Few administrators can declare to carry the cinematic authority of blockbuster pioneer Steven Spielberg, who has cemented himself because the architect of suspense and awe by way of his superior devotion to the artwork of filmmaking. Due to this fact, when Spielberg professes that the desert crossing scene in Lawrence of Arabia is “one of many best moments in film historical past,” we really must take heed to him. Launched in 1962, the practically four-hour epic is a masterclass in pacing and cinematography, nowhere extra obvious than within the desert crossing scene.
By way of sheer perseverance, T.E. Lawrence, Sherif Ali, and a celebration of fifty males cross the Nefud desert to seize the coastal metropolis of Aqaba, a near-impossible job that just about takes the lives of a number of members. For Spielberg, it is some of the evocative and highly effective sequences he is witnessed, claiming it “forged a spell” on him—it is no marvel the AFI considers it one of the greatest epic movies ever. So, forward of Roland Emmerich’s Lawrence of Arabia TV series, there is no higher time to discover why the Schindler’s List director considers the desert crossing among the best scenes ever.
Why Steven Spielberg Loves Lawrence Of Arabia’s Desert Crossing
Spielberg Had A Transformative Viewing Of The Movie At Age 14
In a 2021 essay from Empire’s “Greatest Cinema Moments Ever” issue, Spielberg broke down his first viewing of Lawrence of Arabia in a high-end Arizona theater when he was 14 years outdated. There, the soon-to-be director sat within the smoking part, entranced by the theater’s 70mm movie projection and stereophonic sound. Lastly, when the desert crossing scene got here to a head simply over an hour into the movie, Spielberg recounts an viewers phenomenon so weird he hasn’t “witnessed something prefer it since“:
…the very first thing I observed was how quiet the viewers was and the way few cigarettes had been being lit because the solar bore down on the riders, most notably Gasim, who had fallen off his camel within the evening and was trekking towards the rising furnace of a solar. Lawrence, risking all the pieces, rides again for him because the solar grows in dimension till it seems to be like the entire viewers goes to be sucked into it.
Then there’s a jarring lower to camels and riders ingesting from an incredible oasis and the stress is drastically damaged. When the sequence ended, dozens of individuals within the viewers instantly rose to their toes and left the theatre. I didn’t perceive what was occurring. We had all watched one of many best moments in film historical past and folks had been strolling out… together with my father.
The movie continued to play, and by the point Sherif Ali burns Lawrence’s uniform many started to return… all of them laden with drinks. You might hear the crushed ice swishing inside their containers. Cokes and seven Ups by the arm-loads! That sequence had dehydrated 800 folks, lots of whom rushed to the oasis of the concession stand to quench their thirst. I haven’t witnessed something prefer it since.
It is simple to grasp why Spielberg would discover Lawrence of Arabia so transferring after bearing witness to an occasion of that caliber. Certainly, previous to the desert crossing sequence, Sherif Ali calls one notably brutal patch of the Nefud “the anvil of the solar,” a sentiment confirmed by way of the roves of viewers members pushed to the concession stands in the hunt for hydration. On the finish of the day, Spielberg’s anecdote is actually a testomony to the superior and distinctive energy of cinema to affect audiences in a larger vogue than maybe all different mediums mixed.
How Lawrence Of Arabia Has Influenced Steven Spielberg
Spielberg Has Carried The Torch And Emulated The Epic’s Visible Storytelling
During his acceptance speech for the BAFTA Fellowship in 1986, Steven Spielberg made a degree to thank Lawrence of Arabia director David Lean, saying the 1962 epic “did extra to encourage me to wish to make motion pictures than some other movie that I can recall.” In reality, Lean’s inspiration may be discovered all throughout Spielberg’s filmography, from the swashbuckling heroism and sweeping landscapes of Raiders of the Misplaced Ark to the visible wonders of Jurassic Park and Shut Encounters of the Third Sort.
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Nonetheless, the best throughline between Lawrence of Arabia and Spielberg’s filmography is a unprecedented capability to encourage awe and transcendent marvel, which has additionally been referred to over time as “Spielberg magic.” When wanting on the E.T. director’s physique of labor, you discover a plethora of large, expansive photographs within the method of Lawrence of Arabia in each scope and deep emotional pathos—elevating the extraordinary or mundane by way of visible storytelling distinctive to cinema. Nonetheless, the best connection between Spielberg and the 1962 epic is a devotion to the human component, which stays a staple of the director’s legacy.
Supply: Empire
