Do you have any interest in spending nearly four hours staring at the desert? If so, Lawrence of Arabia is the movie for you. David Lean was originally known for British melodramas, such as Brief Encounter, before turning his attention to an epic sense of scope with his film prior to this one, The Bridge on the River Kwai. Lawrence of Arabia received numerous accolades and inspired an entire generation of filmmakers, including Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Stanley Kubrick, Sam Peckinpah, Ridley Scott, George Lucas and Brian De Palma. It even inspired some of David Lean’s contemporaries, like my personal favorite filmmaker, Akira Kurosawa.

Lawrence of Arabia is divided into two parts with an intermission between them. Part One begins with T.E. Lawrence’s death via motorcycle accident before transporting us back to World War I. Lawrence is a lieutenant in the British Army who is requested by the Arab Bureau to assess whether or not Prince Faisal stands a chance in his revolt against the Turks. Lawrence follows his guide, Tafas, but Tafas is killed by Sherif Ali for drinking from another person’s well without permission. Upon his arrival, Lawrence meets Colonel Brighton who tells him to be quiet, make his assessment and leave as soon as possible. Lawrence immediately disobeys, but luckily, Prince Faisal appreciates his outspokenness and encourages it. Faisal is encouraged by the colonel to retreat from a fight he is significantly losing, but Lawrence convinces Faisal to provide him with fifty men to lead to nearby Aqaba for a surprise attack. Their victory would provide them with a port for the British to access and bring in supplies. Faisal agrees, but puts Sherif Ali in charge. They cross the Nefud Desert and barely make it to a source of water. One of them, Gasim, falls off his camel along the journey and no one notices. But later, Lawrence realizes he’s nowhere to be found and turns back for him, successfully returning him to the group. Lawrence convinces the leader of a nearby tribe to turn against the Turks, but before the leader agrees, one of his men is killed by one of Ali’s men because of a personal vendetta. If the leader were to retaliate against Ali’s man, there would be no alliance, so Lawrence agrees to kill the murderer himself. He is shocked to discover that Gasim is the man, but reluctantly shoots him anyway. They successfully win at Aqaba, and Lawrence and his servants cross the Sinai Desert to confirm his victory to the Arab Bureau. Initially, no one believes him, but Lawrence is soon promoted to major.

Part Two begins with Lawrence blowing up a railway controlled by the Ottomans. An American, Jackson Bentley, records Lawrence’s exploits and publishes them, turning Lawrence into a celebrity. On one of their raids, his last living servant, Farraj, is badly injured and incapacitated. Lawrence kills him to prevent him from being tortured by the Turks. Lawrence and Ali move ahead to scout a Turkish-controlled city, but in the process, Lawrence is captured and taken before the chief of the Turks. Originally, Lawrence is just prodded by the Turks, investigated, but when he lashes out at the chief, he is flogged and thrown out into the streets. Ali arrives to carry him away to safety. Lawrence, at this point, is growing weary of the war effort, but he agrees to help in the Capture of Damascus. Lawrence and Ali take Damascus before the rest of the British Army can arrive and the Arab tribesmen debate how to hold the occupation of the city. Their bickering ends in a stalemate and leave Damascus for the British. Lawrence receives another promotion to colonel and instructed to return to Britain. As he leaves the city, a motorcyclist crosses his path, leaving a dust cloud in his wake.

Lawrence of Arabia is one of the most beautiful movies out there. The wide shots of the desert sand dunes and the vast armies have never been outdone. David Lean was inspired by John Ford’s The Searchers in his approach to the look of the film and there are some scenes that look almost identical. He also has all the camera work move from left to right to keep the appearance of one continuous journey. Lawrence of Arabia was Peter O’Toole’s fourth film in his career and the movie that promoted him to superstardom. It also brought Omar Sharif to national attention. The technical achievements of the film is important and gives the film its place among the pantheon of greatest films of all time, but it’s also just an intriguing character study of the ultimate fish out of water.

Bonus Review: The Great Escape

The Great Escape is another epic, though not as long as Lawrence of Arabia, so maybe don’t watch these back to back if you don’t have a free day. The Great Escape is about the escape from the Stalag Luft III POW camp, an actual historical event, though the film is highly exaggerated. It stars Steve McQueen, James Garner, Charles Bronson, Richard Attenborough, James Coburn and Donald Pleasance.

Captain Hilts is a notorious escapee from multiple POW camps and takes Colonel Luger’s suggestion to stop trying to escape with a scoff. He finds a blind spot in the fence around the camp, and to keep the Germans from discovering it, he purposely gets caught trying to escape from a different location. His punishment is to spend the night in “The Cooler” next to another prisoner named Archie Ives. Together, they plot their escape. At the same time, Roger Bartlett reestablishes his escape-planning committee from a previous camp, the “X Organization”. Bartlett argues that if they can successfully escape, the Germans will be forced to draw their attention to the camp instead of on the front lines. The organization begins work on three tunnels named “Tom”, “Dick”, and “Harry”. Their operation is streamlined and everyone has a part to play, but Hilts refuses to join their effort, intending to escape on his own. The camp celebrates the near-completion of one of the tunnels, but during their revelry, the Germans discover it and order it to be closed up. Ives, shaken at the discovery, snaps and tries to scale a fence before being shot down. This encourages Hilts to help the organization. The escape begins, but their digging didn’t make it far enough into the woods to conceal them, but because of an air raid, 76 men are able to escape before the tunnel is discovered. Hilts attempts to escape to Switzerland via motorcycle, but is recaptured. Only three of the other escapees make it to freedom. The rest are taken to a field and shot dead. Hilts is returned to the Cooler and plots his next escape, while Luger is demoted because of the escape, hinting that the escape was in some capacity worth it.

A great story of perseverance in the face of certain death, The Great Escape is both triumph and tragedy. It makes for a whirlwind viewing experience and doesn’t feel like it’s actually length of its runtime. The performances are great, and so is the score from Elmer Bernstein. It’ll get you pumped for anything. I recommend this to everyone, especially if you are a fan of motorcycle stunts.