Lawrence of Arabia

[Dementeleus]

Anyone in the Houston area, the Alamo Drafthouse is showing LAWRENCE on Jan 11.http://drafthouse.com/movies/big_screen_classics_lawrence_of_arabia/houstonIt's not in 70mm, unfortunately (since the Drafthouse isn't equipped for 70mm projection), but it will be in 4K.

[IndustriousAngel]

This film features some of the best cinematography ever done, you really get the feeling for the vast expanse of the landscape, the heat of the desert. The scene where Lawrence returns from the desert, slowly appearing, first only as a speck, in the boiling air - brillant and not a second too long. And you can't beat hundreds of extras running and riding through giant sets. (btw, there are some bluescreen shots with o'Toole and Sharif on camelback, those don't ring true)

Peter O'Toole is amazing, but I have to disagree about many of the other roles - ok, it was a different time, but some of the performances were plain cheesy or over-the-top, even Olivier and Sharif. Also, while I'm pissed-off about today's PC-brainwashed stories, the different factions were presented in a very one-dimensional way, the running time would have allowed for more nuanced characters. Not a film I'd watch very often, but definitely worth the money if you can catch it on a big screen, preferably a 70mm copy. Look for those detailed sets with the tiny mosaic and wood inlay works, or the wide-angle landscape shots! Amazing ...

[Lordmandeep]

One thing I love about the old movies and they can' do it know as audiences have gotten so cynical...

 

They have really epic dialogue delivery.

 

 

 

You really see it in this film, Ben Hur and Ten Commandments

 

"I carry 23 great wounds, all got in battle. 75 men have I killed with my own hands in battle. I scatter, I burn my enemy's tents. I take away the flocks and herds. The Turks pay me a golden treasure yet I am poor, because I am a river to my people!"

 

You just get amazed when they speak with those lines especially in how they say them. Makes the most mundane of conversation sound like its clash of the titans.

[fishstick]

One thing I love about the old movies and they can' do it know as audiences have gotten so cynical...

 

They have really epic dialogue delivery.

 

 

 

You really see it in this film, Ben Hur and Ten Commandments

 

"I carry 23 great wounds, all got in battle. 75 men have I killed with my own hands in battle. I scatter, I burn my enemy's tents. I take away the flocks and herds. The Turks pay me a golden treasure yet I am poor, because I am a river to my people!"

 

You just get amazed when they speak with those lines especially in how they say them. Makes the most mundane of conversation sound like its clash of the titans.

 

I think that such overly lyrical dialog wouldn`t work nowdays. It works in old movies precisely because we know those are old movies, so it`s easier to accept it than have LoA 2013 with a line like that. I guarantee that eveyrone would roll their eyes and poke fun.

 

Also, having seen 10 Commendments yesterday, I`d say that LoA is wastly stronger movie than that and Ben Hur. LoA works from start to finish, while Biblical epics work only when they are grand soap opera. Once the character finds God (which is especially a problem in 10 Commandments cause Moses is awfully uncompelling, passive character) the movie wears its welcome and becomes a chore. At least to me. Also, LoA didn`t have OTT camp value like De Mille and clone spectacles.

 

Great movie, shows that you don`t need a freakin love interest or any freakin "female energy" to make a movie appealing to all demogrpahics. Heck, guys love Prety In Pink and to Ducky Power so no wonder women love LoA.

[Lordmandeep]

Of course Lawrence of Arabia was better but when people think old epics they think of this film, Ben Hur and Ten Commandments.

 

"I guarantee that everyone would roll their eyes and poke fun."

 

lol my father was watching Ten Commandments on TV a few years back and he rarely likes Hollywood films as he thinks they are overly violent and sexual and he loved the film with over the top epic dialogues "His God... IS GOD!" lol

 

These days that type of dialogue does not work because very few actors these days can pull of roles like that these days. Also, we do not like flattery these days and are more cynical.

 

Another example is I notice when a lot of people my age watch an old Western and they spend 5 mins in the final duel staring each other down and the epic music plays... They got annoyed over why they are taking so long to start the duel. Those westerns were made in a way for to enjoy the buildup and the duel.

[IndustriousAngel]

These days that type of dialogue does not work because very few actors these days can pull of roles like that these days. Also, we do not like flattery these days and are more cynical.

I think part of the success of "Lord of the Rings" was its unashamed, bold epicness without any postmodern irony or self-conscious winks or cynicism. It's truly a look into a fantastic world - fantastic not because of the medieval weapons or clothes, but because of lyric dialogue and characters who speak their thoughts without hidden agendas and who keep promises. Aliens, really. Or, more: Humans as we think they should be. It can work, it's just that most people in the industry are such cynics it's hard for them to conceive truly epic characters, so what we get today are tainted or forced heroes.

Edited March 31, 2013 by IndustriousAngel

[fishstick]

I think part of the success of "Lord of the Rings" was its unashamed, bold epicness without any postmodern irony or self-conscious winks or cynicism.

 

"I am no man" and "if you want him come and claim him" were 100% failed attempts at postmodern quirky quotability in the vain of "Get away from her, you bitch" and Buffy series. I`m sure that there are other examples but these two stick out like a sour thumb precisely because quasi-feminism was injected where it had no place. So you are wrong.

Edited March 31, 2013 by fishnets

[Jake Gittes]

"I am no man" and "if you want him come and claim him" were 100% failed attempts at postmodern quirky quotability

No. Especially Arwen's line, because it would have made zero difference if it had been said by a male character.

[fishstick]

No. Especially Arwen's line, because it would have made zero difference if it had been said by a male character.

 

Arwen line should have been said by Frodo though in the book it was "By Elebereth and Luthien Fair, I swear you`ll never get the ring!" or around those lines. That was Frodo`s biggest act of defiance against the Nine and they botched it for faux feminism.

[Jake Gittes]

Arwen line should have been said by Frodo though in the book it was "By Elebereth and Luthien Fair, I swear you`ll never get the ring!" or around those lines. That was Frodo`s biggest act of defiance against the Nine and they botched it for faux feminism.

I don't remember the book that well, but in the film him attacking the Witch King (and getting stabbed for it) on Weathertop was a big enough act of defiance. After that he quickly got into a condition in which he wasn't able to say anything, much less exclaim something like that. It wouldn't really fit anywhere in there, and like I said, I don't see anything feministic about Arwen's line. Unless you consider the very fact that a female character got to be a Nazgul-defeating badass to be faux feminism, but I think in Arwen's (and, for that matter, Eowyn's) case it was worked into the narrative perfectly.

[Dementeleus]

LOA's script is a masterpiece of subtlety and economy. There's not a wasted word.

[fishstick]

I don't remember the book that well, but in the film him attacking the Witch King (and getting stabbed for it) on Weathertop was a big enough act of defiance. After that he quickly got into a condition in which he wasn't able to say anything, much less exclaim something like that. It wouldn't really fit anywhere in there, and like I said, I don't see anything feministic about Arwen's line. Unless you consider the very fact that a female character got to be a Nazgul-defeating badass to be faux feminism, but I think in Arwen's (and, for that matter, Eowyn's) case it was worked into the narrative perfectly.

 

Those lines were horrible and the proof is that they didn`t become quotable like Ripley`s line they desperately tried to recreate and failed. Also, his condition was deliberately made so bad in order for Arwen to be the hero of the day. Which she would have been even if Frodo had gathered his strength to tell the Nine to fuck off (which he did in the book). Simply put, Arwen should have kept her mouth shut, let Frodo flip the bird and than she could summon the waters. Frodo`s defiance at the Ford was more important than Weathertop where everyone tried to defend themselves. But Boyens wanted a feminist line so pop goes what really matters (that Frodo wasn`t as big a wuss as the movies made him).

 

OTOH, because LoA didn`t have an idiot like Boyens on board (who`d undoubtly turn Ali into Alia or Lawrence into Jennifer Lawrence) , the script is

 

 

a masterpiece of subtlety and economy. There's not a wasted word. 

 

as Tele eloquently puts it.  

Edited March 31, 2013 by fishnets

[riczhang]

I was redoing my Top 100 list (which is probably gonna be top 200+ now) and I almost forgot how much I loved this movie. It's sheer brilliance. Lean's finest achievement by far. 

[fishstick]

I was redoing my Top 100 list (which is probably gonna be top 200+ now) and I almost forgot how much I loved this movie. It's sheer brilliance. Lean's finest achievement by far. 

 

Cause you love for Amour and other boring movies put your memories of great movies to sleep.

Edited March 31, 2013 by fishnets

[4815162342]

No. Especially Arwen's line, because it would have made zero difference if it had been said by a male character.

 

True, except in the book Arwen's a footnote character and the Elf who finds Aragorn and the Hobbits and helps them is Glorfindel. So it was a case of beefing up Arwen's role for it's own sake.

[fishstick]

True, except in the book Arwen's a footnote character and the Elf who finds Aragorn and the Hobbits and helps them is Glorfindel. So it was a case of beefing up Arwen's role for it's own sake.

 

Beefing up Arwen and scrapping Glorfindel made sense. It` s just that beefing up didn`t have to be totally at Frodo`s expense. Frodo`s one of major characters so he`s a higher priority than a supporting or episodic one.  And his arc needed a moment where he`s strong since his descent into wussiness was rapid.

[riczhang]

Of course with fish here it turns into a discussion about LOTR. 

[fishstick]

I hasn`t started it. Someone said untruth about LOTR being totally void of postmodernism and I just pointed out Boyens`s retarded obsession with Cameronian and Whedonian feminism encapsuled in quotable one-liners. Except that Boyens one-liners didn`t become quatable.

[riczhang]

^huh?  I seem to have lost my fishnets dictionary. Who's Boyens?

[Dementeleus]

^huh?  I seem to have lost my fishnets dictionary. Who's Boyens?

 

No dictionary needed. Philippa Boyens, co-writer.