Best Picture Winners: Lawrence of Arabia

T.E. Lawrence was just a Major in the British Army, and his job was mapmaking. But he wanted to get inside those lines, and was given leave to investigate the progress of the Arab revolt against the Turks during World War I. 

The movie is Lawrence of Arabia and while it is a long movie, it's understandable because it has a lot to tell. For one thing, Lawrence was able to blend into the landscape and being a mapmaker that is kind of symbolic because of what he does for them and he really becomes part of it all even though he wants anonymity when he comes back.

To me the best parts of the film were when they wrecked the train, that was pretty spectacular for the time and now that would all just be done with computers. I also loved the cinematography and I am not surprised that was one of the 7 oscars it won, the director, David Lean captured the scenery so beautifully you felt like you were experiencing it with the characters. The music score was also perfect for the film and used at just the right moments. Sometimes just having an instrumental score is what works well for the film to play in just the right scenes. Then of course, one of Peter O'Toole's best scenes in the movie is when he comes back to England and is telling the General that he killed a man and he kind of enjoyed it. When he turned and looked at the two men, it was so amazing.

One of the things that I also loved and noticed about the film was how relevant it is to a lot of the issues facing the Middle East today. The war and the hate and everything that has been going on, I really felt like this film is something that a lot of people need to see (even they haven't already) it is about unity and working together and I think that's important with all the hate and oppression in our world today.

The downsides to me were mainly that it was just really long and it's hard to sit and watch something for that long of time. I understand that they had a lot to tell and epics to tend to be quite long, but maybe shortening it just a little bit would have been better. That's really the only downside I have.

Overall, I really enjoyed the movie and I feel like everyone gave amazing performances, especially Peter O'Toole since it was his first starring role. It deserved all the oscars that it won. Even though some considered T.E. Lawrence to be rather flamboyant and not very worthy of anything, he truly did make history.