At at least that's how I've always viewed it, partly as a movie that is a commentary on orientalism through the lens of orientalism, culminating with a message not just of Lawrence's failure as a person and as a leader, but as a failure of the whole cynical British mission.
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 5 September 2021 16:23 (two years ago) link
The movie does both, I think, without quite figuring out how or why, which is its fascination for me.
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 5 September 2021 16:24 (two years ago) link
Yeah, I think I agree with that, especially your choice of the word fascinating. There are not that many movies that earn that description.
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 5 September 2021 16:25 (two years ago) link
Thank you everyone. I got the impression there's a rabid fanbase out there. Saying "So a blond British twink convinced the various tribes of the Arabian Peninsula--and the rest of the world--that they constituted The Arabic People?" felt like asking for trouble.
There's a definite throughline to Star Wars, quite apart from Alec Guiness--how many alien critters are basically space camels? I admire the spectacle, but if you've got a competent DP and a budget that allows for as many retakes as necessary that's not hard.
I am aesthetically offended at the idea that this film played on TV in some sort of pan-and-scan monstrosity of a cut (especially on the small B&W TVs my mother insisted on buying for years). I don't think the filmmakers were conscious of the "white savior" complex as we use the term today. But, possibly in spite of itself, it does show the feet of clay on which the idol of the British Empire was built.
― Infanta Terrible (j.lu), Sunday, 5 September 2021 21:54 (two years ago) link
hadn't seen Brief Encounter before now, it is pretty good
― Dan S, Sunday, 12 June 2022 23:16 (one year ago) link
I remember having affection for his epics but haven't seen any of them in a long time. My recollection is that they were entirely about Hollywood movie-making and high glamour, with not many concessions to reality. The melodrama of Brief Encounter kind of points to that
― Dan S, Sunday, 12 June 2022 23:57 (one year ago) link
LOA is more complex.
― Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 12 June 2022 23:58 (one year ago) link
I.e. it's not just "about" Hollywood moviemaking and high glamour.
― Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 12 June 2022 23:59 (one year ago) link
I really want to see it again
― Dan S, Monday, 13 June 2022 00:00 (one year ago) link
have recently seen In Which We Serve and Summertime, and want to watch Major Barbara, Blithe Spirit, Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, and Hobson’s Choice before going back to the epics
― Dan S, Monday, 13 June 2022 00:28 (one year ago) link
Hobson’s Choice is minor but worth the watch for Laughton.
― Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 13 June 2022 00:35 (one year ago) link
I watched In Which We Serve on the same day as Preston Sturges' Palm Beach Story. They were both 1942 films but were so opposite in their views of the world
― Dan S, Monday, 13 June 2022 01:05 (one year ago) link