Cinema
Lawrence of Arabia
David Lean · 1962
Synopsis
In Cairo, during the First World War, a young British lieutenant assigned to colour maps irritates his superiors with his insolence. The Arab Bureau sends him to observe Prince Faisal, in revolt against the Turks. At the end of a long camel ride, he conceives a plan that Sherif Ali considers insane: to take Aqaba, whose guns face only the sea, by attacking it from the land. This requires crossing the Nefud desert, which even the Bedouins call impassable, with fifty men.
Context
The part was first intended for Marlon Brando, who could not free himself; Albert Finney refused the five-year contract he was asked to sign, and it fell to Peter O'Toole, then little known. Filming lasted more than a year, in Jordan, Spain and Morocco, in heat that thermometers could no longer measure, and no woman speaks a word in the whole film. Twenty minutes were cut shortly after the premiere. The 1989 restoration, carried out by Robert A. Harris under the director's supervision, required sorting through more than four tons of film and sound tracks; the surviving actors came back to record missing lines, and Charles Gray imitated the voice of Jack Hawkins, who had died in the meantime.
Who it is for
Nearly four hours with the overture and the intermission, in English with subtitles or in the French version. The Arab revolt against the Ottoman Empire forms the background of the story.
Prizes and reception
Seven Academy Awards out of ten nominations in 1963, none for its lead actor or its screenwriters, and ranked among the hundred films on the American Film Institute's list.
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