Awards:
Oscars:
- Best Picture, Sam Spiegel
- Best Director, David Lean
- Best Cinematography, Color, Freddie Young
- Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color, John Box/John
Stoll/Dario Simoni
- Best Sound, John Cox (Shepperton SSD)
- Best Film Editing, Anne V. Coates
- Best Music, Score - Substantially Original, Maurice Jarre
Golden Globes:
- Best Motion Picture - Drama
- Best Supporting Actor, Omar Sharif
- Best Director, David Lean
- Best Cinematography - Color, Freddie Young
- Most Promising Newcomer - Male, Omar Sharif
- Most Promising Newcomer - Male, Peter O'Toole
BAFTA Film Award:
- Best British Actor, Peter O'Toole
- Best British Film
- Best British Screenplay, Robert Bolt
- Best Film from any Source
See more here:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056172/awards
Originally released in 1962, I thought it was high time I sat down and watched what is considered to be a "grand epic" of the time, and one of the most celebrate and classic films ever made. That's right, I consider it a cultural duty, which is what I kept telling myself after I hit the 2.5 hour mark of this 3 hour, 36 minute movie. More on that later.
Classic films are not a new genre for me. I can distinctly remember being a teen, on a warm summer day, closing the blinds in the family room of our house, preparing a big bowl of popcorn and diving in to "Turner Classic Movies" on AMC, when we were lucky enough to have cable. If it was "classic", I wanted to know why and I was determined to make up my own mind as to its merits, keeping in mind the context of the timing in cinematic history. Years later (I'm not telling you how many, so don't ask. ;)) it was no different.
"Lawrence of Arabia" is based off of the story of British Officer, T.E. Lawrence, who helped unite and support Bedouin tribes who were fighting the Turks, during the Great Arab Revolt during the first "Great War" (World War I). (Learn more here:PBS: Lawrence of Arabia Interactive Website and Documentary (Isn't PBS wonderful?!!)) I knew very little of the story and the film before watching it. I knew it took place in the deserts of Arabia (duh), and I knew Peter O'Toole was in the movie adaptation. (I highly suggest checking out the PBS site on the real-life backstory above, if you haven't already.) While the movie adaptation did take some liberties for entertainment purposes, much of it follows the historical account relatively closely.
I knew Peter O'Toole, when I was young, from movies like "High Spirits" (1988). (Learn more here:IMDB: High Spirits). For whatever reason, my mom allowed me to watch it, and being of some Irish decent, I loved this movie. I loved it even more for it's supernatural and campy nature, but also because it was fun and had a great cast of well-knowns from the era (Steve Guttenberg, Beverly D'Angelo, Daryl Hannah), and even some "new stars" of the time, like Liam Neeson, Jennifer Tilly and Peter Gallagher! While O'Toole was fantastic in it, as the often-inebriated owner of his family's ancestral castle in Ireland, trying to make a last ditch effort to save it from disaster, it was definitely not indicative of the wealth of roles and depth of characters he had played earlier in his career. That's where "Lawrence of Arabia" more than makes up for things.
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| Left to right: Anthony Quinn, Peter O'Toole, Omar Sharif |
It's easy to understand why this movie won SO many awards...so many in fact that I couldn't list them all here. The cinematography, locations, sets and costumes were spectacular. The musical score was gorgeous. The cast...like I said, I only remembered originally that Peter O'Toole was in it, when he was younger, but imagine my surprise when I saw the similarly gorgeously talented Omar Sharif, and Obi-Wan Kenobi himself, Sir Alec Guinness. Yes, I understand Guinness had a distinguished career LONG before he became (to me) the father of the Force, in Star Wars, but I honestly cannot recall a seeing a single one of his performances prior and he was outstanding. After reading the historical account of his character, Prince Feisel, he played him very accurately; well spoken, charming, eloquent, ambitious. Sharif was, of course, glorious in his role (his character's family relationship with Prince Feisel was part of what was changed for entertainment purposes, from the historical record), mirroring the ferocity, passion, and stubbornness the man he was playing purportedly also exhibited. THEN, to top it all of, in walks Anthony Quinn! I recognized him at once, though I think they gave him a nose prosthetic. He was also great in his role, and if the movie only had those 4 actors in it, I would have watched it and enjoyed it.
It's long. Don't forget that when you go to watch this. Like I said, it's 3.5 hours long. There's an intermission, even after you switch to the second disc. USE IT. Don't ignore the intermission! There is a reason epic films have these. Just like the importance of a nap, it's something you take for granted when you're younger but realize is absolutely VITAL when you're older. I had to watch it over the span of two days, for multiple reasons, and I was glad of it. Don't get me wrong. There are plenty of dramatics, heart-wrenching internal struggles, battles, disappointments, even little bits of crazy to carry the story along, but there are definitely a few slow points. But, that's usually the point where I stop to appreciate the depth of commitment to film making in that they would not be rushed; that they didn't leave an important part of the story on the cutting room floor because it wasn't snappy enough. It's part of what makes this an epic. It's languorous, slightly self-indulgent, but gorgeous and necessary.
O'Toole was breathtaking. He played the character of Lawrence with a tiny smidge of what could be misconstrued as over-acting, but which is, in fact, dramatic emphasis that impresses upon the viewer the importance of the struggle the character is going through, the internal battles, highs and lows. He is just riveting. You're constantly watching for him in any scene to see what he does, how he holds his body or countenance, his posture, the intensity of his astounding blue eyes, and what he is going to do next. He endures capture, and torture, struggling with the effect of violence, both in being the victim and the perpetrator, as well as difficulty separating his loyalty for a land, culture and people he has come to love and admire, compared to that of his home country, for which he is sworn to serve. If you take it into context, heck, even if you don't, it leaves you emotional and completely invested.
It's not a movie that I see today's movie buffs watching over and over, like a Marvel movie, ad nauseum. But just like those classic books that you read in high school, that you thought you would never revisit, this movie is important. It shares history, human nature, cultural differences and similarities, important pieces of the human experience that actually happened and really need to be shared and experienced, at least once in your life. Even if you're not interested in the history of it (though I REALLY am), you can appreciate the artistry in the creation and the dedication, time, talent and money that went into making this movie worthy of the title "Epic Film."
In short, watch it. I think you will be glad that you did.
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