Lawrence of Arabia (film)

Peter O'Toole as T. E. Lawrence.

Lawrence of Arabia (in English: Lawrence of Arabia) is a 1962 British film of the genre epic-historical, directed by David Lean and based on the life of T. E. Lawrence. The tape is played by Peter O'Toole, Omar Sharif, Anthony Quinn, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Anthony Quayle, José Ferrer, Claude Rains, Arthur Kennedy and Fernando Sancho, among others.

Plot

The film is based on Thomas Edward Lawrence's involvement in the Arab revolt, during World War I. It is presented in two parts, separated by an intermission.

Part one

In 1935, T. E. Lawrence (Peter O'Toole) is killed in a motorcycle accident while trying to avoid cyclists. After his funeral in St. Paul's Cathedral, a journalist tries to get opinions about this remarkable and enigmatic man from those in attendance who knew him, to little avail.

In 1916, during the First World War, the then Lieutenant Lawrence, enrolled in the Arab Bureau (British intelligence) and stationed in Cairo, was known for his misfit character, his veiled insolence before his superiors and for his extensive knowledge, including Arab culture, especially about the Bedouin people.

He is sent on a diplomatic scouting mission by Arab Bureau official Mr. Dryden (Claude Rains) to contact Prince Faysal (Alec Guinness), who was at war with the Empire. Ottoman, who occupied their lands, then an ally of the German Empire.

With the rank of lieutenant, Lawrence sets out on a long journey through the desert, in search of Prince Faysal's camp, accompanied by a Bedouin guide, Tafas (Zia Mohyeddin). On the way they stop next to a water well to rest and restock. There they are surprised by Sherif Ali (Omar Sharif), a nobleman from the Harish clan, who kills the guide, to Lawrence's surprise, for drinking from his well without permission. The sherif asks where he is going, and Lawrence tells him that he was looking for Prince Faysal's camp. After an argument, Lawrence continues on his journey alone.

While crossing a ravine, he is surprised by British Colonel Harry Brighton (Anthony Quayle), stationed at Prince Faysal's camp as military adviser. The colonel was already aware of his arrival and advises Lawrence to keep quiet, make his assessment and leave. They continue on their way and upon reaching the camp they witness an air attack by Turkish military aviation, which leaves many dead, given the impotence of the prince to respond to the attack as he has neither planes nor anti-aircraft means; only horses, sabers, pistols and some rifle. Furthermore, he had already lost many of his warriors before in a failed attack on the city of Medina.

Later, with the introductions and Sherif Ali present, Lawrence and Prince Faysal hit it off, as Lawrence demonstrates his knowledge and way of thinking. Colonel Brighton's warnings fall on deaf ears. However, the colonel advises Prince Faysal to withdraw, to avoid further defeats. The prince believes that if the British army attacked Aqaba and supplied it with weapons, the situation would change in his favor. Colonel Brighton doubts that the British government will order its army to attack Aqaba, when the war in Europe rages.

Lawrence thinks differently and believes in a surprise attack on the Turkish garrison in the port of Aqaba, knowing that the shore artillery is positioned facing the Gulf of Aqaba, and that inland defenses are weak. Later, he proposes to Prince Faysal to go on a military expedition. If they manage to conquer Aqaba, this would mean having a British supply port, very important to continue the war. He asks for 50 of his warriors, commanded by Sherif Ali. They will have to cross the Nefud desert, considered impenetrable by the Bedouins themselves. If they succeed, many more warriors will join them. The prince approves of his plan, and undertakes a strategic withdrawal out of the reach of the Turks. Along the way, Lawrence is approached by two ragged teenagers who offer their services as servants. He rejects them.

The expedition to Aqaba is organized and the expedition members set out singing war hymns. Unbeknownst to them, the same teenagers who had offered their services to Lawrence, Daud (John Dimech) and Farraj (Michel Ray), follow them. During a break in an oasis, both try to get closer to the water, but are surprised by one of the expedition members, Gasim (I. S. Johar). Finally and with no choice, Lawrence accepts them into his service.

They arrive in the desert of Nefud and Sherif Ali organizes the journey, resting by day and marching at night to avoid the burning sun. Knowing the dangers of marching through the desert, the sheriff keeps an eye on Lawrence, who does indeed fall asleep riding his camel. They manage to cross the desert, however, Gasim falls exhausted during the night, unnoticed by the others until his camel appears without a rider. After an argument between Lawrence and the Sherif, Lawrence goes back looking for Gasim, finds him, and brings him back. For this action, he earns everyone's respect and the friendship of Sherif Ali.

In conversation, the sherif suggests that he change his name to Al Lawrence, as a way of identifying with the Bedouin. At first Lawrence refuses and tells the sheriff his family history and his origin as the illegitimate son of Sir Thomas Chapman. The sheriff understands, and insists that he take a new name. Lawrence agrees and falls asleep exhausted.

The sherif burns his uniform, and the next day replaces it with Bedouin garb. The new Al Lawrence decides to take a ride on his camel, dressed in his new clothes. Being alone, he begins to run making his clothes flutter when he suddenly meets the gaze of a curious Bedouin horseman. It was Auda abu Tayi (Anthony Quinn), the head of the powerful Howeitat clan, accompanied by his son. Auda says that the people at his well are stealing his water and goes to face them. Lawrence fears a bloody fight will break out between the two bosses, and rushes after them.

Indeed, after an exchange of harsh words between Auda and Ali, the latter introduces Lawrence as a friend of Prince Faysal, changing Auda's attitude. Finally Auda invites them to his camp for dinner. That night, Lawrence and Ali manage to convince Auda to join them in the attack on Aqaba, Lawrence knowing that Auda is being paid for not opposing the Turks. Lawrence manipulates him into getting Auda to join them in the attack for no other petulant reason than "because it pleases him so ".

Already encamped a few kilometers from Aqaba, one night a dispute occurs between members of the two clans, and one of them dies. Both clans separate and the Howeitat exact revenge, which would unleash a bloodbath. The whole project seems to end there, but Lawrence intervenes and decides to act as judge and executioner, thus ending the dispute. The person responsible is brought before him to receive his punishment, and with surprise he sees that it is Gasim, that warrior whose life he had saved in the desert of Nafud. Lawrence empties his revolver into Gasim's body, before leaving the place very disturbed.

The next morning, both clans attack and conquer Aqaba. Lawrence tries to communicate by telegraph with Cairo, but Auda had torn him apart, enraged at not finding a treasure in gold, which Lawrence had told him about. To calm Auda down, he promises him a large number of gold guineas and improvises a promissory note that he signs on behalf of the King of England. Immediately afterwards, he advises that he continues his journey to Cairo, this time crossing the Sinai Peninsula, taking the news of the fall of Aqaba to his superiors, accompanied by Daud and Farraj.

The journey is grueling and in the middle of a storm Daud falls into a pit of quicksand and dies, leaving Lawrence and Farraj heartbroken. Finally they arrive at the Suez Canal and are seen and picked up by the British military, who leave them at the command gates in Cairo. Lawrence takes the frightened Farraj to the officers' lounge, causing a riot among his comrades over his dirty and ragged appearance. An officer soon appears, who turns out to be none other than Colonel Brighton. Lawrence tells him that they have captured Aqaba.

Brighton immediately brings him before the new commanding general, Lord Edmund Allenby (Jack Hawkins). Together they return to the officers' club and in the presence of all the officers, the general promises everything Lawrence asks for: weapons, instructors, money, armored cars and even cannons to arm the Bedouin troops, and then leaves the place. Lawrence is left alone, surrounded by his comrades-in-arms, who erupt in cheers and congratulations for the incredible feat accomplished.

Later, in private, in the presence of Colonel Brighton and the civil servant Dryden, General Allenby promotes him to major. Lawrence declines the promotion, but the general says that it is his decision and unquestionable. Lawrence wants a confirmation on the rumors that are spreading about British interests, which only seek to replace the Turkish Empire in their lands. The general denies the rumors.

Part two

A few months later, an American journalist, Jackson Bentley (Arthur Kennedy), visits Aqaba, where Prince Faysal is staying, and manages to interview him. The prince sagaciously informs him of the situation, at the same time that he manages to find out what are the reasons for Bentley's presence in his domain. The journalist is looking for a "hero " for his readers in the United States, who are in favor of their country's incorporation into the First World War. Prince Faysal tells him that Lawrence is indeed the "hero " he is looking for.

Some time later, Bentley joins the irregular Bedouin troops, and begins reporting on their military actions. Armed with new rifles and machine guns, but no artillery, the Bedouins ambushed mostly Turkish trains in the middle of the desert, killing passengers and looting anything they found. Lawrence was in command, but the troops obeyed Auda ibu Tayi. After each attack, the Bedouin warriors left the place, but not before thanking and cheering Lawrence for the loot obtained. Also participating in the actions were Colonel Brighton in charge of an armored car, Sherif Ali and Farraj, as an explosives expert.

In one of the ambushes, a badly wounded Turkish officer begins shooting at Lawrence, wounding him in the arm. Auda surprises him and decapitates him with his saber. Everything is recorded by Bentley, who manages to make his hero Lawrence famous. Before leaving, Bentley interviews Lawrence and asks him two questions: "What do the Bedouins hope to get out of the war?", and "Why does Lawrence like the desert? i>»?. The answers: « They hope to get his freedom, and I am going to give it to him », and « the desert is clean ».

Winter approaches and Auda seeks some honorable booty before retiring. This comes to him in the form of a horse transport train. After the ambush, Auda obtains a beautiful horse and a large herd. Auda retires satisfied, leaving Lawrence with Sherif Ali and 20 warriors to continue the war. Colonel Brighton returns to Cairo with the armored cars.

Lawrence and Sherif Ali continue ambushing the Turkish trains, but due to an oversight, Farraj is badly injured when he loses a detonator between his clothes and it explodes. Lawrence is forced to kill him, lest he fall into Turkish hands, who would torture him to death.

Later, affected by a nervous breakdown, he argues with Ali and decides to go explore the city of Daraa, located just 100 kilometers from Damascus. The faithful sheriff accompanies him. Both men are stopped by a patrol commanded by a Turkish sergeant (Fernando Sancho), who was looking for men for the bey of the city (José Ferrer). The sergeant dismisses Ali and takes Lawrence into the bey's presence. There he is selected, half-naked and caressed by the Turkish governor. Lawrence, seeing the lust in his eyes, punches him in the stomach. The bey recovers and orders him to be whipped. Hours go by, and Sherif Ali waits restlessly near the barracks. Finally, a door opens and Lawrence's body falls into the mud of the alley. Ali picks him up and takes him back to his people.

After spending a few days in a disturbed state, Lawrence recovers and tells Ali that he is leaving the campaign, that he wants to lead a normal life, because he wants to be an ordinary person and not an exceptional person. He asks the sheriff to take charge of the rest of the group of warriors. "Trust only your own people ", he tells them all.

Back in Cairo, Lawrence is called in for an interview with General Allenby. Upon entering his office he meets Prince Faysal, General Allenby, Colonel Brighton, and the civil servant Dreyden. The prince greets him with affection and leaves, expressing " his concern for him about the treaty ". Lawrence asks what treaty was being talked about. Dreyden explains to him the Sykes-Picot agreement, which considered the division between England and France of the Ottoman Empire, including Arabia, after the war; and then withdraws. General Allenby tells Lawrence that he needs him for his next offensive against Damascus, which angers Lawrence, who no longer wants anything to do with the war. Finally, he agrees, but asks for a lot of money and weapons so that he can raise a Bedouin army again. General Allenby agrees.

Lawrence reunites Sherif Ali and Auda ibu Tayi. Arriving at the meeting point, they are joined again by the journalist Bentley. Sherif Ali notices that Lawrence is surrounded by dubious characters whom Lawrence calls his bodyguards , actually hired assassins.

The offensive on Damascus continues and the Turkish troops withdraw in disorder. On their way to the city, Bedouin troops arrive at a village razed to the ground by a brigade of retreating Turkish soldiers, who have murdered all its inhabitants, including women and children. One of the warriors gallops with his saber raised against the Turkish soldiers, and is shot by them, provoking the anger and desire for revenge from the rest. It was the town of the murdered horseman. Little by little, the Bedouin warriors come on the attack, and finally Lawrence orders everyone to attack "without taking prisoners"", which causes a mass attack and a general massacre, which is followed by sum, without control over their actions. Finally, the Bedouin column continues on its way to Damascus, leaving behind thousands of dead Turkish soldiers.

They arrive in Damascus, two days before General Allenby's troops. Lawrence gathers all the tribal chiefs and announces that they are now part of the Arab Council, a form of government in which the different tribes will take charge of running Damascus. This is an impossible task, mainly due to lack of technical knowledge and tribal differences, and soon the city begins to decline.

General Allenby, already installed in Damascus, lets circumstances continue without intervening. Eventually, all the Bedouin chiefs, including Sherif Ali and Auda ibu Tayi, begin to leave the city, and with them the dream of an Arab state. General Allenby assumes control of the city, and everything comes under British rule.

In a final meeting, attended by Prince Faysal, General Allenby, Brighton and Dreyden, a disenchanted Lawrence is promoted to colonel. Asking why, General Allenby replies that this way he will get a cabin of his own on his return voyage to England.

The last scene shows Lawrence being driven home in a military vehicle. Along the way he sees a motorcycle passing by and suddenly becomes interested in it, thus developing his passion for them until his death.

Critical appraisal

Peter O'Toole's casting as Lawrence of Arabia has been criticized, not only because of his height difference (1.88 meters in contrast to Lawrence's 1.65m) but also because of his personality. His personality is an especially difficult aspect to address since the only information we have is Lawrence's own works, and Lowell's writings. It seems that he was a self-centered individual, narcissistic, exhibitionist, and endowed with great intellectual capacities, he is even characterized with a veiled trait of homosexuality. This conception does not enjoy the consensus among specialists, with some stating that he was a very introverted person who found himself unexpectedly in the spotlight. Proof of how controversial the representation of Lawrence's psyche was, was the reaction of his brother Arnold Walter Lawrence (1900-1991) who denounced the film by showing his brother as a sadistic person devoid of kindness.

This type of criticism can be applied to other characters as well, such as General Allenby who, despite appearing to be the antithesis of Lawrence in the film, in real life they maintained correspondence and strong ties. The same can be said of the Arab leader Auda; in the historical course of events he was one of the most ardent supporters of Arab nationalism but in the film he is portrayed as an unreliable opportunist. It is also interesting to note how Arab characters are represented in many cases by actors of American or similar origin, Alec Guinness himself, for example, represents Prince Feisal.

Lawrence of Arabia's campaigns weren't nearly as dramatic as the film portrays. Lawrence and the Arab army were always surrounded by multitudes of British officers and auxiliaries in the first place, the idea of an isolated Lawrence in Arabia is simply false. Furthermore, the Arab units did not consist exclusively of units of Bedouin irregulars on horseback but also had a significant contingent of foot soldiers equipped with conventional firearms.

Another very striking aspect of the film is the total absence of female characters or allusions to them. The only time a woman can be glimpsed is in the form of murdered bodies after the Tafas massacre.

Cast

• Peter O'Toole - Thomas Edward "T. E." Lawrence
• Alec Guinness – Prince Faysal
• Anthony Quinn - Auda ibu Tayi
• Jack Hawkins... General Lord Edmund Allenby
• Omar Sharif - Sherif Ali ibn the Kharish
• José Ferrer - Turkish Bey
• Anthony Quayle - Colonel Harry Brighton
• Claude Rains - Mr. Dryden
• Arthur Kennedy - Jackson Bentley, journalist
• Donald Wolfit - General Sir Donald Murray
• Fernando Sancho - Sergeant

Production

Preproduction

It took the pre-production team two years to come up with the project to make this film. To create Aqaba, 300 buildings were built in a desert area in southern Spain.

Peter O'Toole was cast as the film's lead actor after his role was turned down by actors such as Marlon Brando and Albert Finney. Also Omar Sharif was chosen as an actor in his role after other actors such as Alain Delon and Maurice Ronet rejected him.It should also be noted that Anthony Quinn was imposed by the production company so that there would be American representation in the film.

Shooting

It took 14 months to complete the shooting. The film was filmed in Seville and Almería (Spain), Jordan and Morocco. For the development of a large part of the interior scenes carried out in Seville, scenes were filmed in the following monuments of the city: the Plaza de España, the Real Alcázar, the Casa de Pilatos, the Miguel de Mañara Palace and the Hotel Alfonso XIII. For the filming in Almería, a total of 159 dromedaries were brought, of which 129 came from the Spanish Sahara at a cost of 5,000 pesetas each, in addition to some 700 horses from different parts of Andalusia. The places in Almería where it was filmed are the Nicolás Salmerón Park in Almería, the Rambla del Cautivo in Tabernas, the dunes of Cabo de Gata and the Algarrobico beach in Carboneras.

During filming, every time a shot was shot, a large number of operators walked through the desert with brooms to sweep the sand and thus disappear the traces of those who had been there before. It should also be noted that, during filming, the heat was so strong that the cameras were wrapped in wet towels to prevent them from exploding.

Reception

The film was a great commercial success. It also brought Peter O'Toole, the film's protagonist, worldwide fame to the point that he also became a film icon.

It is considered one of the best films of all time. It was chosen number 5 of the 100 Greatest Films by the American Film Institute in its original 1998 list and number 7 in its updated 2007 list. It also tops the AFI's 10 Top 10 in the category of &# 34;Epic Films'. Finally, in 1991, the film was deemed "culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

Awards and nominations

Oscars

BAFTA Award 1963

• The best British actor (Peter O’Toole)
• The best British film
• The best British script (Robert Bolt)
• The best film of any origin

Golden Globe Award 1963

• The Best Film Director (David Lean)
• The best cast actor (Omar Sharif)
• To the best photograph (Freddie Young)
• The Best Film – Drama

Guild of America Directors Award 1963

• To the outstanding directorate in cinema (David Lean)
• Address assistance (Roy Stevens)

National Board of Review Award 1962

• The Best Director (David Lean)

Laurel Gold Prize 1963

• The premiere

Writers' Guild of Great Britain 1963

• Best dramatic script (Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson)

British Society of Cinematographers Award 1962

• To the best photograph (Freddie Young)

Premio Producers Guild of America 2001

• Hall of Fame 2001 - cinema

David di Donatello Prize 1964

• The best foreign actor (Peter O’Toole)
• To the best foreign film (Sam Spiegel)

Premio Nastro d'argento 1964

• The Best Foreign Film Director (David Lean)

Kinema Junpo Award 1964

• To the best film in foreign language (David Lean)

Candidacies

BAFTA Award 1963

• To the best foreign actor (Anthony Quinn)

Golden Globe Award 1963

• The best actor in cinema – drama (Anthony Quinn)
• The best actor in cinema – drama (Peter O’Toole)
• To the best music (Maurice Jarre)

Grammy Prize 1964

• To the best music (Maurice Jarre)

Laurel Gold Prize 1963

• The most outstanding main actor - 4th place (Peter O’Toole)
• Highest secondary actor - 4th place (Omar Sharif)
• The most outstanding musical theme - 5th place (Maurice Jarre)

American Cinema Editors Award 1963

• The best assembly (Anne V. Coates)