We’re shown how fragile the situation between the many Arab tribes are, and how the tribes are so stubborn to each other. Lawrence convinces the tribes to work together against their common enemy the Turkish. Doing much more than simply “appreciating the situation”, Lawrence collects a large army together and leads them to victory against a major Turkish stronghold.

We are shown that Lawrence’s character is determined, and enthusiastic, and has a refusal that nothing is impossible. We are shown this clearly when he leads an army of 50 men across a dessert that they had always deemed impossible to cross. He treats everyone equal and refuses to leave a man behind, which enforces his opinion in the eyes of the Arabs he leads. They accept the English man, and dress him in some of their cultural clothes.

After a string of victories against the Turkish army, Lawrence’s charismatic personality starts to crumble. His last battles are bloody and the pressure of leadership it etched on his manic face.

Peter O’Toole plays the many facets of this complicated character brilliantly. The acting throughout the entire film is good, and characters are strong, but there are too many throughout the course of the film.

Cinematography in this film is astounding, and there are many long shots of the vast dessert. The long shots of large armies are impressive (especially for the time it was created), many with hundreds of charging camels and Arabian soldiers. The coordination and planning behind these scenes is impressive, as without today’s CGI it must have been hard to produce. This makes the film endearing and realistic, as you can’t help appreciate the hard work gone into filming.

The music in this film is brilliant, and is a well-known film score. It fits the film perfectly, and was used well in the wide shots of camels charging through the dramatic dessert scenes.

The main issue our film club had with watching this film was the sheer length. The film is an epic three and a half hours long, and it feels it. Almost all of our panel thought this film could have been cut shorter without loosing any important storyline. You have to appreciate that the story we’re seeing is a significant portion of a man’s life, so to sum up into only three and a half hours seems harsh, but still the length was too much for our film club. We have decided that it is unrealistic to expect people to sit and watch a film of this length in one sitting. Hollywood must have realised this which is why it has become unpopular, and all modern films with a longer story to tell have been split across two or three films instead.

Verdict

The film is interesting from a historical point of view, and all characters are acted perfectly. The cinematography, and dramatic battle scenes are impressive. The film is very long though, which is a big drawback as it makes it a chore to watch.

3.5 Out of 5
Reviewed by Onion