The Oscar Project #35: Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

by Chris Marshall:

Is it possible to acknowledge a film as great but not particularly like it? To admire a movie for its craftsmanship and the technical skill required to pull it off but not actually enjoy the time you spent doing so? Because that’s the overarching feeling I have after watching Lawrence of Arabia.

As was the case with Mutiny on the Bounty, I have memories of this film from my childhood despite never having watched it before. Specifically, I remember it coming on TV in “letterbox format,” meaning it had big black bars at the top and bottom of the screen, and I couldn’t imagine why anybody would want to watch a movie like that. I was told that you could actually see more of the picture in that format, which was totally baffling to me. How can you get more with less?

Fast forward 18 years to a time when I can make sense of this seeming paradox, and now I won’t watch a movie any other way; full screen DVDs aren’t worth the discs they’re printed (is that the word I want?) on. Now that I’ve watched Lawrence of Arabia, I also understand why it is so critical to watch this film in particular in widescreen format.

The Oscar Project #30: The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

by Chris Marshall:

I should really stop having expectations when I go into these movies. I don’t mean expecting a movie to be good or bad but the more basic level of what the film is even about. I knew that The Bridge on the River Kwai took place in a POW camp during World War II, but outside of that, it was completely different from what I thought it would be.

I figured it would be about the deplorable conditions the British soldiers faced in the camp and how they were forced to build the bridge against their will, all while struggling to survive the horrendous situation they found themselves in. That really wasn’t the case at all, though.

Sure, that’s more or less how it started. We start out seeing the American Navy prisoner (played by William Holden) digging graves in a well-populated cemetery, obviously leading to the conclusion that many soldiers had died there already. When the British contingent arrives, the camp leader, Colonel Saito, informs them that everyone, officers included, will have to do manual labor. When Lieutenant Colonel Nicholson (Alec Guinness) objects, citing the Geneva Convention’s mandate that officers not be used for manual labor, Saito rips it in half. This could be trouble.