"Lawrence of Arabia" Is it worth the watch?

I had never heard of the movie “Lawrence of Arabia”. I also had no idea it was almost 4 hours long. Don’t worry! I watched it just for you all. If you also haven’t heard about “Lawrence of Arabia” here are the bare bones facts. 

It's an “epic biographical adventure drama film based on the life of T. E. Lawrence and his 1926 book Seven Pillars of Wisdom” according to Wikipedia. Lawrence is a clumsy and odd British guy who has loved learning about the Middle East. He is sent to meet with an Arab prince who is fighting for freedom from the Ottoman Empire during World War 1. I have not studied much about World War 1. I know I should read a couple of books about it, I’ve just gravitated toward other moments in history. If this movie did something, it encouraged me to learn more about this period of History. Back to the movie. 

The film opens with us following T.E. Lawrence, while he recklessly drives down what looks like a British country road. For ease, we’re just going to call him Lawrence ok? Ok. Next thing you know we are witnessing the end of his funeral. Various (I’m assuming famous) men are discussing his legacy. Some say they loved him, while others are not shedding a tear at the man lost. It’s an interesting dichotomy. I’ll give them this. It did make me curious. Who was this guy? For your awareness, I don’t google the movies before I watch them. I just go in with the information I have. This method did NOT serve me well when it came to this film. 

Let’s start with the settings. PHENOMENAL. Rarely are sets so magnificent. It was nothing short of beautiful. I’m almost at a lack of words because I don’t know if words are enough to convey them. You can feel the care the set designer put into the film, specifically the sandscapes. The amount of live animals is astonishing. In one scene, Lawrence leads a raid on a train filled, and I mean FILLED with horses. The scene is a wonder. All the horses, men, and chaos. I can’t think of another scene like it. Those few moments helped keep my interest, but I would be lying if I said this was a dynamic, interesting, and historically accurate watch from start to finish. 

Throughout the film, the audience watches as historically Arab people are being portrayed by English actors in bad eyeliner and an even worse spray tan. This is wrong. The script seems to lack an understanding of the people and their ways outside of the writer’s biased beliefs. It is a problematic film to be brief. There are better resources to look to when researching the Arab Revolt, and its effects during World War 1. One quote from the film portrays this well, “The English have a great hunger for desolate places.”

The longer Lawrence is with the Arab people the more he seems to believe that he is the only one that can bring the people to freedom. This movie does not hide its White Savior themes. If anything, it puts them on full display with Lawrence saying, “They’re going to get (freedom). I’m going to give it to them”. Watching Lawrence go from someone who seemed to defend and weep for the Arab people to being another kind of colonizer was wild. At one point, he encourages the destruction of an entire group of people. When examining the bloodshed, Sherif Ali (someone who became like a good friend to Lawrence) chided him. Sherif Ali called out Lawrence for all the unnecessary bloodshed he spilled while addressing the racist conception that the Arab people were barbaric and cruel. In one of the last scenes, we see Sherif Ali and Lawrence arguing. Sherif Ali is disappointed in Lawrence and Lawrence seems to not have any reason to care after hearing about the Sykes-Picot Agreement. The movie ends with the Arab people still seeking freedom from another group of people, and Lawrence heading back to England. 

I am not going to say that I completely understood every part of this movie. I did not understand most of the historical moments. I did google. A lot. I learned that there is only so much information on this movie, which is fair. It did come out in 1962. This film made me realize: that I do not know enough about World War 1. With the film being from the perspective of an unreliable narrator, I did not learn much about the Arab revolt. I saw beautiful sets. I saw an amazing collection of horses and stunt choreography. I did not see an accurate portrayal of the Arab Revolt. Is this movie worth the watch? NO! Is there a more intense way I can convey this? EMPHATIC NO. Search up the sandscapes and the scenes with the animals, but you only have one life to live. Don’t spend 4 HOURS of it watching this film.

Photo from Amazon