Lawrence of Arabia
Sony Columbia’s brand-new digital restoration of David Lean’s Director’s Cut, with Peter O'Toole in his most famous role as the iconic, enigmatic Lawrence.
Even if a screening is sold out, tickets are often available 30 minutes before the start of the film at the box office at each venue.
- Director David Lean
- Producer Sam Spiegel, David Lean
- Screenwriter Robert Bolt, Michael Wilson
- With Peter O’Toole, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn
- UK 1962
- 222 mins plus interval
- UK distribution Park Circus
This LFF premiere of Sony Columbia’s brand-new 4K digital restoration of David Lean’s epic biopic is state-of-the-art Lawrence as never seen before. Peter O’Toole’s enduringly iconic, white-robed, blue-eyed Lawrence (a role offered to Marlon Brando and Albert Finney before him) shines ever more brightly in this, Lean’s 1988 Director’s Cut, re-inforcing the film’s status as the nation’s favourite. The setting is World War One and the Middle East, where the charismatic, arabophile Lawrence succeeds triumphantly in reconciling tribal differences and the British-arab relationship to defeat the turks. with sweeping desert locations, Freddie Young’s stunning photography and maurice jarre’s timeless and indelible musical themes, Lawrence has lost none of its power to seduce audiences. O’Toole plays Lawrence as enigmatic, vain, insolent and masochistic. Despite this, Lean’s principal hope was to ‘have created a very exceptional hero’. The verdict now, as then, is an incontrovertible yes.
Clyde Jeavons
David Lean filmography
1938 Pygmalion [uncred co-d]
1941 Major Barbara [uncred co-d]
1942 In Which We Serve [co-d]
1944 This Happy Breed; Failure of a Strategy [doc s]
1945 Blithe Spirit; Brief Encounter
1946 Great Expectations
1948 Oliver Twist
1949 The Passionate Friends
1950 Madeleine
1952 The Sound Barrier
1954 Hobson’s Choice
1955 Summer Madness
1957 The Bridge on the River Kwai
1962 Lawrence of Arabia
1965 Dr Zhivago
1970 Ryan’s Daughter
1979 Lost and Found: the Story of Cook’s Anchor [doc s]
1984 A Passage to India
Become a Member
Get early booking access and enjoy year-round benefits with BFI Membership.
Join todayFestival brochure
Download our digital BFI London Film Festival 2023 brochure, compatible with most screen readers.
Download brochure