tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1021442566534245720.post1269521331595924119..comments2019-02-23T15:14:50.928-08:00Comments on Riding the Whirlwind: O'Hara and O'Toole/Lawrence and Leigh - Thoughts on the twin titans of movie actingMichaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10825821314995203759noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1021442566534245720.post-81622172577186339262013-10-27T15:34:21.240-07:002013-10-27T15:34:21.240-07:00Although I suppose my love for Lawrence of Arabia ...Although I suppose my love for Lawrence of Arabia shouldn't be any surprise, given the name of the blog. Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10825821314995203759noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1021442566534245720.post-55188543401255579652013-10-27T15:01:08.209-07:002013-10-27T15:01:08.209-07:00Agreed 100% on Lawrence. Gun to my head, it's ...Agreed 100% on Lawrence. Gun to my head, it's probably my favorite movie, or at least the one that most makes me feel amazed at the possibilities of film, of the craft behind every element in every frame. The term I always use to describe it, which fits with your description, is "an intimate epic." The canvas is as big as you can get, but the subject is so focused, the opposite of the typical bloat you get with other epics. <br /><br />Kael called it a spectacle with a zero at the center? That's bizarre. I can think of few films that so thoroughly foreground their lead character's psychology, or make their psyche the very central concern of the film. But I suppose that, like a great Shakespearean tragic hero, Lawrence himself is open to many possible readings and interpretations, which perhaps could strike some people as indecisiveness on behalf of the authors, although I read I have never read it as anything other than complexity and subtlety.Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10825821314995203759noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1021442566534245720.post-7442247228195166802013-10-26T00:34:44.031-07:002013-10-26T00:34:44.031-07:00It's amazing to me how many critics at the tim...It's amazing to me how many critics at the time, and even some still who praise the film, don't recognize the complexity of Lawrence's character (and O'Toole's performance), describing him as a cipher. To me he's one of the most fascinating characters in film history, and the film far from being a spectacle with a zero at its center (I think that was Kael's description of it) is DRIVEN by the warped passions and personality of its protagonist. I see it as a film in which geography manifests psychology - the shifts in the landscape and the visual style which captures it mirror, echo, and amplify Lawrence's own self-perception. God, I love that movie - and performance.<br /><br />And I don't hate Gone With the Wind either - but Lawrence is what drove me to comment here.Joel Bockohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11238338958380683893noreply@blogger.com