Lean and Lawrence

T.E. Lawrence would have been 101 today if he had been able to ride a motorcycle worth a shit. This piece appeared in The New Yorker last year http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2008/03/31/080331crat_atlarge_lane and is a profile of David Lean, who told Lawrence's story in the epic film, and I do mean epic. Seeing "Lawrence of Arabia" on the big screen is an experience I recommend--amazing the first time you see it. Probably not on the same level of banging cocktail waitresses two at a time, but definitely worthwhile. Watching the scene of Lawrence (Peter O'Toole) at the well as Omar Sharif's character approaches, explains the power of cinematography about as well as anything thrown down on film. I also like the climactic gunfight scene in "Good/Bad/Ugly" for that aspect but that movie as a whole pales in comparison to what Lean did with the Lawrence story. "Lawrence" along with "Bridge on the River Kwai" put the "c" in compelling when it comes to stories for the big, big screen. The trouble is there's not enough Leans around but really there's not enough visionary types in Hollywood--people who can think big and have the guts and ability to pull the thing off. Ford was probably the best. I've seen "The Searchers" about seven hundred times and still get choked up watching what that cranky old bastard did with transforming the Western myth into something beyond myth. Next time you have a cocktail, lift it to Lean and to Ford and to all of those highly flawed but masterful types who made history by the power of their storytelling. They would have made the goat herders in the Old Testament proud.