Actor: Peter O’Toole

Best Supporting Actor: Omar Sharif

Best Adapted Screenplay: Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson

Best Art Direction - Color: John Box, John Stoll, and Dario Simoni (won)

Best Cinematography - Color: Freddie Young (won)

Best Film Editing: Anne V. Coates (won)

Best Music Score - Substantially Original: Maurice Jarre (won)

Best Sound: John Cox (won)

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Release Date: December 10, 1962

Running Time: 222 Minutes

Rated PG

Starring: Peter O’Toole, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn, Jack Hawkins, José Ferrer, Anthony Quinn, Claude Rains, Arthur Kennedy, and Omar Sharif. 

Directed By: David Lean