Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

"A mighty spectacle of action and adventure!" - wikiquote.org

I couldn't agree more.

I think I've developed a new appreciation for the word "epic"; The dramatic scenery, the large scale of the conflict, just the the sheer number of people, costumes and animals in this movie is astonishing.

 "So long as the Arabs fight tribe against tribe, so long will they be a little people; a silly people; greedy, barbarous, and cruel . . ."

   Lawrence's main tangible goal throughout the film is to unite the Arab tribes to create a single, great nation of Arabia. However, it's never quite explained why he wants to do this.
   As far as personal motivation goes, Lawrence seems to be driven by a need to challenge fate and prove that a man can create his own destiny, he also seems to struggle with his own identity and purpose in the world.

Neither of these factors seems to be directly related to the Arab revolution, but maybe it doesn't matter.

There are so many elements to this film that are excellent; I feel like any one of them warrants it's own analysis and breakdown. I plan on coming back to these topics for future post, but in the interest of brevity (sort of), I will limit this analysis to focusing on what I believe is one of the most important themes:

Lawrence vs. Fate

With this overarching goal in mind, it's interesting to note that the film begins with Lawrence dying an irrelevant and almost comical death, after which we see that even though he made a significant impact on a few individuals, he died relatively unknown to the world.

When Lawrence first encounters the various Arab tribes, he challenges their tribal nature and superstitious beliefs . . . "Nothing is written" he insists, and wins the trust of the Arabs when he saves Gasim's life, despite "fate" dictating that it was his time to die.
   Shortly after, however, Lawrence is forced to kill Gasim to resolve a blood feud, taking the very life that he saved - this would seem to reinstate the belief that it was "his time to die" after all.

Fate: 1 Lawrence: 0

   In an act of kindness Lawrence takes on two orphaned boys as his servants, (it is implied that due to not having parents they are worthless and have no future) agreeing to pay them well, offering them a future. One boy dies in a quicksand pit (Lawrence laments at having 'killed' him). The second boy is critically injured and is at risk of being captured by the Turks; Lawrence is forced to shoot him.

Fate: 2 Lawrence: 0

Lawrence attempts to infiltrate a Turkish town alone, convinced that he will be a one-man Arab revolt and that he cannot fail -  "Please Ali, I am invisible."  He is captured immediately. As it turns out, unrelated to the revolt and his efforts against the Turks, Lawrence fits the profile for he Turkish Bey's particular fetish and is chosen as this evenings perverse entertainment.


Fate: 3 Lawrence: 0


Dejected and disillusioned,  Lawrence tries yet again to choose his own path - "Well, 'any man' is what I am. I'm going back . . . for a job that 'any man' can do." He gives up on the revolt and attempts to resign from the military.
   The general convinces Lawrence that he is still destined to win this war - "Not many people have a destiny, Lawrence. It's a terrible thing for a man to flunk it if he has." Lawrence's resignation is denied and he is sent back out to lead the Arab revolt.


Fate: 4 Lawrence: 0


  Lawrence, after learning about the secret Sykes-Picot agreement that would divide Arabia between Britain and France, leads the Arab revolt swiftly to Damascus, arriving before the British forces. They take control of the city and Lawrence tries to establish an Arab government in hopes of creating a "Capital" that the newly unified Arab people can operate from.
     However, the the newly formed "Arab Council" devolves quickly into bickering and shouting, and rapidly falls apart; the Arab tribes leave the city and head back to the desert.

Lawrence's dreams of a united Arabia are crushed and, having outlived his usefulness, he is sent back to Britain. Despite his every effort to prove the contrary, Lawrence has been the pawn of 'fate' every step of the way . . .

Fate: 5 Lawrence: 0

 

Jaws (1975)

I actually got to watch an original print of "Jaws" at the Mayfair this week; the film was cobbled together from several versions, some of which were a little worse for wear, but all in all I still felt it was a very 'authentic' experience.

Let me start by saying that despite what some people may tell you, "Jaws" is not about a shark. 

This becomes apparent pretty early on as we start to see multiple attacks; the "shark's" behavior seems deliberate, sadistic... it has no motives, nor does it kill for food, it's nature is just pure evil. Clearly this is not a shark at all, rather, what we're dealing with is some monstrous killing machine. Story wise I think this is ideal because, unlike with an actual shark, there's no chance of feeling sorry for it. In fact this generated such an intense hatred for the shark, that the audience burst into applause and cheering when Brody finally kills it.

The actual story is about Martin Brody, and we learn a number of important things about him in the first few scenes.

  - He's new to town, and is trying to make a home for himself and is family. On a superficial level he seems to be doing well; his wife and kids are happy, he's the chief of police and everyone in town seems to like him and wants his help... but he still seems to feel like he doesn't fit in.

I think the core of this movie is about Brody trying to find his place in the community, a sense of 'belonging'. There are 2 main factors that clearly define his status as an "outsider"

1. The townsfolk refer to themselves as "Islanders", and they say this title is reserved strictly for people born on the island, you can never "become" and islander, no matter how long you live there.
-The community is biased against him
2. - Brody hates the water. Swimming, boating, ferries, all of it. Living on an island town full of sailors and fishermen, this represents a significant ideological disconnect from his society.
- He is biased against the community

   Brody's disconnect from the town comes to a head when the shark attacks begin, and his ideals (closing the beaches to protect the people) conflict directly with his desire to 'become an Islander' (closing the beaches would mean destroying the towns livelihood, undoubtedly he would be exiled from the community). He gives in and obeys they Mayor ( sacrificing his own ideals, to appease the town )

   A boy is killed by the shark. Brody realizes that sacrificing his ideals is not an option. This time he tries to convince the Mayor/Town to see things his way, ( trying to change the town, to match his ideals) but is rejected.

   The shark kills again. Ultimately Brody seeks a compromise and is able to reconcile his ideals (protecting the people) with the needs of the town (keep the beaches open). He is able to achieve this by facing his fear of water and going after the shark...

With the shark dead, Brody is a hero and as such will be loved and accepted by the town, regardless of where he was born and by overcoming his own bias he is finally able to feel at home on the island.

The finals lines of the movie, as they swim back to shore:

Brody: "I used to hate the water."

Hooper: "I can't imagine why."

Citizen Kane (1941)

Citizen Kane... so I finally sit down to watch it, and the first scene is: "...Rosebud..."

my first thoughts:
"Rosebud? oh, like in ghostbusters ..."



well, so much for the surprise.

That being said, I have to agree that this is a pretty amazing film. I'd like to say I was blown away by the genius cinematography, but to tell the truth I spent most of my time wrapped up in the story. I was expecting, from multiple second hand reports, that the pacing of the film would be fairly slow, even dry at times... but I actually found the whole thing very engaging. Kane himself feels like a force of nature, he buys or builds anything and everything he desires... all the while becoming more and more miserable and removed from the world.

   I think Kane's weakness is what creates such a powerful emotional center for the story, despite all the business and politics in the film, it is Kane's failure(s) that make him human, and allow us to empathize with him.
   I imagine most people have, at one time or another, thought about all the things they could buy themselves if they won the lottery, and about how much happiness and freedom those things should bring to their lives...  Through Kane we can see that very freedom and power consume and destroy him, in a way, illustrating the danger of  unlimited control over one's own destiny...

I'll end with this famous, and somewhat fitting, quote:

"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men."
- Sir John Dalberg-Acton