The Rainbow Thief

Directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky and written by Berta Dominguez D., The Rainbow Thief is the story of a crook who befriends the heir to a fortune in the hopes he can score the fortune. The film is a whimsical tale of friendship told in a stylistic manner as it relates to desires of the richest kind that money can and can‘t buy. Starring Peter O’Toole, Omar Sharif, and Christopher Lee. The Rainbow Thief is an interesting but lackluster film from Alejandro Jodorowsky.

Set in an unnamed European city, the film is about this beggar thief who meets the nephew of an eccentric millionaire as they spend five years living in the sewer awaiting word about the inheritance that this man is to get. It’s a film with a simple plot that explores the idea of survival and expectations of great rewards yet the film’s script by Berta Dominguez D. is very by-the-books in the way it establishes its main characters such as the thief Dima (Omar Sharif), the offbeat heir Meleagre (Peter O’Toole), and the eccentric millionaire Rudolf Van Tannen (Christopher Lee). The last of which is just a plot device where he goes into a five-year coma while relatives bicker over who gets the inheritance while thinking of putting Meleagre into a psychiatric hospital and leave him out of the will. Upon meeting Dima and seek refuge in the sewers, Meleagre decides to live a life without complications yet he treats Dima like a servant. While it’s meant to be a story of friendship, the script often has the two men bickering while Dima goes out and steal to survive while hoping he would get some money from Meleagre’s inheritance.

Alejandro Jodorowsky’s direction is very straightforward which is shocking considering that the filmmaker is known for creating visuals that are confrontational and majestic. With this film, it’s an attempt to maintain some of the whimsical elements he’s known for yet it feels forced and never really does anything to stand out visually. Shot largely on location in Gdansk, Poland where it plays as this European port city, Jodorowsky does take great advantage of the location with its usage of wide and medium shots while he does also create moments in the compositions that are interesting that includes the scenes between Dima and Meleagre. While Jodorowsky tries to maintain some sense of energy and charm into the film, it’s not enough to cover many of the shortcomings of the script as Jodorowsky is just creating something that just feels very ordinary. Overall, Jodorowsky creates a very bland film about a thief and an heir to a fortune trying to await the news of a man’s death for great riches.

Cinematographer Ronnie Taylor does excellent work with the film‘s cinematography as it‘s quite colorful for some of the scenes involving the circus acts as well as some unique interior lighting in the scenes set in the sewers. Editor Mauro Bonnani does nice work with the editing as it‘s largely straightforward to play into some of the whimsical elements in the film. Production designers Didier Naert and Alexandre Trauner, with set decorators Simon Wakefield and Peter Young and art directors Fred Hole and Janusz Sosnowski, do fantastic work with the look of Rudolf‘s home as well as some of the interiors of the sewers and the places around the docks. Costume designers Barbara Kidd and Ewa Krauze do terrific work with the costumes from the lavish clothes of Meleagre as well as the look of the other hobos and people living around the docks. Sound editors Mireille Leroy and Corrine Rozenberg do superb work with the sound as it plays into the sound of the waters flowing through the sewers as well as the whimsy of the circus world. The film’s music by Jean Musy is wonderful for its orchestral-based score as it play to the world of the circus and the sense of hope and whimsy that looms for its key characters.

The casting by Jeremy Zimmerman is pretty good as it features appearances from punk rock legend Ian Dury as a bartender Dima owes money to, screenwriter Berta Dominguez D. as a beggar named Tiger Lily, Joanna Dickens as a woman Dima uses for money in Ambrosia, and Christopher Lee in a fantastic performance as the eccentric Rudolf Von Tannen as this eccentric millionaire who cares more about his dogs and bevy of whores than his family where it’s an appearance that is just too brief where he eventually becomes a plot device. Finally, there’s the excellent performances of Peter O’Toole and Omar Sharif in their respective roles as Meleagre and Dima. Despite the shortcomings of the script, the two do give committed performances that allow them to have fun with Sharif being the more physical in his approach to play a thief while O’Toole camps up the eccentricities of his character where he is often accompanied by a dead dog.

Despite the performances of Peter O’Toole and Omar Sharif as well as some solid technical work, The Rainbow Thief is a very mediocre film from Alejandro Jodorowsky. It’s a film that wants to be a lot of things only to fall very short due in part to its lackluster script and Jodorowsky being constrained to create something that is very straightforward which is something that Jodorowsky isn’t known for. In the end, The Rainbow Thief is just an uninspired film from Alejandro Jodorowsky.

Alejandro Jodorowsky Films: La Cravate - Teatro sin fin - Fando y Lis - El Topo - The Holy Mountain - Tusk (1980 film) - Santa Sangre - The Dance of Reality - Endless Poetry - Psychomagic: a Healing Art

Related: Jodorowsky's Dune - The Auteurs #59: Alejandro Jodorowsky

© thevoid99 2016

Doctor Zhivago

Based on Boris Pasternak’s novel, Doctor Zhivago tells the story of a Russian doctor/poet whose life is changed when he has an affair with a political activist during the Russian Revolution. Directed by David Lean and script adaptation by Robert Bolt, the film is among one of Lean’s great epics as he explores a man’s relationship with his wife and lover in a tumultuous period. Starring Omar Sharif, Julie Christie, Geraldine Chaplin, Rod Steiger, Tom Courtenay, Klaus Kinski, and Alec Guinness. Doctor Zhivago is an exhilarating yet sprawling film from David Lean and company.

Yuri Andreyevich Zhivago (Omar Sharif) is a young doctor/poet living in Moscow with his adoptive parents Alexander (Ralph Richardson) and Anna Gromeko (Siobhan McKenna) along with their daughter Tonya (Geraldine Chaplin) who is returning from Paris. In another part of Moscow, a 17-year old dressmaker named Lara (Julie Christie) works with her mother (Adrienne Corri) as they deal with their corrupt advisor Victor (Rod Steiger). With Lara in love with the politically-driven Pasha (Tom Courtenay), Victor disapproves as he tries to seduce Lara. When Lara’s mother attempts suicide, Victor calls for Alexander and Yuri for help where Yuri sees Lara for the first time.

Humiliated by Victor, Lara borrows Pasha’s gun as she shoots Victor at a Christmas party held by the Gromekos. Yuri wouldn’t see Lara until years later during World War I where he is a doctor while she’s a volunteer trying to Pasha who has gone missing. The two becomes friends only to part again with the news of the Czar’s overthrow as Yuri returns to Moscow to find his famiy home inhabited by people. With he, Tonya, their son Sasha (Jeffrey Rockland), and Alexander trapped, they’re saved by a Bolshevik official named Yevgraf (Alec Guinness), who is Yuri’s older half-brother. Yevgraf arranged for Yuri and his family to travel to Yuriatin at the old Gromeko estate where they travel by train with various people and soldiers including a raspy intellectual named Amoursky (Klaus Kinski). During the trip, a train carrying a revolutionary named Strelnikov passes them as Yuri meets the mysterious man realizing who he really is.

Arriving at the Gromeko estate they realize the place is closed as they live in the cottage that is close to the estate. At the nearby town of Yuriatin, Yuri sees Lara for the first time in years as the two begin an affair. Torn with his love for Lara and Tonya, Yuri is more unsure when Tonya is pregnant as he seeks to end the affair. He’s then later captured by Communist troops under the command of Liberius (Gerard Tichy) where he serves as a doctor for two years. After deserting the army and returning to Yuriatin, he meets Lara again who takes care of him while learning that Tonya and their children along with Alexander has left for Paris. Living with Lara and her daughter Katya (Lucy Westmore) by taking them to the abandoned Gromeko estate, they live quietly until a man from their past returns with a warning about Lara as he gives them an ultimatum to save their lives. This would prompt Yuri to make the biggest sacrifice of his life.

Spanning from the early 1910s to post-Stalin Soviet Union, the film is told from the perspective of Yevgraf to a young woman (Rita Tushingham) whom he believes is the illegitimate daughter of half-brother. There, Yevgraf through brief moments of narration tells the story of his brother from his childhood to the last time he would see him. What happens is that the story takes place into a love triangle amidst the chaos of the Russian Revolution where characters go through various changes and such. Yet, the film begins and ends with scenes in the 1950s with Yevgraf and this young woman who could be his grand-niece.

Robert Bolt’s script is very engaging not just for its time span but also for the development of characters and situations that happens. Among them is its titular protagonist whose life starts off tragically with the death of his mother as all he inherited is a balalaika whom he would carry throughout the entirety of the film. Yet, Yuri Zhivago is a man that always uses poetry as an outlet to express his feelings amidst the chaos of political changes where his writing is considered subversive. During the course of the film, he is often surrounded by Tonya who is clearly devoted to him though feels a bit threatened by Lara where she only meets her briefly from afar with the exception of an unseen meeting mentioned in a letter.

Lara is a woman who is very different from Tonya as far as social orders and struggles are concerned. Still, both women provide a sense of warmth and energy that Yuri is attracted to. The fact that he loves both of them tears him up inside where he doesn’t want to hurt either of them while both women seems to know about what is going on. The love story aspect truly balances a lot of the political elements of the film where in the scene where Yuri and his family come home to the Gromeko estate. Alexander realizes it’s closed up because of the revolution where he has a hard time living without the things he’s worked so hard for. Characters like Victor and Pasha are two different men from different ideals as they progress into different figures.

Bolt’s script is great for its development of characters and settings while not using a lot of exposition to advance the story. Instead, he lets action and emotions drive everything as well as the political situations to motivate characters. It is truly a captivating screenplay that doesn’t do too much while keeping things a bit simple in some places as well as complex in other places.

David Lean’s direction is truly phenomenal in the way he creates a world that is oppressive but also evocative for its large story. Shot on location in Spain throughout the film with parts of it show in Canada and Finland since it was impossible to shoot in the Soviet Union at the time. Lean creates a world that progresses as Moscow starts out and ends as a world where things are in order and open despite its different periods while progressing it to a place ravaged by chaos. When the film moves to a different location, the feel becomes grittier and darker while there is still an element of beauty to these locations despite the harsh political tone of the film.

Lean’s striking compositions filled with wide shots of landscapes and intimate close-up shots truly presents a film that is stylized but also engrossing for its look of the film. Lean, like a lot of big epic films of 1960s, opens the film with an overture and adds an intermission for a film that is more than three hours long. Yet, Lean keeps the film very methodical in its pacing without moving things too fast. Instead, he gets the audience be engaged by all that is happening from scenes where Yuri is walking home through treacherous snow or the brief moment of innocence when he’s walking around the forest before meeting Strelnikov. Lean creates what is truly a dazzling yet glorious film that is truly romantic and epic in its story and in its presentation.

Cinematographer Freddie Young, with additional work from Nicolas Roeg, does an incredible job with the film‘s colorful, lush photography as he captures many of the snowy scenes with great beauty and a harsh realism for some of the film‘s darker scenes. Young also creates some amazing shots for scenes in the forest and landscapes along with the wonderful use of red to capture the political tone of the film. Editor Norman Savage does excellent work with the editing as he maintains a very straightforward approach to the cutting while using transitional dissolves and fade-outs to maintain the film’s leisured pace.

Production designer John Box, with set decorator Dario Simoni and art director Terence Marsh, does a great job with the set pieces created such as the Moscow home of the Gromekos and other posh places to empty places that the characters frequent throughout the film. The art direction and set design are truly spectacular in scope and to help create a place in time that was a long time ago. Costume designer Phyllis Dalton does a superb job with the costumes from the dresses the women wear to the suits the men along with the fur and ragged clothing during the war and other harrowing scenes. Sound editor A.W. Watkins does very good work with the sound from the way gunshots sound from afar to the roar of crowds in the protest scenes and chaos with soldiers attacking officers.

The film’s magnificent score by Maurice Jarre is definitely one of the film’s big highlights as his sweeping orchestral arrangements mixed in with Russian string instruments and choir-driven vocals. Jarre also provides lush themes such as Lara’s Theme with its brimming balalaikas and soothing strings to help convey the romantic aspects of the film. There is also big bombastic pieces that help drives the film in its more intense, action scenes as Jarre’s work is truly outstanding.

The casting by Irene Howard is fantastic for the ensemble that is assembled for this massive film. Notable appearances include Tarek Sharif as the young Yuri, Mercedes Ruiz as the young Tonya, Lucy Westmore as Lara’s daughter Katya, Geoffrey Keen as Yuri’s professor, Bernard Kay as a Bolshevik agent, Jack MacGowran as the Gromeko’s old groundskeeper, Gerard Tischy as an army leader, Siobhan McKenna as Tonya’s mother, Adrienne Corri as Lara’s mother, and Rita Tushingham as the young woman Yevgraf talks to in the beginning and ending of the film. Other notable small roles includes the legendary Klaus Kinski in standout performance as a smarmy intellectual who worships Strelnikov along with Ralph Richardson as Alexander Gromeko who is dismayed the changes as he loses nearly all of the things he worked for.

Rod Steiger is superb as Victor, the corrupt lawyer whom Yuri dislikes for personal reasons as Steiger brings in a brash, charismatic performance as a brutish man who loves Lara but for all the wrong reasons. Tom Courtenay is great as Pasha, an idealistic man who loves Lara as he hopes to win her only to be changed drastically by the politics of the time. Alec Guinness is wonderful as Yevgraf, the film’s narrator and Yuri’s half-brother as he is a calm authority figure who helps out Yuri while telling the young girl about him and everything he sees in a very understated performance. Geraldine Chaplin is radiant as Tonya, Yuri’s wife who tries to deal with his absence and the presence of Lara. While it’s not fully-realized character, Chaplin does Tonya a captivating figure who provides a sense of warmth and motivation for Yuri.

Julie Christie is amazing as Lara, a woman who tries to find her own way in the world as she falls for Yuri while dealing with the fact that they’re both married. Christie also plays things quietly while being a woman who starts out as a victim to Victor’s advance only to become someone very strong and defiant as it’s one of Christie’s best performances. Omar Sharif is excellent as Yuri Zhivago, a man who dreams of great things only to be hit by the revolution as he is torn with the two women he loves. While it may not be as great as the performance he gave in Lawrence of Arabia, Sharif does manage to be a very compelling lead as he has great chemistry with Julie Christie and Geraldine Chaplin.

Doctor Zhivago is a towering yet evocative film from David Lean that features top-notch performances from Omar Sharif, Julie Christie, and Geraldine Chaplin. While it may not be as exciting as Lawrence of Arabia, it is among one of Lean’s finest films as well as one of the great romantic films of the 1960s. It’s a film that is very ambitious and allows its audience to be engaged by the scenery and events that happens in the film. It may not be perfect but the ambition that Lean goes for with this is film is something that is missed in a lot of films of the 2010s. In the end, Doctor Zhivago is a brilliant romantic epic from the always revered David Lean.

David Lean Films: In Which We Serve - This Happy Breed - Blithe Spirit - Brief Encounter - Great Expectations (1946 film) - Oliver Twist (1948 film) - The Passionate Friends - Madeleine (1950 film) - The Sound Barrier - Hobson’s Choice - Summertime (1955 film) - The Bridge on the River Kwai - Lawrence of Arabia - Ryan’s Daughter - (Lost and Found: The Story of Cook’s Anchor) - A Passage to India - (The Auteurs #74: David Lean)

© thevoid99 2011

Lawrence of Arabia

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 7/5/07 w/ Additional Edit  & Extensive Revisions.

Considered to be Britain's great director, David Lean was a director whose epic-scope and approach to storytelling made him unique among his peers. From early films like his adaptations of Oliver Twist and Great Expectations to epic-blockbusters like The Bridge on the River Kwai and Doctor Zhivago. Since his death in 1991, Lean has been named after the British Academy Award's Best Director Prize known as the David Lean Award for Best Director. He's also been regarded as an influence among other directors like Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese. In 1962, Lean released what was considered to be one of the films ever made. A near four-hour epic based the life of T.E. Lawrence in Arabia during World War I that was known to the world as Lawrence of Arabia.

The adapted screenplay by Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson (uncredited due to the Hollywood blacklist of the 1950s), Lawrence of Arabia tells the story of a man named Thomas Edward Lawrence. A British soldier who goes to Arabia during World War I to serve as a liaison between feuding tribes during the war against the Turkish army. Along the way, Lawrence struggles with his own identity as well as the actions of war. Directed by David Lean, the four-hour epic is considered among to be one of the greatest movies ever made that also included the legendary Peter O'Toole, in his feature-film debut, as the title character. Also starring Omar Sharif, Alec Guiness, Anthony Quinn, Jack Hawkins, Jose Ferrer, Anthony Quayle, and Claude Rains. Lawrence of Arabia is a powerful epic from the late, great David Lean.

The first World War is happening as T.E. Lawrence is asked by General Murray (Donald Wolfit and Mr. Dryden (Claude Rains) to observe a conflict between Prince Feisel (Alec Guiness) and the Turks. The eccentric Lawrence takes the mission where he meets Sherif Ali (Omar Sharif) who kills a Bedouin guide that was trying to trick Lawrence. Realizing that Feisel has retreated following an attack, Lawrence and Ali meet up with Colonel Brighton (Anthony Quayle) where Lawrence suggests an attack on the port of Agaba. With a group of 50 men including Daud (John Dimech), Gasim (I.S. Johar) and Farraj (Michel Ray), they trek to the treacherous Nefud Desert where they barely survive the journey.

While Lawrence's bravery wins over Sherif and his men, they meet a tribe chief named Auda abu Tayi (Anthony Quinn) whom Sherif has a dislike towards though Lawrence convinces Auda to join the war. After an incident over conflict between Sherif and Auda's men where Lawrence settles the matter, the two join forces to capture Agaba where Lawrence goes to Cairo with soldiers about the news. Though the journey through the Sinai desert proved to be horrifying and tragic, Lawrence talks to Dryden and General Allenby (Jack Hawkins) about what happened as Lawrence becomes a major as he takes part of a guerilla outfit with Sherif, Auda, and their men. Though the small missions proved to be successful with American reporter Jackson Bentley making Lawrence a hero, another mission goes wrong forcing Lawrence and Sherif to retreat.

During a recon scout at Daraa, Lawrence and Sherif are captured by Turkish soldiers led by Bey (Jose Ferrer) whose method of torture would nearly destroy Lawrence. Wanting out of the war, he is asked by superiors to launch an attack on Damascus with Sherif and Auda. Lawrence reluctantly takes the mission though Sherif realizes that Lawrence isn't the same man as the aftermath that included a council meeting leaves Lawrence more fragile than ever.

While the film is more of a fictional account of sorts on T.E. Lawrence's life, the story of this young man who made a difference to an entire group of people. Yet, a film with a near-running time of four hours (counting overtures, end music, and an intermission), it's one that grabs the attention of the viewers as it opens with a funeral scene that features a reporter (Jack Hedley) covering the event.

The screenplay by Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson is wonderfully structured, particularly the development of some of the major characters. When we meet Lawrence, he is seen as this eccentric, insolence solider who doesn't have a lot of care for authority. When the film progresses, Lawrence becomes an unlikely leader through his unconventional ideas and manners towards war. When engaged in violence, it's a reaction in how he isn't sure. Yet, when an incident involving Bey happens, he becomes traumatized and descends into madness.

Another character that has a great development is Sherif Ali. We first meet as a man who just killed Lawrence's guide. Once he meets Lawrence again, there's tension between the two as well as cultural differences. When Lawrence becomes this unlikely leader, Sherif Ali becomes interested in politics and as towards the end of the film. He is pretty much a moral conscience of sorts while having to see the danger in politics as he deal with other Arab tribes. It's the script by Bolt and Wilson that really bring these characters to life. Not as one-dimensional caricatures but men who are dealing with these new changes and such as they add a broad dynamic to the film.

Then there's the wonderful direction of David Lean. Lean's approach to the film is unique by opening the film with Lawrence's death and funeral. Then, he just goes to a straight cut of Lawrence during the first World War. Lean doesn't waste time by just going into some straight flashback or something. Instead, he just used the intro to spoil the audience a bit as well as who this man is to other people. When the film really begins with Lawrence in Cairo, the scene is to show the enclosed world Lawrence is in. When he's in the desert and Arabia, it's an entirely different world that Lawrence is trying to discover. When he makes unconventional ideas about capturing Aqaba, particularly through the Nefud Desert, his will wins over his men as he becomes an honorary Arab by wearing their clothing.

Lean's direction definitely observes the difference of Arabia and British imperialism in which the latter is discussed throughout the film. The Daraa sequence is one of the most haunting scenes where it seems Lean is suggesting of what happens to Lawrence based on legend. Lean doesn't actually show but if he did at the time of 1962, it would've been extremely controversial and taboo. Still, through his epic-scope and in Super Panavision 70mm film, Lean knows how to capture his audience through images. With many exterior settings, the film couldn't be seen in a full-screen format. In the widescreen, even in a theater, the epic-scope of the film is just jaw-dropping. The compositions of those scenes plus the battle sequences are wonderfully staged. It's the kind of filmmaking that isn't seen in today's world of computer imagery and fast-cut edits. Lean takes his times in watching the action and emotions unfold. It's in Lean's amazing direction where the film really shines.

Cinematographer Freddie Young does some amazing camera work, particularly in the film’s exterior scenes. Young's cinematography, especially in 70mm film, is just extraordinary to how he shoots long shots of the desert, camels, and horses riding onto that hot desert. The look of Arabian desert is just awe-inspiring through Young's camera where on full-screen, it would lose it's imagination. The interior scenes are more intimate to convey the differing atmospheres that Lawrence is in. Young's cinematography is just exquisite in every scene shown.

Production designer John Box and art directors John Stoll and Anthony Masters created some wonderful interior sets including the lavish tents of Auda and Prince Feisel while creating more straightforward sets in the scenes in Cairo. Costume designer Phyllis Dalton creates some wonderful costumes from the straight-laced officers uniforms to the more lavish clothing of Arabians decked out in different colors and such.

Editor Anne V. Coates does some amazing work on the film's editing. With a pacing that isn't too slow or too fast, not even relying on style. Coates' editing is wonderful on the way it captures the intensity of the film's action as well as the shifting of sequence to sequence, notably the intro. Sound editor Winston Ryder does some great work on the film's sound from capturing the winds in the Sinai Desert sequence to the sounds of guns, bombs, and horses in some of the battle sequences.

Music composer Maurice Jarre creates what is considered to be one of cinema's finest and most memorable film scores. The orchestral music of Jarre is truly sprawling and epic with its sweeping melodies and Arabian tone. The drums are in display for the film's intense, action scenes while the film's title theme just captures the beauty of Arabia. It's a magnificent film score by Jarre and truly one of the best.

The film's cast is amazing, and most notably for the fact that there's no large or supporting female parts in the film. Smaller performances from the likes of I.S. Johar, Michel Ray, John Dimech, Henry Oscar as Feisel's servant, Norman Rossington as Corporal Jenkins who is seen in an early scene, and Donald Wolfit as General Murray. In a small role, Jose Ferrer gives an excellent performance as Bey, a man who doesn't have much dialogue but brings a very terrifying presence to the scene itself.

Arthur Kennedy is great as photojournalist Jackson Bentley who captures all of Lawrence's exploits as by the near end of the film, he isn't sure what to think or how to portray in that current state. Claude Rains is wonderful as Mr. Dryden, an advisor who is trying to figure what the French would gain from the Arab alliance. Anthony Quayle is good as Colonel Brighton, Lawrence's superior in the deserts who finds himself being upstaged by the insolent protagonist.

Jack Hawkins is great as General Allenby, a more sympathetic yet cynical general who enjoys Lawrence's exploits while pushing him back to get into war again despite his own political motives. The late yet legendary Alec Guiness (aka Obi-Wan Kenobi) is wonderfully charming and philosophical as Prince Feisel. Guiness, sporting makeup and such manages to steal every scene he's in as the wise Prince Feisel. The late Anthony Quinn is magnificent as Auda abu Tayi in an over-the-top manner in which, it seems that Quinn is having a lot of fun in his character. Quinn really sells the character's struggles of change while sticking to his old tradition as he becomes aware that he's an old horse in a changing world.

The film's best supporting performance goes to Omar Sharif as Sherif Ali. In his international breakthrough performance, Sharif manages to bring depth as Feisel's lieutenant who questions Lawrence's own motives while later becoming a moral conscience as he sees Lawrence's descent into madness. Sharif is just amazing while being a wonderful presence in every scene he's in, especially with O'Toole.

In his feature film debut performance and what a debut, Peter O'Toole truly gives an iconic performance as T.E. Lawrence. O'Toole truly captures the eccentric, unconventional personality that is Lawrence with a witty charm, compassion, and loyalness to everyone including his servants and fellow soldiers. When the film progresses, he is seen as a leader who doesn't take himself to seriously but when he encounters troubles and becomes traumatized. O'Toole sells the despair and madness of Lawrence and how he tries to deal with everything around him. A performance that has to be seen, it is indeed one of the greatest ever captured in cinema.

When it was released in late 1962, the film was a huge critical and financial success winning seven out of ten Academy Awards that year including for Best Picture and Best Director for David Lean. O'Toole was nominated for Best Actor but lost to Gregory Peck for To Kill a Mockingbird though over the years, it is considered to be one of the greatest performances ever. In 2007, 45 years after its release, the film was ranked seventh in the AFI 100 Greatest Films ever made. Its influence has also captured the likes of many directors including Steven Spielberg who called it his favorite film ever made.

In the end, Lawrence of Arabia is a triumph in not just international cinema but the history of films itself. Thanks to David Lean's great vision and an amazing cast led by Peter O'Toole, it's a film that has to be in everyone's film collection. No doubt is this film considered one of the greatest while those new to both Lean and O'Toole or even Omar Sharif. There is no doubt this is a great way to start. In the end, for an experience that is unparalleled with some of today's films. Lawrence of Arabia is the film to see.

David Lean Films: In Which We Serve - This Happy Breed - Blithe Split - Brief Encounter - Great Expectations (1946 film) - Oliver Twist (1948 film) - The Passionate Friends - Madeleine (1950 film) - The Sound Barrier - Hobson's Choice - Summertime (1955 film) - The Bride on the River Kwai - Doctor Zhivago - Ryan's Daughter - (Lost and Found: The Story of Cook's Anchor) - A Passage to India - (The Auteurs #74: David Lean)

© thevoid99 2011