AFI’s Top 100: Lawrence of Arabia
Night 1:
So Nate and I decided to start going through AFI’s (American Film Institute) top 100 movies of all time. The idea is to get a grasp on some of the classics and compare their direction styles, cinema-photography, acting—you catch my drift. We were both surprised to see how few we’ve actually seen. Our first: Lawrence of Arabia, coming in at a respectable #5. We’ve heard a lot of talk, but neither of us has seen it…this should be good.
Let me say before we go any further: this movie is LONG! Very LONG; the running time is 4 hours. So don’t jump into it unprepared (like we did).
We made it through 2 hours our first night. And we enjoyed it. I loved the long camera shots! One scene at the beginning of the movie went 4 minutes without cutting or changing angles…we would never get away with that today. Another thing I loved was the epic shots with the tent cities and all the horses and camels. There wasn’t CGI back then – all the elements had to be built and put in to place just as you saw it. Pretty cool. Time consuming!
But what is up with all the eyeliner? Peter O’Toole (and others in the cast) looked a bit like Captain Jack Sparrow’s albino lovechild (in Nate’s interpretation).
Like many old movies, it had an intermission about half way through, so we took the hint and decided to finish the movie another night.
Night 2: Both of us were excited to see the rest of the film, as the first half had impressed us (especially for it’s time). Sadly, the second half began to fall apart quickly. (I’m not just saying this to be different). They tried to change Lawrence’s entire personality in just a couple of scenes. He went from daring and adventuresome to whiny and egotistical, seemingly out of nowhere. The story got weird as well; there was a scene where he gets beaten and raped by a bunch of guys (you don’t see it—it’s very dubious and discrete—but it’s definitely implied) and then decides to give up his marauding ways and live a quiet life, only to change his mind a scene later with a vicious killing rampage where he “leaves no prisoners.” The second half for both Nate and I seemed rushed, (and it’s 2 hours long!!) confusing, and ultimately, disappointing. However, you should judge it for yourselves. It has often been called one of our (if not the) greatest films in history, so rent it and give us your opinion!
Wrap up: First half was epic and captivating. The second half was a disappointment and left us wondering why it was on AFI’s top 100 list. (# 5 for that matter). Either way, it was a good experience to sit down and watch. Next on our list: Citizen Kane.
