I admired this movie, I hated it; I fell in love with it five years ago, I hated it four years ago, and now I haven’t glanced at it for three years; but as a true fan When I realized that the film was being shown in Washington, a little far away, I realized that I couldn’t sit in my dorm and wait for its release date to pass. I wanted to see "Lawrence of Arabia" on the big screen. ", because this movie was tailor-made for that huge screen-as Ebert wrote, that small computer screen is like trapping a giant in a small matchbox; and putting this The giant is projected into a huge space, let him stretch his hands and feet, and show his original brilliance to the full. As a true fan, it is like visiting the legendary pyramid-when you return, you will faintly feel that life is more It's a little bit complete. ——I have maintained a love-hate relationship with this movie for a long time; maybe we will continue to maintain this relationship. "Lawrence of Arabia" is the highest achievement of David Lean's life. It is composed of the best script, the best performance, the best video and the best music, and is used by one of the most demanding perfectionist directors. Genius and magic fuse into a huge four-hour epic. Its pace is very slow, solemnly like a king, stepping in the steps of the emperor will introduce you to the most ruthless story. It is named after a biographical film, but it is not about the real Lawrence. The real Lawrence is a noble and better person than Lawrence in the movie; but this movie does not explore the depths of the real Lawrence's soul. Director David Lean has a story to tell. Lawrence’s name and experience are nothing more than the carrier of this story. To create a different Lawrence from the real is the need for storytelling, although this is for Lawrence and for us. It’s not fair to remember that this movie is not about history; it’s about story. AFI's Silver Theater will screen "Lawrence of Arabia" every Sunday evening at 7:30pm from July to August 2009. Since this theater is quite far away from Washington, the kind sx classmate proposed to drive with me. He had never watched this movie that tested stamina, so I wanted to see his reaction to it... To my surprise, there were a lot of people sitting in our theater, all kinds of men, women and children. People, many of them Jews, sat in rows waiting for a 220-minute movie in 1962 to start. Really, very unexpected. This is the first time I have watched "Lawrence of Arabia" in a cinema, and it is the first time I have watched "Lawrence of Arabia" with so many people. When someone laughs, everyone laughs together. Sometimes the whole theater is silent: you and so many people who can’t see your face but are sitting around you can’t help laughing, holding your breath together, and being merged into a fictional one. In the world. "Lawrence of Arabia" has really become another movie on the big screen. You saw everything the director wanted you to see-that small and thrilling black spot on the huge screen was a person in motion in the slim orange-red sandy world. All those details that you can't find on the computer screen-who knows that there are so many intricate and unique patterns on the winding giant sand dunes? ——A line of camels with black dots, the soft texture of fine sand, and the silent night sky with twinkling stars are all shockingly clear. I have always known that the photography of this film is extremely beautiful, but I have never known that it was so beautiful. I can’t count how many ways Freddie Young has to capture the boundless sea of sand, clear sky, scorching sun, and towering god-like steep mountains, but every picture is like a new and amazing discovery, you When I was knocked down by that picture, I couldn't help taking a breath, the slim and heterogeneous beauty couldn't be described in words. The melody that floats on the sandy sea has a burning color. It undulates along the curve of the sand dunes, melodious and magnificent-"Lawrence's Melody", people call it this way, imitating "Laura" in "Doctor Zhivag" The melody of music"-the mood of the music bursts out at the climax, like a red sun gushing out, reflecting the brilliance of the vast orange desert. Maybe it’s because of the huge screen, maybe it’s because after three years, I think I can finally see Lien’s story clearly: I used to think "Lawrence of Arabia" was a dramatic parabola, which took four hours to complete. Carefully recount the dramatic rise and fall of Lawrence; this is a misunderstanding, it is actually a sugar-coated bitter medicine-when the saccharification is exhausted, only bitterness is left. "Lawrence of Arabia" is divided into two parts. I once regarded the upper part as half of the parabolic ascent, full of success, joy and brilliance; while the lower part is the process of falling, failure and tragedy one after another until our protagonist crashed to the ground like a meteorite. I used to think that this movie explored such a curve: how a person's inner nobility and perseverance lead him to glory, and how his flaws cause him to fall. This is of course the most straightforward interpretation, but it misses the purpose of the movie. If we secularly use the yardstick of success and failure to measure Lawrence, he will be a much smaller figure than reality. The famous journalist Lovell Thomas (that is, the historical prototype of the American journalist Jackson Bentley in the movie) once portrayed Lawrence as the uncrowned king of Arabia, but he was regarded by Owen Howe as the "stainless steel version" of Lawrence. cheap. This is not about the lessons of success and failure; it is not about personal motives and human shortcomings; it is not about lofty aspirations and cruel reality; in this movie there is an Englishman in Arab costume, half noble and half absurd. Robert Browning’s verse "Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, The real Lawrence is confused with the real-the real Lawrence is shy, he supports Arab independence and also supports the Zionist movement, a humanitarian believes that life is above everything else. However, the more important point is that the film absorbed the experience of the real Lawrence but missed the essence of the real Lawrence as a leader. After reading Lawrence’s biographies and letters, more and more people were surprised to find that he had the qualities of the best leader: his amazingly exaggerated sense of responsibility, his maddening selflessness, he That "courage and fragility to shoulder the burden of conscience". The desert magnet attracts Lawrence because he loves its emptiness and its absolutely deserted existence-his indifferent and selflessness is a mystery that no one can understand. If a leader imposes his desires on the group being led, he will no longer simply serve the interests of this group. And Lawrence, perhaps what he really wants to be, is actually a human-shaped mirror, reflecting perfect things without leaving a trace of "self". In the war, he took on too heavy responsibilities-exaggerated, unrealistic, and imposed on himself: responsible to Britain, to Arabs, to Turkey, to his own and to the enemy’s casualties, to each The women and children left in the Bedouin villages are responsible for the supply of the children and for the construction of a unified Arab country. "Lawrence of Arabia" is not really a "hero made by the times". In fact, it is more of an "inevitable" meaning. Lawrence on the screen does not have that magnificent sense of responsibility, but he has a great self in his heart. In the movie, Lean gave his Lawrence a secret and strong personal motivation: he was a Victorian illegitimate child, he was driven by the shame of his birth, and only by completing those heroic and even miraculous deeds can he comfort him. The pride of an idealist. This desire for an extraordinary career is like a string that moves a puppet, which runs through the entire movie and has led Lawrence from Cairo to Damascus. The conquest of Aqaba and the success of the attack on the railway made Lawrence's status and self-esteem skyrocket. This is the kind of extremely romantic and glorious moment of heroism. The hero triumphs and everyone cheers. But glory is actually just a thin sugar coating on a bitter pill. In addition to glory, there are reality and war. There are a series of misfortunes and pains. There are some people that Lawrence had to kill with his own hands. One of them was an Arab he rescued by risking his death, and the other was a half-sized Bedouin boy who followed him; the other boy was introduced into the quicksand by him (Sinai Desert). How can there be quicksand here, it is estimated that only Lien in the world knows the answer). The cruelty of war is like Pouring down like a basin of cold water, Lawrence will sink deeply into the depths of his soul, closing like a clam, silent, inactive, with blurred eyes, living alone on his own. In the universe. The other reality is that those brave Bedouin nomads love Lawrence, but most people do not understand the meaning of "nation" and "freedom"; Lawrence brought them the glory of victory and rich spoils. When the weather turned cold, they returned home full of harvest for the winter, leaving Lawrence and the Arab Revolution on the yellow sand. Your people are gone, what are you going to do? ——Lawrence’s British colleague asked. Go north. ——Lawrence said. We only have twenty people, what are you going to do? ——Ali from the Harris Department, asked in Azraq’s cold windy stone fort. Go north, take Della. ——Lawrence said. --why? ——Because of need. Because when the British army invaded Jerusalem, the Arab army needed to enter Dera. He has that calm enthusiasm. Twenty people, two hundred people, and two thousand people may not make much difference in his opinion. If it is necessary to take down the northern town of Dera, even if he is alone, he will try to take Dera alone. The real Lawrence is obviously not so stupid, and Lean has affected Lawrence's arrogant and inferiority nerves in order to justify himself. So Lawrence sneaked into the Turkish military town of Dera to prove to his 20 Arab comrades: Lawrence is not an ordinary person who can only do ordinary things. If he decides to bring the Arab revolution into Dera, then he can say it. Do it. As a result, he was arrested and tortured in Dera. No one really knows what happened on the night of being captured, but some kind of tragic event must have happened to him, because from then on, he carried it in his soul. A deep and huge scar. He was not recognized, and Turkish soldiers threw him back into the street. When Ali picked him back from the street, he was already a badly damaged person. When he captured Aqaba, he tried to leave Arabia, as if he had foreseen how terrifying his own fanaticism would be; the British General Allenby kept him. Leaving the stone fort of Azraq, with unhealed wounds, he again asked for resignation: but no, Allenby counted on his Arab army to act as the right wing for the British army. You are extraordinary, Allenby coaxed and said that Lawrence of Arabia will be famous all over the world and you can only find out who Allenby is by looking up historical materials. Then there is politics: Arabs cannot get Damascus, and Arabs will not be independent; because Britain and France have agreed to divide the land equally after the war. Command in Allenby There is such a mural in the ministry. Apollo's son was thrown to death in his father's carriage for arrogance. Lawrence, who was upright and tall, walked to the front of this huge mural and told Allenby with his head up: Go and burn the politicians' papers, because Damascus will be the capital of the Arabs. He returned to Arabia, a man who was milled and broken by war, crazier than ever. The tall camel, the bright white robe, the golden head rope and belt, the blue eyes and the bright purple banner, Lawrence's melody reverberates; the desert is echoed by hundreds of Arabs: Lawrence Lawrence Lawrence Lawrence, endless. This is the last sprint of the Arab army towards Damascus, and they must seize this ancient capital before the British army in Allenby arrives. This tall British man dressed in Arab robes is openly an enemy of his country; Britain wants Arabs, and Lawrence does not hesitate to become a traitor to snatch Arabs back. Arabia is for the Arabs themselves. --Who are you? who are you? Someone asked Lawrence aloud in the movie. ——Is a civilian officer, an Emir; a genius, a fool; a citizen of the British Empire, but trapped on the other side of the world. The disintegrated Turkish army bloodbathed the village of Talal in the retreat. When Lawrence's troops then rushed to witness the tragedy, the broken man lost control. He was a benevolent humanitarian; however, at this time, he was a little hysterical and gave orders to kill no prisoners. He killed people out of control, a bit hysterical and a bit bloodthirsty. When everything was over, he was bloody and filthy; silent, apathetic, and painful, he became the close clam again: for Arab independence he sacrificed the last thing he could sacrifice: human nature. Why? After watching the movie, sx asked, why didn’t you keep the prisoners? Why are you so hysterical? For the dramatic effect? I say. I remember that I had the same strong question when I first watched this movie. This is an obvious character fault. Lawrence's behavior here cannot be reasonably understood and explained from the context of the movie. It is true that Lawrence is a complicated person; "Seven Pillars of Wisdom" is a complicated and thick book. But EM Foster, who knows TE better than most people, wrote, "If we put [TE Compassion as the North Star, it can lead us through the path of mind in "Seven Pillars", just as Damascus will inevitably lead us to the geographic north. "No matter what Lean reads from this plot of The Seven Pillars of Wisdom, "Herishness" is an outrageous interpretation. And where did Lean get this bloodthirsty idea? The answer should be in 1960. In Terence Rattigan's play "Ross". This play is based on Lawrence's First World War story, while Lean's screenplay is largely an improvement and inheritance of "Ross". The plot of bloodthirsty is Rattigan as "Ross" Arranged, and Lean adopted this plot but did not use the original idea given by Rattigan in "Ross." So, this plot is like flying from mid-air on the main line of the Lean movie. (In fact, Almost every question in the plot of Lean’s movie can be answered in "Ross." And Sir Alec Guinness actually starred in Lawrence-ahhhhhhhh! ) Damascus, the formerly distant and bright North Star, became the culmination of all the glory and bitterness in the end. Lawrence left Allenby far behind; this is the first time in five hundred years that Arabs have regained their capital by their own strength. However, the Arab provisional government that Lawrence quickly established was unable to perform its functions at all. His provisional parliament was like a bazaar. The Bedouins living in a world far away from civilization can't understand government functions and modern technology at all. They are a group of nomadic nomads. They followed Lawrence to Damascus and made a noise in the parliament hall like tourists. Circle, that night, I continued to return to the desert to be with the stars and the wilderness. They came, they conquered, so they could leave. Did Lawrence foresee that his Damascus would end up being such a nightmare with gold rims? Everyone had left that night, and the empty parliament hall was only left with the high-hanging Arabian flag. Lawrence wrote his resignation silently, and the opposite Ali cried while looking at him. When Ali left, the disillusioned Lawrence asked him whether all of this really made sense, and the solemn and proud Ali said, yes, a lot; then he leaned. What is such a tragedy about? It is about the legend and failure of Lawrence; it is about ideals and humanity; it is about freedom and war; but at the core of all this, it is a legend about sacrifice and dedication. Lawrence is not sympathetic for failure, he is awesome for failure. For an extraordinary grand ideal, this man endured pain beyond ordinary people’s imagination. He was refined, worn, wounded, and ground in the cruel desert and the flames of war; he killed his comrades, was tortured by the enemy, and betrayed. His motherland was massacred for revenge. He dedicated his soul to an unattainable ideal without asking for the slightest return, and then watched the shining soul burned to light ashes by the flames of war. He paid too much; and his tragedy is that, after all the terrible and heavy sacrifices, what was ultimately exchanged was the chaos and futile effort in Damascus. Ali couldn't help crying for him but Lawrence just quietly handed over his resignation and left quietly. If the movie had a glorious and triumphant ending, then Lawrence would not appear so noble because of this heavy tragedy. In the end, Prince Faisal took over the nascent Arab regime from Lawrence, even if it is only a nominal government but it is still a country. Looking at Lawrence's disappearing back, Faisal said to himself: I owe you far beyond measure. This is The most awesome moment: this man, he came empty-handed and left empty-handed; however, what he left behind when he left was actually a country. This is probably the real legend. After all, Lean, sharply and precisely, captured Lawrence's extremely pure soul that was congenial to the desert. When the movie ended, sx took the lead and applauded. It was already midnight. I suddenly felt that it might not be such a bad thing to pull a friend to watch a movie so old, so long, and without beautiful women at this late hour.
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