Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

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Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

8/10

Starring

Peter O'Toole
Alec Guinness
Anthony Quinn
Jack Hawkins
Omar Sharif

Directed by David Lean

Distributed by Columbia Pictures

 

As far as classics go, Lawrence of Arabia carves a mark in the epic genre as one of the best epic movies out there.

Based on the life of T. E. Lawrence, this movie depicts in full detail Lawrence's experiences in Arabia during World War I, with focus primarily on his attacks and conquest of Aqaba and Damascus and his involvement in the Arab National Council.

The movie has well rooted scenes that take you through a journey of self discovery, we get to see the emotional struggles Lawrence faced and how the resulting violence caused by war can change a man completely.

The desert scenes were shot in Jordan and Morocco.

During filming Peter was having difficulty with the camel saddle so he bought rubber foam and placed it on the saddle, many extras copied him and it has become wide spread even till today.

Later, during the filming of the Aqaba scene, O'Toole was nearly killed when he fell from his camel during the charge, but fortunately, it (the camel) stood over him, preventing the horses of the extras from trampling him.

Many Arab countries including Jordan banned the film. Egypt, Omar Sharif's home country, was the only Arab nation to give the film a wide release, where it became a success.

Peter O'Toole who played Lawrence delivered a much awarding performance; although he didn’t win the best actor role in the Oscars he was nominated.

Broken into two parts each over an hour and 40 minutes long, Lawrence was a British soldier whose flamboyant attitude made him popular among his fellow colleagues, he was sent to the desert plain to see to the Arabs, and from there he made friends with the Arabs.

He fought with them and led them to victory, but his loyalties come into question as he was cutting across two territories the British government and his new found love, the Arabs.

The script of the movie is well plotted and the screenplay is marvelous, add to that the cinematography, the musical score and the directing.

Lawrence of Arabia is a complete package, a masterpiece waiting to be seen by anyone.

What I really love about the script is how we get to see Lawrence move from nothing to hero, from hero to god and from god back to man.

This movie launched Peter into the limelight and the character that catches your fancy may end up being Omar Sharif who played Sherif Ali ibn el Kharish.

The movie is fun to watch, I recommend it.