"Oreance"--Lawrence of Arabia

Ah, Lawrence--227 minutes of desert. A true story of T.E. Lawrence, a British soldier who seems not to popular or successful but knows the ways of the Bedouin circa World War I. He is sent by the Arab Bureau to meet with Prince Feisal and see how his revolt against the Turks is going. He makes friends with the Prince and advises him to battle in Aqaba to take a stronghold the British could use. Lawrence travels across the desert night and day with Sheriff Ali, at one point turning back for a lost person and risking his own life to save a man down, earning the respect of the Bedouin and the sheriff. After lying to a few more groups he meets along the way, Lawrence leads the charge and defeats the Turks at Aqaba. The British give him a commission and support, which he refuses. He begins to be frightened of himself, as he realized that he enjoyed the power and rush of killing.

He launches a guerrilla war against the Turks, at one point, taken hostage beaten and implied worse. His conscience changes completely, and he's tormented by past decisions and what he should do with his future. he finally goes back to fighting to take Damascus, and assembles a group of hired mercenaries to help. In an epic scene, some retreating Turks come upon the group after slaughtering a village; with a little prodding, Lawrence enjoys killing many of the Turks and enters the city before his British counterparts. The Arabs are ill prepared to run a city as Damascus, and their coalitions deteriorate. They abandon the city, leaving it to the British, who promptly promote Lawrence and then send him home while they negotiate with Prince Feisal. The last scene is a dejected Lawrence leaving the land he loved, unrecognizable from when he arrived. A timeless story on a recurrent theme: man with demons finds little peace in the world.

A great story and interesting history for me to look up and reflect on before and after.

It's a man story about war in the desert, so of course the men in the room thought it was akin to the greatest story ever told. The hostess and I took a break to make appetizers. I feel justified; they were in the desert for quite awhile. I still enjoyed the movie, but if the host can actually go to bed without telling us during Gone with the Wind, I can make appetizers during Lawrence of Arabia.