As a lifelong fan of cinema, it was hard to admit that I couldn’t remember much of director David Lean’s 1962 masterwork “Lawrence of Arabia.” It is one of those films that I’d seen bits and pieces of with family members many years ago but, due to circumstances, wasn’t able to enjoy many of the details of the production—and, boy, there are an incredible number of details to take in. The epic requires watching without any distractions in order to assemble meaning.
Based on the life of British Army Col. T.E. Lawrence during World War I, the film starts with the titular character’s death via a motorcycle accident. This surprising start compelled me to re-check the film cast’s credits to see if it was indeed the main character meeting his end on a verdant English country road—or perhaps someone playing one of the character’s subsequent relatives.
