Sunday, June 25, 2006

We're watching Lawrence of Arabia. One thing I'm particularly loving is how the English dialog manages to convey the feeling for the Arabic that the characters are (really) speaking without ever feeling stilted. What made Lawrence so effective was his true mastery of Arabic -- not just the language, but its idioms, its way of thinking, its worldview. The cinematography of the desert is beautiful, but Bolt's understanding of how a powerless madman like Lawrence with a perfect understanding of the Bedouins manages to whip, wheedle and forge them into an army using just words ... well, it is a thing of far rarer beauty. I am struggling to think offhand of a movie whose dialog is so consistently excellent. Worth another look if you haven't seen it in the past five years.

12:13 AM

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