Comparative Classic Film Review: Lawrence of Arabia Vs Dr. Zhivago

Celluloid Criterion: "Lawrence of Arabia" 1961 & "Dr. Zhivago" 1965 - Romantic minds find themselves being torn between the bitter reality of the world and the beautiful adventure of it. It is a very dangerous thing; some succeed and some are beaten into submission. In David Lean's "Lawrence of Arabia" Peter O'Toole's characterization of the Englishman who united Arab tribes in World War One is a poignant narrative of a struggling romantic in the most ambiguously confounding biome of the world: the desert. The cinematography captures the lasting allure of the middle-eastern desert with technicolor purity. The desert shows the audience everything, but spares no one. A beautiful tomb; its barren awe is seductive and deadly. Perhaps this is what captured Lawrence's attention. Of course, he never belonged anywhere. An illegitimate son of a nobleman, Lawrence lived without belonging. Thus the question strikes true, "In whose name do you ride?"

In Peter O'Tolle's blue eyes we see an unsettled determination. In the unforgettable scene where Lawrence rescues one of the men from the desert in a foolhardy yet physiologically necessary act, he proclaims that "nothing is written". He has rebelled against even desert law, but he is made a hero. His acceptance is symbolized by the Arab garb he receives. But his own accomplishment is shattered by the fact that he must later execute the very man he saved. This moment of mental awareness is pontificated by the blood lust he develops. He is aware of his mental instability for a moment, but his desire to be a hero pushes it away. He glorifies himself and misses the juxtaposition of his character: that he is more of a spectacle than anything; part hero, part alien. In one scene, Lawrence is shot while narcissistically eyeing his gallant shadow silhouetted against the sand dunes. His eyes show everything but fear. They beg the assailant to finish him off, yet they sparkle with the romantic notion of being wounded. "Didn't you know? They can only kill me with a golden bullet."

In his love affair with himself, Lawrence begins to forget what he is there for. He no longer represents the Arabs. He is indeed going mad. In his last desperate grasp at sanity, he tries to politically unify the Arab factions in Damascus. But he is resigned to the bitter reality that "there is only the desert" for them. The age old tale of the tragic hero was as true in Lawrence's life as it was in the Bedouin stories of old.

Paradoxically, the selfless men of the world sufferer the same slings and arrows as the self absorbed. Yet, perhaps they endure them better. Several short years after the success of "Lawrence of Arabia", David Lean directed another epic from Boris Pasternack's book "Dr. Zhivago". Omar Shariff landed the title role, in a subdued performance that forced him to underact with a brilliant result. Lean told Sharriff that he wanted his performance to be one that would not catch the audience's eye in specific scenes, but when the end credits rolled, they would only think of the name Omar Sharrif. It worked, but the love affair with the world that Lawrence of Arabia demonstrated in egocentricity, was translated into a subtle and selfless love of the world by Yuri, Sharriff's character. Yuri is a poet in the strictest sense. Yuri's dark eyes speak from a similar unsettlement as Lawrence's. Yuri, himself was an outsider, an orphan from the cold expanses of northern Russia adopted by his wealthy Moscow relatives. His marriage to his adopted sister, played by Geraldine Chaplain is one built of pure love. Yet while serving as a medic in World War One, he falls in love with the inspirational Laura. Julie Christie plays the middle class beauty of troubled origins with an endearing innocence. Yes, Yuri has an affair, but we do not judge him, we do not condemn him. His situation is understandable and undeniably human. It is romance. Indeed, from the very beginning with the balalaika music, we think of nothing but romance; a love affair with women, with nature, with the past. A lust for life. The first shot is of a massive Soviet dam; a scar jutting across the landscape. The power of the sickle and hammer sends chills down ones back, oddly contrasting the natural beauty of the film. David Lean shot the film with the express intent that scenes depicting suffering be the most beautiful of all. The beauty juxtaposes the ephemeral nature of live and the inevitability of human suffering and makes "Dr. Zhivago" a tragic tale of life that resonates with everyone despite the backdrop of the Russian Revolution. Yuri never breaks, never falters as a romantic. Through his eyes, even the bitter frosts of Russian winter offers up a worthy beauty. He looses his aristocracy, he looses his home, he looses his family, and he finally looses the love of his life. But he never looses his romanticism. Yuri's surreal death in the city square spells out the only way a romantic can shut his eyes to the the beauty of the world: by ceasing to breathe.

To the continuation of a beautiful romance,

Willie White