- David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia is both the smartest epic (not a description you’d give to many in the genre actually) and the most epic of epics. Lean’s ability to capture the breathtaking locations with 65mm/70mm photography is simply unmatched in cinema history.

David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia is both the smartest epic and the most epic of epics.
- It is a masterpiece made of the long shot. There are 50-100 of these shots

truly a brilliant shot here- foreground and deep background, staggering the figures on the front right — Visconti meets the epic
- Like Citizen Kane, Lawrence of Arabia starts with the titular character’s death and others, in an interview, are asked to describe him. It is a biopic—one of the best—and certainly Peter O’Toole’s work is rightly cited as one of the greatest performances in cinema. Lawrence is so richly complex—it is a grand scale for such a detailed character study

Lean’s ability to capture the breathtaking locations with 65mm/70mm photography is simply unmatched in cinema history.
- The screenplay and the acting could have been shot in a barn and been compelling. It is one of the 50 or so screenplays I would happily print out and read it on a beach somewhere. “The trick is not minding that it hurts” and “nothing is written” in the dialogue.
- At the 17 minute mark—like 2001’s falling bone to spaceship edit—we get O’Toole’s Lawrence blowing out the match dissolving into the dessert and the sun rising on the horizon with Maurice Jarre’s masterful score accompanying

At the 17 minute mark—like 2001’s falling bone to spaceship edit—we get O’Toole’s Lawrence blowing out the match…

…then dissolving into the dessert and the sun rising on the horizon with Maurice Jarre’s masterful score accompanying
- As O’Toole’s Lawrence arrives in the desert we get about 10 straight minutes (17-27 min mark) of almost all long and medium long shots of the desert with crisp clean photography

As O’Toole’s Lawrence arrives in the desert we get about 10 straight minutes (17-27 min mark) of almost all long and medium long shots of the desert with crisp clean photography
- Most of the film in the 2.20 : 1 super-wide aspect ratio
- Omar Sharif’s arrival is one of the 5-10 best sequences in the film—the far off distance with the telephoto lens—Lean uses a special 482mm lens from Panavision here. It was built and use specifically for this shot

Omar Sharif’s arrival is one of the 5-10 best sequences in the film—the far off distance with the telephoto lens
- Lean cast Sharif and O’Toole as the two leads. They were unproven and unknown (the film even boasts that this is the “debut” for O’Toole though it isn’t (at last as far as when the film premiered). But Lean casts a very savvy veteran supporting cast from Claude Rains to Arthur Kennedy.
- O’Toole’s performance is transcendent. Lawrence is mercurial, angry, vain. He has a Christ complex, an out of control ego. He does have some charisma, believable as a brilliant strategist. Anthony Quinn, Sharif and Alec Guinness in particular don’t back down or blink at all. This is some of their best work from those three (it is surely Sharif’s best) –absolutely going for it
- the air attack on Faisal’s camp is yet another standout sequence. Hundreds of tens—this is a film of such size and scale . It’s worth nothing that in the 70mm run of films in the 2010’s—The Master, Interstellar, The Hateful Eight—all by all-time great filmmakers—none capture Lean’s scope and size.

Lean uses hundreds of extras, massive 65mm photography, a high vantage point… this is actually a shot from the attack of Aqaba
- This just didn’t happen in 1957-1962—five years off between films for David Lean – The Bridge on the River Kwai won best picture in 1957 so he must have had a ton of clout

It is a biopic—one of the best—and certainly Peter O’Toole’s work is rightly cited as one of the greatest performances in cinema. Lawrence is so richly complex—it is a grand scale for such a detailed character study
- At 52 minutes the footprint in sand at night—a jaw dropper—wind as Lawrence has his great epiphany about the attack
- At 73 mins to 82 mins—the rescue of Gasim plays like a magnificent short film. Worldless with Jarre’s percussion and the white sand carrying us on a high of pure cinematic bliss. Lean is constantly bouncing the camera off the relentless sun.

the rescue of Gasim plays like a magnificent short film
- I said it above but 100 shots of these tiny figures in the vastness.

It is a masterpiece made of the long shot. There are 50-100 of these shots
- He dies a little when each of his two assistants pass. You can see if in O’Toole physically
- The intermission comes about 139 minutes in (there’s another 80 minutes or so after). We have the music intermission and it’s wonderful- this is the music that music intermissions were made for.
- The film just isn’t as strong after the intermission. This is more a compliment to just how damn good the first nearly 2 ½ hours are. But overall 8 or 9 of the best 10 scenes and sequences are in the first half
- A Masterpiece
Incredible review Drake, this is the most beautiful movie, right?
Have you ever seen him in the theater? it’s a shame, i have never been able to appreciate this movie is its entirety, i have never seen her in the theater.
This movie is full of beautiful images, one after another.
I do not remember where, but the association of cinematographers named this film with the best cinematography of the 20th century, do you agree?
@Aldo– Thanks for the kind words on the review. I have seen this in theater- 70mm– I think it was in 2002 for it’s 40th anniversary. Very special.
If this isn’t the single most beautiful and the best cinematography of the 20th century it is on the very short list. I don’t know if you could argue something is superior– but I think you could probably say the same for 2001, Blade Runner, Days of Heaven, In the Mood For Love and a few others.
The list contains exactly the ones it mentions, but as I say from the 20th century.
Here is the list https://theasc.com/news/asc-unveils-list-of-100-milestone-films-in-cinematography-of-the-20th-century
But I have a problem with the list, they have the French connection at # 10, I haven’t seen her in a while, but I don’t remember being as impressed as, for example, Days of heaven, it was more like grain in the movie, does it deserve to be in 10th place?
@Aldo – I’m with you on The French Connection. It is a great film. I saw in again in 2017 http://thecinemaarchives.com/2017/02/16/the-french-connection-1971-friedkin/ — but it isn’t deserving of this slot on this list as far as cinematography
What would be your options for this century?
@Aldo- I mean I’d start right at the top with The Tree of Life and Roma… The Revenant is stunning- as is Blade Runner 2049
If you were rating films based on the 5 star system how would you do it ? I mean, you’d give 5/5 to every masterpiece? What about MS, HR or R or maybe the films that belong on a border for example a HR/MS.
@Cinephile— Yes, I’d give a 5/5 to every masterpiece- probably every MS, too. I haven’t thought about it much- I’ve been doing these grades for at least a decade now.
[…] Lawrence of Arabia – Lean […]
What great movie do you think would be worst candidate for a current remake? In my view, it may be Lawrence of Arabia. The audacity and the expansive scale simply couldn’t be achieved today with modern effects, studio over-control, and digital shooting. I’m not necessarily one of those traditionalists who vehemently advocates for shooting on film and shuns digital, but Lawrence is probably the clearest evidence for the support of the grandeur and superiority of large-format celluloid film cinema. No studio would be compelled to create a nearly four hour movie, and very few people would venture out to see it.
@Graham- interesting. They just tried Ben-Hur a few years ago- haha.
I just finished Lawrence for the first time. I tried to watch it a few times in the past but would always get bored and just turn it off or not pay attention. Definitely is a turbo masterpiece and a big miss from me. Not sure if I’d put it above The good the bad and the ugly though as the better epic. I have disliked Bridge on the River Kwai / Dr Zhivago too (never finished either of them), but I doubt they’re anywhere near as good as this one
No idea where you got this image from though? It is not in the film, atleast the one I saw (it was 3 hours 47mins exactly) https://thecinemaarchives.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/lawrence-of-arabia-graphic-match-lean-ldksjf.jpg when he blows the candle out, it immediately goes into the next scene in the desert, it does not look like that pic.
@Dylan- Thank you for sharing- surprised to hear that a little on Bridge on the River Kwai especially.
I still need to get to this… the runtime is a little intimidating however, and I don’t like chopping films in half when watching them
The film chops itself in half in a way. It has a 5 minute musical intermission for people to go to the bathroom. Makes it easy to watch in two sittings. Satantango is similar but has two intermissions.
@Matthew – I planned on watching in 2 sittings but just watched all the way through. Obviously I don’t know what you have going on in your life but I would recommend (if you are able) to give yourself the option of 2 sittings. It may just be a psychological thing but if you are intimiated by the length it can be helpful to plan on 2 viewings. I did the same for Once Upon a Time in American (1984) I planned on 2 sittings but watched all the way through.
I can almost guarantee that even if I sit down and plan on only watching the first half, I will abandon that and watch the full 4 hours in one go lol. Thanks for the advice though. I will make this a top priority once I get done with the 2022 films I have still yet to watch
@Matthew- when someone asks why I watch cinema/movies if not to be entertained (I often get into a little argument when I say “entertaining” is not my criteria)- I say I go to be awed – and the first half especially of Lawrence is exactly that- you will be awed.
@Drake There is no better term to describe Lawrence than “awed”. Not to sound corny but this is one of the few films that truly made me feel like I was transported into a different world. One of the dozens or so films I think one can confidently say might be the GOAT
On another note: who do you (and anyone else) believe gave the second and third best performance in the film? Obviously Toole steals the show, but there are a handful of performances here that a really strong and worthy of discussion
@Matthew – gave a mention to both Omar Sharif and Anthony Quinn on the 1962 page. Sharif seems like he would be second behind O’Toole and Quinn third.
@Matthew – not sure on the performances, only seen once. But in regards to
“One of the dozens or so films I think one can confidently say might be the GOAT”
Yeah there is a very small number of times I felt this way after a first viewing, in no particular order and this list isn’t exhaustive
Aguirre
Godfather
Apocalypse Now
Lawrence of Arabia
Seven Samurai
The New World
The Third Man
It makes me really happy to see The Third Man on that short list lol. An important film to my film journey
@Matthew – yeah its unique; the Zither score, the dutch angles, an important character dominate the film without even being present for the majority of its runtime, and the post WW2 setting in Vienna. The ferris wheel scene is one of my favorites of any film and Welles makes a great villain
@Matthew –
1. Peter O’Toole
2. Omar Sharif
3. Anthony Quinn
4. Alec Guiness
Yeah this is what I was thinking. I think you can argue switching 2 and 3 but I do think this is probably correct. Guiness is really good in this too. Strong ensemble all around. Even Claude Rains gets some great lines such as “If we’ve told lies, you’ve told half lies. And a man who tells lies, like me, merely hides the truth, but a man who tells half-lies has forgotten where he put it.”
Yeah this is what I was thinking. I think you can argue switching 2 and 3 but I do think this is probably correct. Guiness is really good in this too. Strong ensemble all around. Even Claude Rains gets some great lines such as “If we’ve told lies, you’ve told half lies. And a man who tells lies, like me, merely hides the truth, but a man who tells half-lies has forgotten where he put it.”