Lawrence of Arabia Movie Review:
From the beginning of the movie Lawrence of Arabia seems non-intellectual, disrespectful of authority, and rebellious. He constantly tells everybody, “I’m different” as if he has a chip on his shoulder. The wardrobe mistress even claimed that they designed Peter O’Toole’s wardrobe so his British Army uniform was messy, not ironed, and deliberately baggy.
A motorcyclist calls to Lawrence in the desert, wearing his Arab get up, “Who are you?” and Lawrence has a profoundly puzzled look on his face. Isn’t this the dilemma of the 1960’s when the film was made and released — who are you? For the rest of the movie this 1960’s theme takes over as Lawrence experiments with different identities in a hippie-like fashion, attempting to discover the meaning of life. He confides to Ali, his Arab pal, played by Omar Sharif, that his father didn’t marry his mother. His name is Lawrence. His father’s name was Chapman.
Ali suggests he call himself El Orens. Lawrence puts on new clothes, his Arab ones, and experiments with this identity. When he gets imprisoned and flogged in Deraa, he becomes disillusioned and decides to go back to being a British officer. The film suggests that Lawrence continued in this fashion to the end of his life when he died in a motorcycle accident, experimenting with speed as a new identity.
The 1960’s anti-war theme is also the theme of Lawrence of Arabia. Lawrence starts out idealistic: he risks his life to save one Arab’s life. But after Deraa he wants only revenge. He says that he will take no prisoners and engages in a killing frenzy. Instead of bringing out the romanticism of war, this film emphasizes its ugliness just as any draft-card burning campus protester would.
From the beginning of the movie Lawrence of Arabia seems non-intellectual, disrespectful of authority, and rebellious. He constantly tells everybody, “I’m different” as if he has a chip on his shoulder. The wardrobe mistress even claimed that they designed Peter O’Toole’s wardrobe so his British Army uniform was messy, not ironed, and deliberately baggy.
A motorcyclist calls to Lawrence in the desert, wearing his Arab get up, “Who are you?” and Lawrence has a profoundly puzzled look on his face. Isn’t this the dilemma of the 1960’s when the film was made and released — who are you? For the rest of the movie this 1960’s theme takes over as Lawrence experiments with different identities in a hippie-like fashion, attempting to discover the meaning of life. He confides to Ali, his Arab pal, played by Omar Sharif, that his father didn’t marry his mother. His name is Lawrence. His father’s name was Chapman.
Ali suggests he call himself El Orens. Lawrence puts on new clothes, his Arab ones, and experiments with this identity. When he gets imprisoned and flogged in Deraa, he becomes disillusioned and decides to go back to being a British officer. The film suggests that Lawrence continued in this fashion to the end of his life when he died in a motorcycle accident, experimenting with speed as a new identity.
The 1960’s anti-war theme is also the theme of Lawrence of Arabia. Lawrence starts out idealistic: he risks his life to save one Arab’s life. But after Deraa he wants only revenge. He says that he will take no prisoners and engages in a killing frenzy. Instead of bringing out the romanticism of war, this film emphasizes its ugliness just as any draft-card burning campus protester would.