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 This was a beautiful breathtaking movie. The scenery was spectacular, but even better was the inner story of the enigmatic hero.Lawrence of Arabia is a must see
The pivotal character of Auda abu Tayi (Anthony Quinn), with such memorable lines as: Auda Abu Tayi: I am Auda Abu Tayi! Does Auda Serve! Lawrence: My friends, we have been foolish. Auda will not come to Aqaba. Not for money... What do we read? I read that Auda is in effect the representative Arab leader (purposely placing aside the Sherif Ali role played by Omar Sharif) who is a shallow tribal overlord whose primary motivation is money, who leads a band of faceless and greedy Arabs. Despite the claims to the contrary, Auda does not come "for his pleasure" but for the promised gold. Later, upon realization that he had been duped by Lawrence, Auda proceeds to make a new agreement with the same on the promise - but this time with English gold. Does this really give the Arab agency? No. Is the Subaltern speaking here? No. Is this Bolt and Lean restructuring and confirmation of Arab stereotypes. Absolutely. What were they thinking? Another curious aspect of the movie is that Lawrence is the only agency the "Arabs" (a notion which he singlehandedly creates) and is the prime mover - no, the only mover. The movie plays out yet another dangerous stereotype of the Arab who cannot think, create, nor motivate himself - they need Lawrence. The Arab needs outside agency to create himself. Don't you find that just a bit ironic? If this was your only encounter with the Arab world you will have hitherto been convinced that the Arab is motivated solely by money and cannot articulate the creation of a state - much less even cares about it. The depictions of the Arabs on Camels and the horde of mercenaries will linger as the dangerous and mysterious Arab and he is beginning to be unmasked. However, this chimera and those I mentioned above serve to reinforce false stereotypes and leaves the Arab as the Other. Lean and Bolt try to effect an out through the characterization of Feisal as the Same: Prince Feisal: Young men make wars and the virtues of war are the virtues of young men: courage and hope for the future. Then old men make the peace, and the vices of peace are the vices of old men: mistrust and caution. However, he is always remote, always aloof and always between his elite guard of black clad Bedouin. Mysterious, always mystery. It does not work. What in effect David Lean has accomplished is a classic of modern cinema shrouded in seductive of the mysterious Orient, in epic scale and proportion coupled with music to accompany the grandeur -- what we are really left with is the dehumanizing of the Arab and the escalation of T. E. Lawrence to the status of Messiah. What about the encounter of Lawrence of the Turks - what message did that leave you with. If anyone is really a victim in this movie it is not the Arabs but the Turks. Are they lurking about as is suggested with homo-erotic suggestion and potential for violence. What about Turkish complexity, culture and agency. Lean could have placed a counter to this representation or left it out altogether. The object is not to finger point as that leaves us within the framework of colonialism and further away from a much needed liberation. We can take up the unfinished project of Frantz Fanon, move away from the politics of blame to a politics of liberation - but only through analysis. As much as was I was seduced by the movie for the longest time, a revisit has allowed me to gain perspective and see it thus. All this however, does not detract from the great cinematography and does not detract from its greatness and that is its greatest weakness. Miguel Llora
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The movie is all about T. E. Lawrence. So? Well, the result is a movie centered around the discourse of what Edward Said has defined as "Orientalism". If you re-watch and re-examine the movie within the the framework or Orientalism taking into account such things as the representation of the Arab as the Other, T.E. Lawrence as the Agent for the creation of the Arab identity, the horde depictions, the lack of ability to articulate on their own, the all important negative representation of the Turks the picture will take on a new meaning. Let us examine each topic one by one.
David Lean's stunning cinematography and artful story tellilng keeps the viewer glued to the set, despite the length of the film. The life of T.E. Lawrence, who played a major role in the winning of the Middle Eastern campaign during World War I. Called a blasphemer for his optimistic and " nothing is written "view of life. His methods are often criticised and at some times he may appear to be almost hypocritical but he is, at heart, a good man and the film portrays this well. This is the epitome of the historical biography at its best as only David Lean can produce.
