Posted on 06/27/2020 12:09:19 PM PDT by Borges
You knew this was coming....
Lawrence, Lawrence of Arabia
He was an English guy
He came to fight the Turkish....(BEEP BEEP!)
I just watched it for the first time last month. I found Peter O’Toole’s beauty distracting to the story.
Great film, in many ways (direction, script, acting, etc.)
But already criticized for its depiction of Arabs. Expect it to meet the fate of GWTW — and have a “preface” of some sort to explain it to us children.
Also from the contemporary point of view...it obviously takes the side of the British but the rise of Arab nationalism has been an utter disaster. The Turkey of Ataturk was the side to root for there.
Yeah, Moses? I don't think so.
Lawrence of Arabia is a tale of how an amazingly doughty and resourceful British soldier becomes a hero for the ages while accomplishing, by his lights, nothing.
He created a bunch of terrorist states. Not exactly nothing but a realist would not judge that accomplishment as "heroic".
I am sure he would be very proud though.
He was a boy raping adrenaline junky bisexual, like his Arab pals. And he’s given credit for a lot of stuff actually done by Gertrude Bell.
Of course, though, the Soviet Union, would have gotten involved there too, and tried to appeal to the Arabs. You never know how these things would have turned out.
Proof that you could confiscate every trillion and distribute it evenly, and in a year or two everything would be right back where it was. Ferals are just no damn good.
I saw the film in 1963 at the Carthay Circle Theater in Los Angeles, which was where many Hollywood blockbusters were first shown. Sadly, the theater was razed in 1969.
The motorcycle crash scene was very well done. I have been in a few myself, and the loss of control and the “shimmy” are very true to life.
Luckily, I was wearing my helmet! Unlike some people I could mention.
The British always used a divide and conquer strategy to control their empires (or areas they hoped to make part of their empire). They played a similar game in India by playing Muslims and Hindus against each other.
The disaster that you speak of is due to the fact that "Arab nationalism" never really worked - Arabs tend think in terms of tribal and sectarian identity, not national or even ethnic identity.
In the short term, the strategy worked very well for the British, because they could claim to be coming in to maintain order. Once they left, you have a powderkeg ready to blow.
The scene at Ali’s well is legendary and very well done. Best on the big screen, of course.
I remember when I took a class about Film, we spent a whole lecture talking about that scene.
Dr. Zhivago was better, IMHO. And it also provides a warning from history.
The rider’s-eye-view is what makes it happen. Also the alternating light and shade, which can affect visibility.
I never went to film school, but I’ve been riding for 47 years on 5 different bikes. The one I have now (a 93FXR) has been my ride for 27 years.
Here’s the scene, for old times sake:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzPr3R3DNoo
I watched Zhivago recently and it’s hard to sit through. A complete gloss of serious subject matter and terrible acting from the two leads.
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