Must-watchWorld War I · Film · 1962
Lawrence of Arabia
A restless British officer is sent from Cairo to assess Prince Faisal's revolt and ends up leading Arab tribes across the desert against the Ottoman Empire, becoming a legend he cannot control.
Where it happened
Follow the story across 6 places.
Stop 1: Arab Bureau, Cairo
A bored map officer at British headquarters, Lawrence is chosen to go into the Hejaz and find out what Prince Faisal intends.
Stop 2: Nefud Desert
Lawrence leads a small force across the 'Sun's Anvil' that no one believes can be crossed, and turns back alone to rescue a straggler.
Stop 3: Aqaba
Key location
Joined by Auda abu Tayi's Howeitat, the Arab army charges down on the port whose great guns all point out to sea.
Stop 4: Deraa
Scouting the railway junction in disguise, Lawrence is captured and brutally beaten by the Ottoman governor's men, an ordeal that breaks something in him.
Stop 5: Tafas
Finding a village massacred by retreating Ottoman troops, Lawrence gives the order that no prisoners be taken.
Stop 6: Damascus
The Arabs reach Damascus ahead of the British and try to govern it through a quarrelling Arab council.
What really happened
T. E. Lawrence was a British liaison officer to the Arab Revolt, launched by Sharif Hussein of Mecca in June 1916. On 6 July 1917 Arab irregulars under Auda abu Tayi and Lawrence took the Red Sea port of Aqaba from the landward side after a long desert march, giving the British a supply base for the campaign north into Palestine and Syria.
The film compresses and dramatises: the Nefud crossing and Aqaba are accurate in outline, the Deraa episode comes from Lawrence's own disputed account, and the Tafas massacre of September 1918 happened amid a brutal Ottoman retreat. Arab forces entered Damascus on 1 October 1918, but the Sykes-Picot agreement of 1916 had already divided the region between Britain and France.
Where to watch
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Full details
- Original title
- Lawrence of Arabia
- Directed by
- David Lean
- Countries
- United Kingdom, United States
- Languages
- English, Arabic, Turkish
- Released
- 1962
- Period
- –
- Theaters of war
- Mediterranean & Africa
- Themes
- Combat
- Biography
- True story
