Lawrence of Arabia (film)

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Movie
German title Lawrence of Arabia
Original title Lawrence of Arabia
Country of production United Kingdom
original language English
Publishing year 1962
length Theatrical version: 216 minutes,
new version: 227 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director David Lean
script Robert Bolt
Michael Wilson
production Sam Spiegel
music Maurice Jarre
camera Freddie Young
cut Anne V. Coates
occupation
synchronization
TE Lawrence near Rabegh, north of Jidda , 1917

Lawrence of Arabia is a film directed by David Lean and producer Sam Spiegel from the year 1962 , which adjoins the autobiographical war report Seven Pillars of Wisdom by TE Lawrence inspired. The visually powerful desert epic made the leading actors Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif internationally known and received seven Oscars in 1963 .

action

The film begins with the death of Lawrence in a motorcycle accident in 1935 and his burial in St Paul's Cathedral. A reporter, who is asked by a prominent visitor to the funeral to acknowledge the person of Lawrence, praises him superficially and afterwards tells his companion about the defects in the character of Lawrence.

During the First World War , the British officer Thomas Edward Lawrence , who had previously worked in Cairo , was sent to the Arabian Peninsula for three months to observe developments surrounding the Arab leader Prince Faisal . The little soldierly Lawrence sets off with a guide, trying to adapt to the Bedouin's way of life. At a well there is a clash with an Arab rider who shoots Lawrence's guide: the guide belonged to a different Bedouin tribe and was therefore not allowed to drink from this well.

Lawrence refuses to lead the stranger and, to their astonishment, reaches the Bedouin camp without a guide. He finds Faisal's army as an unorganized bunch, overwhelmed by the possibilities of modern warfare. Here he meets the strange rider again and gets to know him as the powerful sherif Ali. He names the Arabs Damascus as the ambitious goal of the campaign.

Lawrence persuades Sherif Ali to cross the barely passable desert of Nefud with him and a small squad of 50 men at high risk and thus to get to the rear of the well-protected port city of Akaba . His comrade Gasim, who falls from his camel while riding through the desert at night and remains behind, is saved by his daring-looking return in the blazing heat of the day. Later he has to execute Gasim, of all people, as a murderer to prevent a blood feud between the Arabs. To his horror, he has to admit in retrospect that he enjoyed this act. In front of Akaba, he uses psychological skills to win the support of local tribes under Auda Abu Tayi and takes the city in a surprise attack.

After the victory, the discipline of the Arab fighters, who are only interested in the spoils of war and do not think about long-term success, falls away. However, Lawrence succeeds in using guerrilla tactics to achieve further successes against the Turks and their supply lines. He becomes the admired leader "El 'awrence", who only wears Bedouin clothes, but opposes the fatalism of the Arabs with the idea of ​​free will. Two orphan boys join him as servants, while Sherif Ali becomes his friend and comrade in arms. One of the orphan boys later dies in quicksand in front of Lawrence, the other is seriously injured in an accident involving explosive cartridges and shot by Lawrence to save him from Turkish captivity.

Lawrence begins to consider himself almost invulnerable in his overconfidence. He went to the city of Dera in southern Syria incognito, but was arrested and abused by Turkish soldiers who did not recognize him. Almost broken by this humiliation, he returns to Cairo to request his release from the British military. There he learns that the British and French governments have no intention of granting the Arabs their independence after the war. That is why he decides to take Damascus together with the Arabs before the British , in order to prevent the British from later influencing. He sets off with a group of newly hired bodyguards. On the way, Ali and his men join him. Against Ali's will, soldiers of the defeated Turkish army, which is in retreat, are massacred. The Arabs reach Damascus shortly before the British.

The Arabs are too divided to form a functioning government and thus to evade the influence of the colonial powers. Lawrence returns to Europe disaffected, where he later dies in an accident with his Brough Superior SS100 .

background

occupation

Originally Montgomery Clift was supposed to play the role of Lawrence. However, Clift refused, after which they discussed Marlon Brando and Albert Finney , by the way a fellow student of O'Toole at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Producer Sam Spiegel then suggested the almost unknown Peter O'Toole, whom he would play on "The day they robbed the bank of England ". O'Toole started his decades-long career as one of the leading character actors with the film.

Anthony Quinn's nose was actually less prominent, which is why it had to be enlarged from the mask for the film.

Filming

When Peter O'Toole was the guest of the American talk show host Jay Leno on March 24, 2008, he gave the following anecdote: “The day when the storm came up on the city and the crowd scene with Omar Sharif and me on horses and the If countless extras on camels were to be filmed, Omar and I decided - as we were terrified of this devil's ride - to get thoroughly drunk. Omar tied himself to his horse to be on the safe side. After we got to town, someone from the prop had to cut Omar off the horse, as it was now hanging off the horse. A newspaper article later admired the incredible determination that had lain in my eyes during the ride. In truth, I was just full of stars at the time. "

The planes that fly the attack on the Arab camp are of the Tiger Moth type . This type of aircraft had not yet been developed at the time the film was set and did not make its maiden flight until 1931. Nevertheless, many films use this type to portray aircraft from the First World War, mainly because it fits common ideas as a fragile biplane, was / is easily available and is also a very well-engineered construction.

On the film set, King Hussein of Jordan met his second wife, the British film assistant Antoinette Avril Gardiner , during an inspection of his troops used as extras .

Locations

The majority of the desert scenes were filmed in Jordan and therefore at the original locations. The black basalt landscape of Jebel Tubayg on the border with Saudi Arabia is one of them, as is the Nefud desert. The Wadi Rum with its red cliffs and the vast, rugged sandstone rocks is probably the most spectacular of the Jordanian film locations. In the film u. a. the camp of Prince Faisal settled here.

Further desert photos were taken in the Spanish desert of Tabernas , in the Moroccan Ouarzazate and in the Imperial Sand Dunes of California.

The city of Aqaba was built on a beach called Playa del Algorocibo near the Spanish city of Almería . The film was also shot in the Spanish Natural Park of Cabo de Gata . Various Moorish palaces in Seville served as backdrops for locations such as Cairo or Jerusalem.

In Morocco, the settlement of Ait Benhaddou , northwest of Ouarzazate, was one of the filming locations. The clay building settlement, now a UNESCO - World Heritage Site , later served as a backdrop for films like The Jewel of the Nile , Gladiator , Jesus of Nazareth and The Mummy .

The opening scene in which Lawrence had a fatal motorcycle accident was filmed in Chobham, Surrey , England.

people

Some of the people in the film are said to be made up of different people. B. that of Sherif Ali is loosely based on Ali bin Hussein in the book Ali ibn el Hussein of Modhig.

References to the film

The anti-war film Full Metal Jacket has a reference to the film: Sgt. Hartman asks the intimidated Pvt. Paula (actually Lawrence) insultingly after his name. When he replies "Lawrence", Hartman's question is "Lawrence, Lawrence, what, of Arabia?"

In the science fiction film Prometheus - Dark Characters , the android David chases the long flight of the spaceship Prometheus , which he has to spend alone while all the human crew members are asleep , including watching the film Lawrence of Arabia and having a hairstyle and hair color to imitate Peter O'Toole's way of speaking . There are three quotes from the film that the android utters in the O'Toole tone: The trick, William Potter, is not to care that it hurts. (Original: The trick, William Potter, is not minding that it hurts. ) From the matchstick scene and In the desert is nothing. And nobody needs anything. (Original: There's nothing in the desert, and no man needs nothing. ) And Most big things only start small. (Original: Big things have small beginnings. ). In the Prometheus next film Alien: Covenant , there is a scene in which David the chorus of the song from the Echo scene sings: The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo ( The Man Who the bank of Monte Carlo blew up ).

The soundtrack is quoted in James Bond - The Spy Who Loved Me as James Bond walks through the desert to the bank of the Nile.

Awards

  • 1963: Seven Oscars in the categories "Best Film", "Best Director", "Best Production Design", "Best Cinematography", "Best Editing", "Best Film Music" and "Best Sound" ( John Cox ) as well as three other Oscar Nominations in the categories of "Best Leading Actor" (Peter O'Toole), "Best Male Supporting Actor" (Omar Sharif) and "Best Adapted Screenplay"
  • 1963: Four Golden Globe Awards in the categories of "Best Film Drama", "Best Director", "Best Supporting Actor" (Omar Sharif) and "Best Cinematography (in color)" as well as three nominations in the categories "Best Male Actor" (Anthony Quinn and Peter O'Toole) and "Best Soundtrack"
  • 1963: Four British Film Academy Awards in the categories of "Best Picture", "British Film", "Best British Actor" (O'Toole) and " Best British Screenplay "
  • 1991: Entry into the National Film Registry
  • 1998: Featured on the American Film Institute's list of the 100 Best American Films (# 5) . In the list of the same name from 2007, the film reached number 7.
  • 1990: The British Film Institute voted Lawrence of Arabia the 3rd greatest British film of all time in 1999 .
  • 2008: # 1 on the American Film Institute's list of the 10 Greatest Screen Epics
  • The film music by Maurice Jarre was chosen by AFI as number 3 of the 25 best film music of all time.

Reviews

source rating
Rotten tomatoes
critic
audience
Metacritic
critic
audience
IMDb

The film service ruled that Lawrence of Arabia was “a super production perfectly staged by David Lean with excellent images from the desert.” The film historian Ulrich Gregor saw the film as a “romantic glorification of a 'superman”.

Occasionally, it was criticized that Lawrence of Arabia took a lot of liberties in chronology and geography. Lawrence's brother AW Lawrence criticized the scriptwriter: "From opening [...] to the end, almost every event in this script is either fictitious or fictionalized."

filmstarts.de assessed: “Once the spontaneous enthusiasm has evaporated after a film, there is often a slight disenchantment.” Not so with this film, because even “clichéd characters […] [were] all brought to life by excellent actors and made believable. ”“ To make the past tangible, besides convincing actors you also need a shot of romanticism. 'Lawrence of Arabia' offers almost too much of it, but makes the fascination and enthusiasm of the TE Lawrence for the desert clearly tangible and tangible. ”Conclusion:“ It is the epic par excellence. A work of superlatives. A masterly achievement of its kind. The cocky speech is from the adventurous desert classic "Lawrence of Arabia". A milestone of its genre showered with homage. "

Marie Anderson wrote for kino-zeit.de : The “visually powerful epic” has spread to this day with the “face, the figure and the character drawing of the main actor Peter O'Toole with irresistible vehemence over the rather meager ideas of the historical personality [... ] - a phenomenon that seldom occurs even in excellent biopics with a historical background. ”The filmmakers succeeded in“ an adventure story that is as unusual in its formal and dramaturgical form as it is fascinating, with corners, edges and breaks beyond the usual pleasant structures of such materials. This creates a generous space for deep human despair and friendships, dreams and tragedy as well as fights and contemplations. "

filmdienst.de also judged positively: "The film, carried by great actors, the visual power of which overwhelms the desert scenes, puts less emphasis on broad-based fighting, but makes the desert rides, the loneliness and the tremendous exertion visible." In the 30 minutes or so In the extended version, which was shown again in the cinemas in 1990, “the charismatic but broken leader personality TE Lawrence can be experienced, who sometimes slips into the role of the savior, sometimes the blind avenger, suffers from his homosexual tendencies, masochistic impulses and makes no secret of his vanity. ” Filmdienst.de emphasizes that“ The fascinating film is not a picture of history, but rather a highly subjective summary of historical events ”.

synchronization

One year after the film premiere in the United States, Lawrence of Arabia appeared in German-language cinemas in 1963 as a German dubbed version. This was a shortened version, because 20 minutes were cut out for the US theatrical performances. The synchronization was carried out by Ultra Film Synchron GmbH in Berlin, Fritz A. Koeniger wrote the dialogue book and Josef Wolf directed the dialogue .

Although the English original version was brought onto the market in a completed and restored version as early as 1989, the German version of the film in full length could only be purchased on DVD in 2001 , although the newly inserted scenes were only provided with German subtitles ( OmU ). On the occasion of the Bluray release in 2012, the new scenes were dubbed and edited under the direction of Erik Paulsen at Berliner Synchron AG .

role actor Voice
actor theatrical version 1963 		Voice Actor
New Scenes 2012
TE Lawrence Peter O'Toole Sebastian Fischer Udo Schenk
Prince Faisal Alec Guinness Ernst Wilhelm Borchert Rainer Doering
Sherif El Kharish Omar Sharif Claus Wilcke Boris Tessmann
Auda ibu Tayi Anthony Quinn Gerhard Geisler Thomas Kästner
General Allenby Jack Hawkins Curt Ackermann Lutz Riedel
Mr. Dryden Claude Rains Robert Klupp Lothar Blumhagen
Col. Harry Brighton Anthony Quayle Heinz Petruo Hartmut Neugebauer
Jackson Bentley Arthur Kennedy Heinz Giese Klaus Lochthove
Turkish bey José Ferrer Carl Raddatz
General Murray Donald Wolfit Konrad Wagner Helmut Gauss
William Potter Harry Fowler Horst Gentzen Alexander Doering
Daud John Dimech Arne Elsholtz Marcel Mann
Gasim IS Johar Alexander Welbat
Majid Ratib Gamil Gerd Duwner
Tafas Zia Mohyeddin Klaus Miedel

restoration

Lawrence of Arabia has been restored twice since its inception, the first time around a quarter of a century after its premiere, then again for the 50th anniversary in 2012.

During the first restoration from 1988, the original premiere version was mainly restored as a "Directors Cut". Director David Lean and film editor Anne V. Coates were instrumental in this.

This work was made easier by the fact that the original 65 mm camera negatives have been preserved.

However, some of them showed severe damage, which can be attributed to the conditions during the shooting, but above all to the several hundred copy runs. Since outdoor shots took place mostly in the desert, the footage was exposed to high temperatures, large temperature fluctuations and extremely dry air for weeks. The later passes through the copier machines dried out the material further and left behind scratches, soiling and warping. All of this caused the substrate to warp and the photographic layer to become brittle and cracked over the years. Glue areas were also not done properly or were starting to peel off. During the first restoration, it was possible to largely compensate for this damage by copying under liquid, and so high-quality 70 mm cinema copies were made using an intermediate positive (IP).

A digital restoration began in 2009. For this purpose, the camera negatives at Sony Colorworks were scanned with 8k, sometimes with 12k. An unpleasant discovery was made: in the 25 years since the first restoration, countless small splinters of the torn image layer had detached from the carrier film and had fallen out, so that the negatives - in addition to the other damage - were covered in places with a network of white spots. Ultimately, with the help of two specialized service providers, the damage was repaired and missing parts of the image were replaced in such a way that none of them can be seen in the high-resolution version of the fully restored film. The final version is available in 4k format and was shown in selected cinemas in 2012. A 70 mm copy was also exposed. In November 2012, the film was released as Bluray (2k resolution).

literature

  • Thomas Edward Lawrence : Seven Pillars of Wisdom (English OT: Seven Pillars Of Wisdom ). New edition, 4th edition. List, Munich and Leipzig 1994, ISBN 3-471-78053-X .
  • Adrian Turner: The Making of David Lean's "Lawrence of Arabia" . Dragon's World, 1994, ISBN 1-85028-211-0 .
  • James Ursini, Alain Silver: David Lean and His Films . Silman-James Press, 1992, ISBN 1-879505-00-2 .
  • Michael Coyne: Epic Encounters. The Films of David Lean . Cinema & Society. IB Tauris, 2004, ISBN 1-86064-513-5 .
  • Hans-Jürgen Kubiak: The Oscar Films. The best films from 1927/28 to 2004. The best non-English language films from 1947 to 2004. The best animated films from 2001 to 2004 . Schüren, Marburg 2005, ISBN 3-89472-386-6 .
  • Sibylle Luise Binder : Peter O'Toole - a portrait , 1st edition 2002, Henschel Verlag in EA Seemann Henschel GmbH & Co. KG, ISBN 3-89487-435-X , ISBN 978-3-89487-435-3

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Lawrence of Arabia. Retrieved February 18, 2020 .
  2. ↑ TE Lawrence: Uprising in the Desert: Autobiographical War Report of Lawrence of Arabia - Rebellion of the Arabs against the Ottoman Empire during the First World War . e-artnow, 2017, ISBN 978-80-272-0608-7 ( google.de [accessed on February 18, 2020]).
  3. ↑ In Prometheus, Why Does David Identify Himself with Lawrence of Arabia? In: The Huffington Post 2012.
  4. ↑ Prometheus vs. Lawrence of Arabia - Allusion and Homage on youtube
  5. ↑ a b [1] at Rotten Tomatoes , accessed on February 4, 2015
  6. ↑ a b [2] at Metacritic , accessed on February 4, 2015
  7. ↑ Lawrence of Arabia in the Internet Movie Database (English)
  8. ↑ Lawrence of Arabia. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  9. ^ Ulrich Gregor: History of the film from 1960. Bertelsmann, Munich 1978, ISBN 3-570-00816-9 , p. 200.
  10. ↑ Lawrence von Arabien-Filmkritik at filmstarts.de , accessed.
  11. ↑ Marie Anderson: Film review about "Lawrence of Arabia" at kino-zeit.de, accessed.
  12. ↑ Lawrence of Arabia criticism of the film at Filmdienst.de, as sharp as never before .
  13. ↑ a b Lawrence of Arabia. In: synchronkartei.de. German synchronous file , accessed on December 31, 2014 .
  14. ^ Synchronous database ( memento from January 1, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on December 31, 2014