What David Lean made in 1957 was perfect. A few years later, he got even bigger stars to make films and made even bigger art. This time from Arabia and the desert. The 1962 film became even more famous and is now one of the gems of world cinema.
Art-film fans should not miss it, of course. It's not often you see so many stars of the 1960s screen in the cinema. The first star is, of course, Irishman Peter O’Toole, for whom this really is one of his most celebrated films. The second is Omar Sharif, the most famous Egyptian to put his straight country on the Hollywood screen. Rounding out the star trio is Obi-wan Alec Guinness, who followed up with the director on their first film together. Mexican Anthony Quinn and a host of other actors round out the most famous trio.
We are treated to a lot of Arabian scenery in the nearly four-hour-long film, where the director, along with the cinematographer, has managed to capture some truly realistic wildlife. While it's true that the film is pretty long, perhaps a little boring, it's also interspersed with a few interludes in which only the music plays and the picture is just black. But Maurice Jarre's music gives this film exactly the feeling it needs for film fans to be able to enjoy the whole film in peace, and simply take a break from the desert for the interludes where only music is played with no images.
The film's stellar sheen also brought acting gigs that were duly rewarded, albeit only with nominations, but that's still enough to make the seven-Oscar film one of those things you can watch in peace when you're cold at home.
And what does a movie get Oscars for, anyway? Best Picture, directing (David Lean), color cinematography (Freddie Youg), editing, music (Maurice Jarre), production design and sound mixing. Nominations that the film didn't convert to wins were actors Peter O’Toole and Omar Sharif and the creators of the adapted screenplay.
It's simply a 1962 film that, even on Blu-ray, has its charms. It's a film for Sunday afternoons when it's hot and you can properly enjoy the post-war heat of Arabia in the company of cooling fans.
Thank you to Bontonfilm for providing the discs for review.
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Blu-ray Screenshots
Original release of this article July 24, 2016 – Kritiky.cz
