Lawrence of Arabia is an Academy Award-winning film based loosely on the life of T. E. Lawrence, starring Peter O'Toole as the title character, directed by David Lean and produced by Sam Spiegel. (Lean and Spiegel had recently completed the acclaimed film The Bridge on the River Kwai). The score by Maurice Jarre and the on-location cinematography are especially acclaimed. Apart from the film's depiction of Lawrence's life while in World War I Arabia, major cinematic themes include Lawrence's emotional struggles with violence in war (especially between Arabic tribes and while battling the Turkish army), personal identity ("Who are you?" is a recurring line throughout the film), and devotion to either his native Britain and its army or his newfound comrades within the migrant Arabian tribes, to which he is romantically drawn.
Plot Description
Plot Summary for
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
A biography of T.E.Lawrence. The young lieutenant Lawrence manages to get a job as an observer with Prince Feisal, the leader of an Arab tribal army. Lawrence decides to stay and help Feisal. His adventures are detailed by Jackson Bentley, a journalist.
Summary written by Colin Tinto {cst@imdb.com}
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T. E. Lawrence is a young maladjusted lieutenant in the British Army in North Africa during World War One. Unhappy with his current assignment coloring maps, he is ecstatic when he is offered a job as an observer in what is now Arabia. At this point, the story of his life becomes the stuff that legends are made of.
Summary written by Mark Logan {marklo@west.sun.com} [top]
Awards
The film was nominated for ten, and awarded seven, Academy Awards, including Best Picture, in 1962. In 1998, the American Film Institute ranked it #5 on its "100 Greatest Movies" list. The film has been deemed "culturally significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. In 1999 it came 3rd in a BFI poll of British films, while in 2004 the magazine Total Film named it the 8th greatest British film of all time.
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