Lawrence of Arabia

David Lean’s epic chronicle of British Lieutenant T.E. Lawrence’s role in the Arab uprising during World War I.

Lawrence of Arabia is a masterpiece. The story is both epic and personal, the performances are all first rate, the dialog is excellent, and the cinematography is legendary; in short it’s very hard to find any fault with David Lean’s creation.

Meant to be seen in 70mm, Lawrence of Arabia will undoubtedly lose some of it’s majesty on even the best high definition television. This was a larger-than-life production meant to be seen on a larger-than-life screen. With the exception of a few shots of the sun which burned through the stock when they tried to actually shoot it, everything in the film is real. In an age where CGI has become routine in movies as a way to cut costs, the difference between thousands of actual, human extras versus thousands of computer-generated extras is astounding. They simply don’t make films of this scale anymore.

A side note: More recently, in his Lord of the Rings trilogy, director Peter Jackson filmed all of the movement in the film going from left to right across the screen, as a way to emphasize his characters’ journey. Lean used this technique in Lawrence of Arabia to emphasize Lawrence’s journey. It’s just one of the many ways in which the effects of Lawrence of Arabia are still being felt today.