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A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia
Feb. 28th, 2011 07:46 pmThis is a telemovie made as a sequel to Lawrence of Arabia, released in 1990, shortly after the restored version of that movie was completed. This sequel stars Ralph Fiennes as T E Lawrence and Siddig El Fadil as Prince Feisal, in practically their first screen roles. It covers the Paris Peace Conference held in the wake of World War One, where the nations of the world are carving up empires, and Lawrence and Feisal must fight once more for their dream of an independent Arabia.
Two things of note:
1) This was actually the movie that got me interested in watching Lawrence of Arabia in the first place, when I saw a review for it years ago, quite possibly when it was new out. Partly because of Siddig El Fadil, aka Dr Julian Bashir of Deep Space Nine, and partly because of the supposed chemistry between his Feisal and Ralph Fiennes' Lawrence. Yes, apparently I am that predictable.
2) When I was finally ready to watch A Dangerous Man, damn it was hard to find. One video store clerk told me it had a wide release as VHS, but when they were replaced by DVD, there was never much of a push. Even JB Hi-Fi told me it had been deleted from their catalogue. I finally tracked down a lone copy in a certain library.
Anyway, back to the story.
It's hard to imagine how any movie could follow in the footsteps of the epic Lawrence of Arabia. And A Dangerous Man, perhaps deliberately, walks its own path. It's almost the polar opposite of its predecessor: stagelike drama instead of cinematic widescreen, interiors instead of exteriors, diplomacy instead of warfare. The two movies actually complement each other nicely.
I had reservations about whether anyone else could play Lawrence after experiencing Peter O'Toole's mesmerising performance, but Ralph Fiennes brings a charm of his own to the role, although his Lawrence seems less conflicted and tormented. He still manages to convey his chameleon nature though. Siddig El Fadil is warm and fiery as Feisal, although I was somewhat grieved to see the barriers that kept falling between them. Bonus that there were actually female characters in this movie, primarily the very cool Gertrude Bell, played by Gillian Barge.
Overall, this is a quieter drama, curiously paced, without really a big denouement. But it serves as a good counterpart and coda to the original. For me, it helped put together some pieces of history, as Arabia is divided up in political deals, with foreign powers striving to protect their interest in oil.
Two things of note:
1) This was actually the movie that got me interested in watching Lawrence of Arabia in the first place, when I saw a review for it years ago, quite possibly when it was new out. Partly because of Siddig El Fadil, aka Dr Julian Bashir of Deep Space Nine, and partly because of the supposed chemistry between his Feisal and Ralph Fiennes' Lawrence. Yes, apparently I am that predictable.
2) When I was finally ready to watch A Dangerous Man, damn it was hard to find. One video store clerk told me it had a wide release as VHS, but when they were replaced by DVD, there was never much of a push. Even JB Hi-Fi told me it had been deleted from their catalogue. I finally tracked down a lone copy in a certain library.
Anyway, back to the story.
It's hard to imagine how any movie could follow in the footsteps of the epic Lawrence of Arabia. And A Dangerous Man, perhaps deliberately, walks its own path. It's almost the polar opposite of its predecessor: stagelike drama instead of cinematic widescreen, interiors instead of exteriors, diplomacy instead of warfare. The two movies actually complement each other nicely.
I had reservations about whether anyone else could play Lawrence after experiencing Peter O'Toole's mesmerising performance, but Ralph Fiennes brings a charm of his own to the role, although his Lawrence seems less conflicted and tormented. He still manages to convey his chameleon nature though. Siddig El Fadil is warm and fiery as Feisal, although I was somewhat grieved to see the barriers that kept falling between them. Bonus that there were actually female characters in this movie, primarily the very cool Gertrude Bell, played by Gillian Barge.
Overall, this is a quieter drama, curiously paced, without really a big denouement. But it serves as a good counterpart and coda to the original. For me, it helped put together some pieces of history, as Arabia is divided up in political deals, with foreign powers striving to protect their interest in oil.
