In T.E. Lawrence’s “Seven Pillars of Wisdom” from 1926, Lawrence carefully describes and explains his memories of his time in the Egypt bureau and adventures in Arabia. Before you think it is completely about Lawrence, it is not. This is the history of the revolt as written by Lawrence. This is his story told carefully through its retelling.
Under the surface of the oceans of facts, places, dialects, and history, Lawrence is respectful of their culture. What is missing from the movie is his personal story. As it opens with his death, the writers (Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson) find a way to say that no one truly knows him - they only think that they do.
We know that Lawrence was smart but not the best-attending student. He learned far more from experience and varied interests that could be individually pursued. Sitting for a History degree at Oxford, he chose to write his thesis from research collected during a trip to the Middle East. Without knowing the language, he learned it from talking to people. Lawrence was to lecture the British Army office in Cairo. When they found out he was a civilian with this level of knowledge and access, they made him a lieutenant.
So the beauty of Lawrence's prose and Freddie A.Young's cinematography with Sir David Lean's cinematic direction cannot hide the true story of this revolt. What was likely fact with most viewers in 1962 (again, the beginning places his funeral at St. Paul's Cathedral - the so-called "mother church" of London) is not known today. Leave it to Lean to dazzle you with imagery first, then introduce tension and conflict just as the beauty of his photography becomes as comfortable to us as viewers as the desert is to Lawrence.
In the first run through the desert, we are treated to a sumptuous array of long glorious shots and slow pans that leave you breathless as to how much there is to take in out here. The dunes look untouched by anything but nature. The sun burns bright overhead in the bluest skies perhaps ever captured on screen. Lawrence and his Bedouin guide easily bond and ride along basking in its glory. Suddenly, Maurice Jarre's score disappears as the pair stop at a well for the life-maintaining water they need. While it looks just as beautiful (especially the shot from inside the well,) this marks the first moment we feel like there is something to fear on the horizon. The openness and being so far away from any obstacles, make them the only focal points to others. As soon as the water tastes bad and Tafas curses it, we cannot stop looking for a change in the shadows on the far horizon.
In the book, Lawrence's smallest details are those that most stick in your mind (a pattern of clandestine communication between Lawrence's ally Prince Faisal and his family via messages sewn into garments, passed through sword scabbards, and even written in invisible ink on packages transported home.) Lean's film carefully introduces only the most important details, mostly through how characters look at each other and choose their words. In the first meeting with Prince Faisal, Lawrence is ordered to stay quiet by Colonel Brighton. However, we know this will be impossible. Faisal has already keenly observed that Lawrence is not just another English officer. After we see them attacked by Turkish planes and forced to move South, the script manages to concisely and carefully explain their connections, the crushing battle at Gallipoli, the importance of the Suez Canal, and Faisal's general request for arms, not the British Army. Carefully played out over a conversation, every chosen word is like watching chess moves. The highlight is when Faisal tests Lawrence's trust by quoting his anger at the well word-for-word. "Lawrence of Arabia" is tying personal drama to a conflict that is no longer simmering - and taking only a few liberties with the story.
"Seven Pillars of Wisdom" is densely worded and heavily detailed read, "Lawrence of Arabia" works on the dual planes of epic vision and only adapts (or moves the scenes in time) to avoid political connection. Even for dramatic effect, the first portion remains true to form.
