A Product of the Lean Machine (Lawrence Of Arabia (DVD))

Member Name: mcrouch

Product:	Lawrence Of Arabia (DVD)
Date:	07/09/01 (111 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: All-time classic, reliable director, told with great depth and passion

Disadvantages: May put off some who like women and romance in their films - there's neither in this

Lawrence of Arabia was made by David Lean in 1962. For almost forty years it has undergone numerous cuts and edits, been distributed in several different formats and dubbed into many languages. The latest format is this new double-disc DVD set. I won’t go into detail about the film suffice to say that it is an all-time classic, a winner of 7 Academy Awards and nominated for 3 more. Apart from a massive cinema screen, widescreen DVD is by far the best format to see it in.

It tells the story of T.E> Lawrence’s fight to help the Arabs form their own nation and independence but the story goes much deeper than that. The events that take place show how Lawrence was shaped and directed by the world around him and the influence that he had upon it. It is largely a film about the nature of identity and how identity is established.

The film itself runs for 218 minutes, or 3 hours and 38 minutes. It contains additional scenes and several new dubs made in 1989 over existing silent film footage in order to restore as much of the director’s original cut as possible (these edits were overseen by the man himself so you cannot get a more authentic cut than that). The film contains one of the greatest musical scores ever, much of which plays to a blank screen prior to the film beginning – this was something Lean had wanted to do with the original film but it is done here for the first time. Visually the film is a spectacle and it is difficult to see how such a feat could be carried out with no special effects. Everything that is seen in the film was done for real.

The Special Edition DVD contains a number of excellent features. There is a documentary about the making of the film with lots of interviews and personal insights. Apparently Marlon Brando was the original choice for Lawrence, and when he dropped out it was offered to Albert Finney. Eventually of course Peter O’Toole landed the part and cinema history was
made. The documentary is a very worthwhile addition and runs for well over an hour.

There is also the original theatrical trailer which is of slight interest but does show how dated the approach to trailers of the period have become. We are treated to an interview of aroundabout 15 minutes with director Steven Spielberg who discusses his thoughts about the movie in some length. He also shows his schoolboy excitement of the time he was treated to a scene by scene discussion by David Lean during a showing of the film prior to the new edits.

Also intriguing are several black and white films made at the time and shown in cinemas about how the film was progressing. Of the four news films, my favourite is the one about how the camels were cast for their roles. These are charming little films and give a good feel for how cinema audiences expectations were aroused back in the early sixties before the whole media thing became so slick and contrived.

Finally there are the usual filmographies of the cast and crew for those who want to know more about them and there is a kind of text-book feature about the history of T.E.Lawrence during his campaign years complete with maps, text and photographs. It is a basic point-and-click affair but offers some interesting background information for those who are so inclined to learn more.

The film is colour 1:2:20 and is Dolby Digital in English, German and Spanish. It is released by Columbia Tristar and carries a 12 certificate (apparently given to some of the featurettes). The DVD has subtitles in 19 languages. They are English, Spanish, German, Czech, Hungarian, Hindi, Turkish, Danish, Arabic, Bulgarian, Swedish, Finnish, Icelandic, Dutch, Norwegian, Portugeuse, Greek and Hebrew, so if you want to learn a new language there is plenty of choice on offer here. As a final offering there is a full-colour 16 page booklet detailing a history of what I believe is one of the greatest movies ever mad
e.

It is hard to think that there will ever be a better release of this movie than this DVD set. If you haven’t seen it before, go and get it now – you’re in for a treat. And if you have seen it before, why not go and see it again? As the blurb on the box set says, this has to be “the ultimate collector’s edition”.

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