Lawrence of Arabia

Genre: adventure and war drama

With: Peter O Toole (T.E. Lawrence), Alec Guinness (Prince Faisal), Omar Sharif (Sherif Ali Ibn El Kharish), Anthony Quinn (Auda Abu Tayi), Jack Hawkins (General Allenby), José Ferrer (the Turkish Bey), Anthony Quayle (Colonel Brighton), Claude Rains (Mr. Dryden), Arthur Kennedy (Jackson Bentley), Donald Wolfit (General Murray), I.S. Johar (Gasim), John Dimech (Daud), Michel Ray (Farraj)

Director: David Lean

Screenplay: Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson

Release: 1962

Studio: Horizon Pictures, Sony Pictures Releasing International

Rating: PG

MBiS score: 8.9/10 

 

– You figure that you will have a democracy and a parliament?

– I’ll tell you when we have a country. 

 

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Story-line: Britain, 1935. While riding his motorcycle with abandon, T.E. Lawrence is forced off the road and meets an unhappy fate. As his life, his death draws mixed emotions. For some people, he was a figure from the past and nothing more, for one former acquaintance, a mere office clerk in Cairo, for another, ‟a poet, a philosopher, a mighty warrior… and the most shameless exhibitionist since Barnum and Bailey”. This movie tells the story of the ordinary map drawer who came to be known as ‟Lawrence of Arabia”.

Pluses: an awesome and intoxicating performance by Peter O’Toole (in one of his earlier movie roles), great acting by Omar Sharif (the strong and enigmatic Ali), Alec Guinness (Faisal, a very smooth operator), Anthony Quinn (the hilarious brute) and other well-known thespians, a vigorous screenplay that uses truthful dialogues and dry wit to weave scene after potent scene, magical direction by David Lean, Freddie Young’s breathtaking cinematography that glorifies the mighty desert, magnificent production values and a musical theme (by Maurice Jarre) loved the world over.

Minuses: the script contains several insulting remarks about Arabs − uttered mainly by diehard colonialists − but refutes them in an understated way. Viewers who shun violence should note that LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, although a war movie, doesn’t feature excessive bloodshed. Its only drawback would be its length if you have precious little time on your hands; in all other respects, this Best Movie Oscar winner for 1962 should be on any movie buff’s priority list.     

Comments: LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, a grand and perfect epic, is so different and fascinating that it doesn’t matter what judgment you pass on its main character. In my book, Lawrence was everything he was said to be − an adventurer, a messianic figure, one of the builders of the Arab nation − and his legacy still reverberates today in history and international politics. Kudos to David Lean and crew for this supreme accomplishment in cinematic art.

 

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Maman et la putain (la)   

English title: The Mother and the Whore

Genre: romantic drama (in black and white)

With: Jean-Pierre Léaud (Alexandre), Bernadette Lafont (Marie), Françoise Lebrun (Veronika), Isabelle Weingarten (Gilberte), Jacques Renard (Alexandre's friend), Jean-Noël Picq (the Offenbach fan)

Director: Jean Eustache

Screenplay: Jean Eustache

Release: 1973

Studio: Élite Films, Ciné Qua Non,  Les Films du Losange et al.

Rating: -

MBiS score: 8.2/10 

 

Should You Look Before You Leap? 

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Story-line: if Alexandre doesn't have a job, it's probably because he has too much to do already. He lives with Marie, still loves his former squeeze Gilberte, is heartbroken when he learns that Gilberte will marry a doctor but is already attracted to Veronika, a girl he saw sitting at a restaurant terrace. Sounds complicated? It is! 

Pluses: an intense performance by Jean-Pierre Léaud as the intellectual and insatiable Alexandre (his quasi theatrical soliloquies are mesmerizing), strong support from Bernadette Lafont and Françoise Lebrun, a personal and quirky screenplay enlivened by playful, weighty or sometimes mean-spirited dialogues, leisurely direction, modest but adequate production values and Pierre Lhomme’s attractive – even brilliant – cinematography.

Minuses: LA MAMAN ET LA PUTAIN is a lengthy movie (three and a half hours) but it never feels boring, an amazing feat for a psychological drama featuring few characters and limited action.

Comments: LA MAMAN ET LA PUTAIN is a feast of human emotions – love, hate, ambivalence, commitment, desertion – and a fine example of that French fascination for esoteric relationships. Alexandre is trapped in a strange love triangle that takes unpredictable directions. As you see him waffling and wondering what to do, you may feel little sympathy for the relentless womanizer he seems to be but this will change once you get to know the man behind the snobbish facade. All things told, Jean Eustache’s film is a revealing study about relationships and a fine vehicle for Jean-Pierre Léaud – a Truffaut favourite – tackling another complicated and exacting role. 

 

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