Lawrence of Arabia, 1962

Rated G

ZZzzzz…… The end.

Well, I guess I owe it to my readers (and by readers, I mean my mom and sister) to write a little more about the movie. It is the epic (and by epic, I mean 216 minutes long) autobiographical retelling of British Army officer T. E. Lawrence’s adventures in Arabia as he helps unite the tribes against the oppressive Turks during World War I. The Arabs embrace him because of his knowledge of politics and somewhat rebellious behavior. He becomes their hero, but in the end, he feels he failed his mission.

Obviously epic classics like this are long and I think the Academy actually likes them. But this movie didn’t need to be this long. I honestly don’t mind long movies, but when the plot isn’t moving along at a decent pace, or at least enough to keep my attention, then it needs to be edited down.

It is a “man’s film” in a few regards but more literally in that it is the only Best Picture winner that has credited roles for only men! The reviews I’ve read since watching it mentioned Lawrence’s repressed homoerotic tendencies and feelings for his Arab “blood brother” Sherif Ali (played by Omar Sharif from one of my faves “Funny Girl”). This apparently was lost on me… I did not pick up on his confused sexuality. I did think he had some pretty witty lines at times.

I read that the film’s movement was from left to right in order to convey a sense of forward movement on Lawrence’s journey. Unfortunately, this might have been a wasted effort since I didn’t notice it. I did notice the camels in the film though and wrote down a note to ask my hubby for a pet camel for my next birthday. And I will add that there were several shots of the desert that were breathtaking.

“Lawrence of Arabia” was up against “The Longest Day”, “The Music Man”, “Mutiny on the Bounty” (a remake of the original from 1935), and “To Kill a Mockingbird”. Peter O’Toole, who played Lawrence in this film, lost the Best Actor award to Gregory Peck from “To Kill a Mockingbird”. In my opinion, the whole movie should have lost the award to that film. Now, THAT was a classic. Book and movie both.

Alright, thanks Mom and Alli for reading this; I won’t waste any more of your time. I know how it feels since I recently lost almost four hours of my life.

Here’s a look at the real T.E. Lawrence and the Irish-born blue-eyed “hottie of the time” Peter O’Toole and Omar Sharif from the film:

LESSONS LEARNED:

Drink caffeine before watching epics.

Pay better attention in history class so when watching historical films, things may sound familiar or click into place.