Common Sense Note
This is a lavish and gripping movie, beautifully filmed, that commands your attention despite a length of nearly four hours, and a complex lead character. Because of its complexity and length, this isn't a movie for young children. Mature teens will appreciate this gorgeous production.
Although tame by modern standards, the battle scenes are still powerful, and could frighten some kids. Parents wishing to share this movie with their children may want to conduct some historical research first -- kids may ask questions about the relations among the British, Arabs, and Turks.
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: M. Faust
One of the great epics of the silver screen, Lawrence of Arabia is a masterpiece of direction, photography, and acting, especially from Peter O'Toole as the enigmatic British hero of the first World War. Movie buffs, patient teens, and their parents will enjoy settling in for almost four hours of cinematic magic.
Most movies look better in theaters, but Lawrence of Arabia is one that demands to be seen on the big screen. You certainly wouldn't want to watch it on a small TV: the Super Panavision widescreen format requires a particularly severe letterboxing on video. And even at that, it' s hard to capture the impact of the famous moment when Lawrence stares at the seemingly endless desert horizon while a distant speck gradually becomes a human rider.
Lawrence was filmed over a period of three years, under very difficult circumstances (cameras and blowing sand do not make a good match), but the results were worth it. So spectacular is the movie that most viewers are carried along despite a story that isn't as easy to follow now as it was in 1962, when audiences were more familiar with Lawrence's exploits.
Parents wishing to share this movie with their children may want to conduct some historical research first -- kids may ask questions about the relations among the British, Arabs, and Turks.
Similarly, the character of Lawrence will be difficult for children, as well as for many adults. He is depicted (and played brilliantly by Peter O'Toole in his first movie role) as a conflicted man, who was both repulsed and compelled by war and the role of a leader. The character is a little easier to understand if you realize, as the filmmakers expected audiences to do but weren't able to directly express, that Lawrence was also homosexual.
T. E. Lawrence's later years were the subject of a movie made for British television, A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia.
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ViolenceSeveral of the battle scenes are intended to horrify viewers with the brutality of war. Lawrence is raped by Turkish captors in a scene that will appear to those unfamiliar with his life that he's merely being beaten. |
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Social BehaviorDespite some vagueness about the historical background of the events depicted, the movie does inspire some understanding of and respect for Arab cultures. |
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