Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Perhaps the vastest epic of all time.
Presentation:
The amount of cinematic frames in this film are innumerable. They are jaw dropping even for 2024 due to the vast exotic landscapes of the Jordan desert. There is simply no other film with such epic presentation. The film is very long at over 3 and a half hours and you can really see the connection with Dune Part 2. However, as this film is a dramatized biographical tale, the realism makes it leagues less entertaining than Dune. The story is still captivating but there are many lulls in favor of depicting historical accuracy for some arcs as opposed to entertaining audiences. Day for night scenes are poorly implemented and take you out of the experience, but the shots in the day are breathtaking though I dont know if you can really feel the scorch of the desert as lighting feels a bit unnatural with that classic 60s lighting technique. Music is lush, dramatic and memorable.
Conclusion:
As for a biographical or historical story, this is exceptional. But the film makes you think it’s more of a exotic fantasy adventure due to its surreal setting. It’s kind of impossible to not expect a Dune or Star Wars tale when you have such a compelling first half. The second half becomes more political, which is difficult to care about when you’re lead on to perceive this being foremost an adventure. It definite requires some background knowledge as I’m pretty sure Turkish and Arabic conflicts are not as well known to western audiences. There’s a lot of magic in this film, but script wise there is something missing to finish the puzzle. It just lacks a certain message or direction to have a rewarding ending or purpose to the character as it ends up feeling a bit like meandering the desert, which is gorgeous, but leaves you thirsty.
Recommendations
If there was ever the case for why classic films are more cinematic.