Filmmaking / Directing : Is Lawrence of Arabia the most perfect film ever made? partial rerelease in london by Richard Fitzwilliams

How about Doctor Zivago by the same film director?

This was most impressive and some of the visuals are timeless. The scenes in the frozen house seemed too sentimental to me. Some amazing devices-we see the massacre through Zhivago’s eyes. Courtney and Steiger dominate the film for me, Julie Christie very fine as Lara. I thought it was excellent but not a masterpiece.

L of A is tied for me with the first version of Coppola's Apocalypse Now. On both the cinematography, screenwriting, music, sound mixing, casting, and drama are exceptionally fine.

Richard, if you've not yet read it, you might enjoy T.E. Lawrence's account of those times in Seven Pillars of Wisdom. It's a big thick book but well worth the read. I'm about halfway through and on almost every page am impressed with Lawrence's facility with language, descriptions, psychological insights, and sweep of vision about those actual events.

Pamela Yes Apocalypse Now has the scale, the ambition, so many dazzling individual sequences. Brando-I had mixed feelings, but it was thrilling overall, from that fan blending into a helicopter blade. Redux was fascinating too at 3hrs 20. Extraordinary. Yes. I have read Seven Pillars, fascinating. It does indeed give an insight into his deeply complex vision. I do agree.

Richard Fitzwilliams Funny enough my favorite quote from that movie, "The trick, William Potter, is not minding that it hurts", is because of its use in "Prometheus' by android David.

How funny. the script of Lawrence is eminently quotable.Dryden to Lawrence ‘It is recognised that you have funny sense of fun”(blows match out). Dryden to Lawrence “A Man like me, who tells lies, merely hides the truth. A man who tells half-lies has forgotten where he put it”. Brighton to Allenby “What are we going to do now sir”. Allenby “Nothing. it’s usually best”.Feisal to Lawrence “What I owe you is beyond evaluation” Feisal to Allenby “Orance is a sword with two edges” etc. Robert Bolt (Man for All Seasons) is a superb writer. Here he was at his best.

Good to meet a fellow Lawrencian, Richard. One wonders how thing would be in the Middle East now if Lawrence's vision had been carried through by the powers-that-be after the War. Ralph Fiennes is in a 1990 film about that, "A Dangerous Man, Lawrence After Arabia".

Pithy quotes, Richard. My favorite of Lawrence's is one I like to quote at the end of a presentation to writers and media-makers to hopefully encourage and inspire them.... "All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act out their dream with open eyes, to make it possible." And to bring it close to home, how cool that Stage 32 offers a place where creators can gather, converse, explore, and find new ways and support in our own dreams.

The Ralph Fiennes film was excellent and gave an insight into the political intrigues the film also explores do memorably with the passages on the Sykes Picot Treaty.

Totally agree that it's hard to compare anything to Lawrence but a film that I love, and watch often, whihc was made 5 years prior and that brings the scope, humanity, score, and performances to mind is The Bridge On The River Kwai. Not putting it above but I think it also touches the cinema sky.

Pamela Jaye Smith - love that quote and agree on Stage 32!!

Sam The Bridge on the River Kwai was indeed remarkable and it featured an amazing performance by Alec Guinness as Lawrence of Arabia did later. It featured a wonderful clash of temperaments and cultures. Lean and Guinness apparently fell out over how they envisaged the character of Colonel Nicholson and again over Godbole in Passage to India, which, of course, would not be appropriate casting today. I went to David Lean’s Memorial Service at St Paul’s and will never forget how distressed Alec Guinness was.

I think it all depends on which era you grew up in, or when you started to appreciate cinema in a different way. I have watched Lawrence of Arabia and Bridge on the River Kwai and found them both to have their merits but for me films like The Terminator and Back to the Future are astoundingly well made / written respectively. Alien, is another. And Aliens showed that sequels could indeed reach an audience without that audience having to see the first film in the series. My "top ten" frequently shifts and changes. Terminator 2 is considered by many to be the pinnacle of action films, but the more recent The Flash movie is indeed an absolute joy to behold, especially from a nostalgic point of view. I don't think it's as cut and dried as many lists claim it is. But there are many films, Psycho and and The Exorcist, for example, that have stood the test of time. The latter, I still think, is as disturbing and scary today as it was forty years ago when I first watched it. The fact is, everyone will have a different view for different reasons. It doesn't make them any more right than I, or I any more right than them. I love movies, at the end of the day. Highlander. There's another that's almost near-perfect. The list goes on...

Richard, what interesting information. And David Lean's memorial must have been quite the experience.

David, I think you make some excellent points about the impact of cinema on the individual. One's age, state of being, social circle, education, and inclinations have such an influence on what one appreciates and likes. Every generation seems to have "its" music and movies, mostly ingrained when teenagers or in the early 20's. One of the benefits of organizations such as Stage 32, film schools, and such is to broaden our horizons and perspectives by introducing us to the "greats" of different eras.

it was so moving. walking down the steps afterwards reminded me if the early scene in the film. reporter “Lord Allenby, could I have a few words about Colonel Lawrence”

a “What, more words. the revolt in the desert played a decisive part in the Middle East campaign”

reporter “But about Colonel Lawrence himself”

A “No. I didn’t know him well you know”

Magic…

How moving indeed, Richard.

For "Lawrence" fans, you might also read "With Lawrence in Arabia" by reporter-author Lowell Thomas who was actually there and helped bring Lawrence to the public's attention.

Speaking of "Highlander" my DVD collection includes the Adrian Paul TV series because, well, '"There can be only one'" right?

Pamela Jaye Smith The "Highlander" series had its moments, and was definitely better than some (most) of the film sequels!

David Yes your favourite films are a world away from mine. it’s a very different way of looking at films and one of the magical aspects of the cinema is that we are all different and it caters for such disparate tastes. Psycho is as you say. as someone who is normally squeamish, I was never convinced by The Exorcist, it left me cold but some, like the noted film critic Mark Kermode, think it a work of genius. Aluen was fantastic, far more so, though I much enjoyed it, than Alien: Romulus.

David I confess not to have seen Terminator and Back to the Future. I’m not surprised you enjoyed them enormously. What do you think of the Marvel films? There are so many. On a favourites list would you place them ahead of films by the obvious choices of great directors, Scorsese, Coppola, Hitchcock-Apocalypse Now, Rear Window, Goodfellas/Age of Innocence, High Noon, Klute, Day of the Jackal, The Leopard, The Third Man, Seven Samurai, probably La Dolce Vita, Ran…can’t stop but I better. I guess this is obviously generational. I’d be interested to see your top 20 favourites.

i would argue Air Bud is the perfect movie because it's about a dog playing basketball which is just terrific

You made me literally LOL Pat Alexander.

"Air Bud" playing in a double feature with "Dunston Checks In. " Now that's entertainment.

Christopher Maes I'd show up for it!