Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean, 1962)

/Note of the author: 'Lawrence of Arabia' is usually considered a British film, but as it received American funds and was distributed by their studios, it would be more correct to name it a coproduction between the two countries (and, by extension, also American). I could have chosen a 'more American' movie like 'The Sound of Music' (a Hollywood classic, a huge box-office success and a clear example of what remained of the golden days in the 60s), but I thought I would find this one more cinematically challenging./

Title: 'Lawrence of Arabia'

Release Year: 1962

Director: David Lean

Cast: Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness, Antony Quinn, Jack Hawkins, Omar Sharif.

Plot: The movie explains the adventure of Lawrence of Arabia in Cairo during the World War I, when he was sent as the head of a support campaign for the arabs against Turkey.

Review: Lawrence of Arabia is definitely a complex character to describe. Sometimes you think his only motivation is helping the Arabic people, others he loses inexplicably the track and seems to have lost every hope and other just seems to enjoy popularity too much.

If you ask any moviegoer who's seen the film, they will tell you that they loved it, but I have my reservation. Yes, it's visually impressive, has a complex structure as well as a complex protagonist and a strong moral context, but that can't hide that so much complexity detaches the leading character (the only one that audiences have to feel connected to the film as he owns most of the screening time) from the audience and its atroucious length.

Peter O'Toole started a curse with this film: including the one received for 'Lawrence of Arabia' he's received 8 Academy Award nominations... and hasn't won any of them

Anyway, it has its unquestionable achievements. First an impressive performance from Omar Sharif (my clear favorite over O'Toole character, who never loses his way and stays faithful to his beliefs all the time). Second, some particular moments in which we really see the epic with wide moral consequences over the freedom of a country that the premise promises, although it's usually surrounded by a blurry environment in which is difficult to see what's positive and what's negative and who's the side you must support. In the end, even success and failure are fused in the final expression of the complex persona that Lawrence of Arabia is.

Always loyal to his own beliefs, Omar Sharif's character is my favourite in this movie, and would give the actor enough popularity to be chosen to star 'Doctor Zhivago' (David Lean, 1965)