Lawrence of Arabia – Screenplay by Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson – this is the quintessential magnum opera, nec plus ultra – it is now seventh, and it used to be fifth on The American Film Institute’s Top 100 Motion Pictures, and it is one of my Top five – you find reviews on hundreds of movies and books, the best take would be: https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/02/is-this-unique-could-it-make-money.html

 

Lawrence of Arabia – Screenplay by Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson – this is the quintessential magnum opera, nec plus ultra – it is now seventh, and it used to be fifth on The American Film Institute’s Top 100 Motion Pictures, and it is one of my Top five – you find reviews on hundreds of movies and books, the best take would be: https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/02/is-this-unique-could-it-make-money.html   

 

 

10 out of 10

 

You do not find a motion picture that is better than this!

 

It is resplendent on all levels, screenplay, acting, David Lean was one of the best directors in history, the landscapes are divine, everything is perfect, and the Metascore says 100 out of 100, which means critics have agreed, and the audiences have rated this 101st, but what do they know, they put ahead Marvel productions!

Lawrence of Arabia was controversial, and if were to use some of the demanding standards of the present – wait they have changed from somewhat exaggerated Woke to the MAGA stupidity and vileness – then he could be condemned for various flaws, and mind you, the film does expose the frailty of the protagonist

 

We see him in all the splendor, while he helps the Arab peoples to get their independence and fight with them, sometimes in a sort of leading manner, but I understand that though crucial, we have some of that artistic license and it works gloriously, Peter O’Toole is majestic, just as all the other massive thespians, such as…

Alec Guiness as Prince Faisal, Omar sharif as Sherif Ali, Anthony Quinn as Auda Abu Tayi and there are many more, all fantastic – Lawrence is sent to Arabia to consult, help them get organized, but to begin with, he has a low profile and his rank is not high in the British Army, but he has such a strong character that he gets attention

 

He is all for the Arabs getting much more, and becomes a vital ally, furthermore, in terrible circumstances, he becomes a role model, at the start he has a guide, and they drink from a well in the desert, when this man arrives riding a camel and kills the guide, to the horror of our main character, who is told

The dead man should have known better, and this killer is Sherif Ali, they will become close pals, in spite of the first dialogue – ‘none of my friends is a murderer’ – Lawrence will support daring, aggressive action and the union of the various tribes, including one led by Auda Abu Tayi aka stupendous Anthony Quinn

 

Indeed, the latter has one of the lines I say often ‘I am a river to my people’, because it encourages well, munificence, and it is also in jest, Auda is challenged by Lawrence, who claims this proud Arab is interested in the money to be gained from Aqaba, and the latter is protesting – me, I am so magnanimous

We know today that the union of the Arabs has not been attained, they have this schism – just like in Christianity, where you have Catholicism, Eastern Orthodox and other denominations after Luther, Calvin – between Sunni and Shia, mainly, just like there would be others, the Alawites say, under attack in Syria now

 

At some point, the Arabs fight with the Turks, the Ottoman Empire had vast territories conquered, many of them in Arab lands, and Lawrence is again organizing the attacks, on trains and other transports, he tries to get into the enemy lands, is caught by a Turkish Bey aka Jose Ferrer and we think he will be raped, maybe he was actually

Then the dark side is manifest, towards the end, if during a long ride through the desert he is heroic, returning to save a boy, on another occasion, as they attack this city, he is thirsty for blood, shouting ‘no prisoners!’

 

Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/02/is-this-unique-could-it-make-money.html  – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

 There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html

 

Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works

 

‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’

 

 

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