Lawrence of Arabia

I'm going to admit something I'm not too proud of. I fell asleep the first time i saw this movie. 

Now before you take that as a sign to close this blog and say to yourself " Welp that's all i needed to hear". There really is quite a lot to this movie. We're talking about one of the greatest epic films of all time about one of the most interesting men who ever lived.  Lawrence of Arabia is a different type of film. NO I'm not going to say it's an experience.  It's more like journey. you begin in this very familiar world and then venture into  a whole new way of thinking a whole new culture, and a whole new perspective and ultimately it changes you for better or for worse.  That's pretty much what you're in for with this movie. way make's it so interesting? Continue and find out.

T. E. Lawrence  is a Lieutenant, stationed in Cairo during the first World War.  he has been instructed to over see the the Arabian resistance against the Turks. along the way he enters the harsh yet wise culture of the various tribes in the desert. and is able to unite them all against the Turks ultimately leading to world notoriety. However, things are not so simple; as Lawrence pushes the Turks back he finds himself becoming more and more integrated into the Arabian culture and is less and less able to identify with his british origins. top it all off with his self awareness about his joy for killing. and we find that Lawrence is more fragile than his brutal exterior lets on. Going from  simple lieutenant to Leader of the Arab Council, to a broken man, Lawrence fears he will be unable to find peace of mind once the war is over or if he'll even be able to return to the place  he once called home.

The first thing that really stands out with this film is it's scale. The movie is just huge but not in the same way as Gone With The Wind. Where that film's grand scale was in it's costumes and sets, Lawrence deals Large exterior scenes and beautiful shots feature epic imagery. This is definitely a film that caters to its 70mm aspect ratio. every shot is set up in a way to just show of the scale of the movie and the room that the widescreen format allows it. take the iconic dune scene for example.  just look at it at first you think nothing much of the dune only that its a pile of sand, but once you see Lawrence on his camel you realize it's not just a pile, it's a mountain! and that pretty much sets the scale for the rest of the film the desert scenes are always shot big and wide, while the british base scenes always feel very small and confined in order to reflect Lawrence's own feelings of restriction. 

the story is nothing we havnt seen before its the fish out of date story; guy becomes a part of a culture he doesn't fully understand but then finds out he relates more to these people then where he came from and finds it difficult to reintegrate into the society he came from. We've seen it in films like Dances with Wolves, Avatar, and even Pocahontas . and while this doesn't mean its original, that doesn't take away from the fact that its an original concept, after all there are no original stories only original concepts of stories. 

That's Peter O'Toole playing the part of Lawrence and boy does he make a fascinating character. The entire film we find this character who is so brutal and yet so softly spoken and gentle that you can just feel the constant conflict he has to go through.  ultimately those characteristics lend themselves to the movie. you fins yourselves unsure of how to feel about the character because the himself is unsure how to feel. he is so lost not just n the new world he inhabits but the entire world itself. he doesn't know  where the belongs or what is morally justifiable any more.  He is a ruthless skilled and yet he suffers the most remorse after killing its complexities like that that make Lawrence such a great role. 

I guess i should get to the negative of this film; the length. This film is LONG. clocking in at nearly four hours; Lawrence is by far the longest film to receive the academy award for best picture. i'd be lying if i said i could make it through the whole thing but no this is just a movie that days on and on scene after scene and can be a had movie to sit through if you have a short attention span like me. That being said this movie really is excellent. ever scene is great there's just a lot of them. it's not  movie you'll casually watch on a friday night but it is a movie that is worth watching if you're a film buff.

And thats Lawrence of Arabia. ultimately I can sum it up like this. for every second this movie offers it offers a mount of movie magic you'll never regret seeing. despite it's length I highly recommend it. now I'm going to cut my closer short today because i have another review coming up and knowing how heavy it is I know it'll be a doosey to write.