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One of the repeated complaints I've read about the film is that we don't get to know Lawrence very well, but I think this was done on purpose. Lawrence was a mystery to the people who knew him best in real life, so why should we - as viewers of his biopic - get any additional firsthand knowledge? Or, an even better question, how would we get that information, unless the filmmakers simply made it up? In the end, it didn't bother me since it didn't impact the story we were watching unfold.

Immediately following my showing, my main complaint was the drastic character change that Lawrence undergoes - in the final act, after the intermission - didn't make much sense to me. But after thinking about it more and using a little inductive reasoning, that wasn't really the case. After clearing that hurdle, my appreciation of the film increased and I raised my rating a whole point. Lawrence of Arabia isn't a film that spoon feeds everything to you, but instead relies on your ability to pay attention and think through some parts. In my mind, this is an extremely positive aspect.

In addition to all the accolades I've mentioned so far, Lawrence of Arabia won the Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Art Direction, and Best Sound. All combined, it was nominated for ten Oscars and won seven of them. A bit of trivia - at 222 minutes, Lawrence of Arabia is the longest film to ever win Best Picture, narrowly edging out Gone with the Wind, which I was surprised to find didn't run 12 hours, despite how it felt.

In 1991, the Library of Congress deemed the film "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and enshrined it in the National Film Registry. If any film meets all three of those criteria, it's Lawrence of Arabia.

The American Film Institute named Lawrence of Arabia the greatest "epic" and fifth greatest film - in any category - of all-time. While I don't value it that highly, it's hard to argue their choice. It is a classic in every sense of the word and one I hope to revisit very soon.

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