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A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia (1990)
This is not a proper review. I have too much invested in the subject matter for that, and there will be far too many screencaps. Be that as it may, I must bring your attention to a little-known tv-movie called A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia. A sort-of sequel to Lawrence of Arabia (obviously), it's an uninspiringly shot-and-directed look at the efforts T.E. Lawrence and Emir Feisal put forth at the Paris Peace Conference to put Lawrence's "chosen" Arabs in power in a Middle East already being torn into oil-rich chunks by France and Britain.
My history is pretty fuzzy, and the record as pertains to Lawrence is more complicated than I want to make the effort to interpret in relation to this film. What I find interesting about it is the relationship between Lawrence and Feisal, who in this film seems to be an amalgamation of Lawrence's Sherif Ali and Prince Feisal. They are political allies with a comrade-in-arms history, and the deep feeling between the two is palpable. What it lacks in plot, the film makes up in painting an interesting portrait of a friendship that is doomed to fail in the wake of the world events that threw the two together and now must take them apart. Siddig el Fadil (or Alexander Siddig, of Deep Space Nine and Syriana) plays Feisal with less intensity than Sherif and a lot more youth than Guinness. It's interesting to watch him and Lawrence attempt to outwit the much older, and much more powerful, heads of state they're up against. You know they don't have a chance--not just from history--and the stress of losing is compounded by Lawrence's increasing popularity.
And that's another aspect--the seeds of Lawrence's legend being sown and his own complicated relationship with it. Just like Peter O'Toole, this was Ralph Fiennes' first film and it's a perfect fit (though he's far too pretty). I can even forgive the several fourth-wall breaking scenes in which he recites passages of Seven Pillars of Wisdom to the camera, because of his delivery. A special favorite is his reaction to finding a naked, willing woman in his hotel room: Fiennes fails to stifle his nervous laughter at being presented with a situation he cannot handle, despite everything else he's capable of. O'Toole's Lawrence is a man who thinks he's a god who thinks he's a man; Fiennes' is more like a hero as frighteningly precocious boy whose armor has suddenly been rendered unhelpful.
It's not an illuminating film, and it doesn't explain Lawrence or Feisal or the murky politics of oil-driven colonialism. But there's something beautiful about it anyway, in the performances and the contradictions that drive the two men. I hope to be better able to articulate something about these films and how I feel about Lawrence (they are two different subjects, in the sense that I'm willing to appreciate both truth and legend) in the future, but right now I'm a bit overwhelmed and I'll have to settle for some very slightly moderated "squee."
And since a google search renders nothing but the cover, here are some photos taken of my VHS copy.
My history is pretty fuzzy, and the record as pertains to Lawrence is more complicated than I want to make the effort to interpret in relation to this film. What I find interesting about it is the relationship between Lawrence and Feisal, who in this film seems to be an amalgamation of Lawrence's Sherif Ali and Prince Feisal. They are political allies with a comrade-in-arms history, and the deep feeling between the two is palpable. What it lacks in plot, the film makes up in painting an interesting portrait of a friendship that is doomed to fail in the wake of the world events that threw the two together and now must take them apart. Siddig el Fadil (or Alexander Siddig, of Deep Space Nine and Syriana) plays Feisal with less intensity than Sherif and a lot more youth than Guinness. It's interesting to watch him and Lawrence attempt to outwit the much older, and much more powerful, heads of state they're up against. You know they don't have a chance--not just from history--and the stress of losing is compounded by Lawrence's increasing popularity.
And that's another aspect--the seeds of Lawrence's legend being sown and his own complicated relationship with it. Just like Peter O'Toole, this was Ralph Fiennes' first film and it's a perfect fit (though he's far too pretty). I can even forgive the several fourth-wall breaking scenes in which he recites passages of Seven Pillars of Wisdom to the camera, because of his delivery. A special favorite is his reaction to finding a naked, willing woman in his hotel room: Fiennes fails to stifle his nervous laughter at being presented with a situation he cannot handle, despite everything else he's capable of. O'Toole's Lawrence is a man who thinks he's a god who thinks he's a man; Fiennes' is more like a hero as frighteningly precocious boy whose armor has suddenly been rendered unhelpful.
It's not an illuminating film, and it doesn't explain Lawrence or Feisal or the murky politics of oil-driven colonialism. But there's something beautiful about it anyway, in the performances and the contradictions that drive the two men. I hope to be better able to articulate something about these films and how I feel about Lawrence (they are two different subjects, in the sense that I'm willing to appreciate both truth and legend) in the future, but right now I'm a bit overwhelmed and I'll have to settle for some very slightly moderated "squee."
And since a google search renders nothing but the cover, here are some photos taken of my VHS copy.
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I love this movie. There was a while a few years ago when I first ordered it that I watched it like every other day, and I was reduced to fangirl squeeing after each viewing. In fact, B and I were rearranging our DVDs the other day and I came across it and sighed longingly and thought about you and
Hope you're well!
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Good luck with the upcoming gig!
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I simply adore this movie, despite the many things for which I feel I shouldn't. It simply feels like him (for the most part). Coiled but uncoiling, ambitious but sinking, the dreams dying but not yet entirely lost.
What feels most like him --the scene that makes me cry a little every single time-- is at the very beginning; the first of the bracket scenes. Standing behind the projector, watching in private as his life is lit large and in reverse (from his point of view) as a public entertainment, bereft of its natural colors... starving, mad with pain, exhausted, in tears.
Fiennes' is more like a hero as frighteningly precocious boy whose armor has suddenly been rendered unhelpful.
Yes. Fiennes plays him much closer to Lawrence's age somehow; a very young 30. O'Toole plays him at such a scale as to feel eternal.
I love that Fiennes got the Lawrence who was an infernal flirt; silly, pipsqueaky, giggly, schoolboyish, and lethal.
One particular thing I admire is the way Menaul showed Feisal and Lawrence "breaking up" and later reuniting without them speaking to each other at all.
First at the dinner with Wilson, where Feisal spoke only to Wilson, and Lawrence spoke only to translate. Their entire relationship goes to hell right there with a brief exchange directed (presumably) at Wilson, though really intended by Feisal to cut Lawrence down to bite-size chunks.
Later there's the awkward timing of Lawrence's gloating to Miss Bell about Feisal. Ooo. Not good. But... effectual silence.
Then at the train station, coming back from his father's deathbed. Lawrence mobbed by reporters, but he's only half attentive; he scans the platform for Feisal, with increasing concern. When Feisal at last appears, the relief on Lawrence's face is overwhelming. Feisal regards him with a challenge, but a friendly one.
ANYway. Rambly McFannypants.
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And a huge YES to everything else you said; rant about this all you list, as far as I'm concerned, because I am helplessly fannish about it all at the moment. The translation scene is amazing; there is so much moving between those two, at all times. And Fiennes' flirtatiousness is somewhat helpless and unintentional. Or at least intentionally directed elsewhere than where it lands. Which isn't to say he's ineffectual, but the conflicts in his character bubble out in all directions.
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Not to mention far too tall at 5' 11". Lawrence was 5'5" and his lack of stature was a major factor in the development of his personality.
Of course in this respect O'Toole (6'2") was an even less realistic choice.
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And yes, he does look like a startled ferret. This is when Gertrude Bell comes in and tells the Brits he's negotiating with that he doesn't need an interpreter and that he and Lawrence have been pulling a "dumb Arab" trick on them.
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Can I have Alexander Siddig buttered on toast, pleeeeeze? ; )
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He's adorable. You should see it. I think you'd enjoy their interaction.
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Also, you know what would rock my socks? Siddig el Fadil playing with adorable little FERRETS. I would swoon.
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O'Toole's Lawrence is a man who thinks he's a god who thinks he's a man; Fiennes' is more like a hero as frighteningly precocious boy whose armor has suddenly been rendered unhelpful.
because it helps me understand a little more about LoA. I still find it difficult in some respects.
These are awesome caps. HAHA YOU TOOK PICTURES OF THE TEEVEE! I understand the ferret reference; it's kinda true.
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Maybe we should talk about it more... Though I don't know how much it would help. LoA's Lawrence is someone I feel more than explain, which is sort of part of the magic. Not that it would dispel it to discuss it, I just mean it's hard for me to articulate.
Siddig/ferret is my new (nonsexual) OTP.
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I'd like to have your opinion on it.
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