A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia

Call me an elitist if you like, but this film is not for the general public; it is for the erudite, educated and well-informed only. All others will be hopelessly lost in an ocean of Western and Eastern stereotypes and suppositions. I enjoyed this triumphant tragedy more than most; of that I have no doubt. I have my own copy of "The Seven Pillars of Wisdom", the masterpiece of T. E. Lawrence's life's work. I found the age differential between the original film masterpiece character of Prince Feisal (played by a middle-aged Alec Guinness) and the young Prince Feisal of this film to be slightly disconcerting, but something that, ultimately, the viewer can overlook. Ralph Fiennes is, of course, superb; as is all of the supporting cast. I did not care much for the ending, which I will not reveal, but that too did not affect the overall tenor of the film. If you enjoyed the prequel, you will most likely enjoy the sequel; despite the absence of special effects, a cast of thousands, and an epic budget. This is a thinking man's film, and not one to be enjoyed by someone looking for eye candy. Anyone who does not appreciate the content of this film would be, in my opinion, be ignorant and ill-informed. So to all those romantics out there who love T. E. Lawrence; enjoy every minute.

This film is a wonderful glimpse into the stiff and devious world of frock coated 1919 diplomacy. I agree with those who already have said it is a wonderful companion piece for the more well known film about T.E. Lawrence. Fiennes gives a very deep and effective interpretation of the complex Lawrence. The recreations of Clemenceau, Wilson and Lloyd George are powerful indeed. The Versailles treaty is almost ancient history even though it had much to do with shaping today's complicated world. This film brings it into the present (or maybe us into the past). Perhaps not everybody's cup of tea but well worth seeing if you like twentieth century history, good acting and fine British television.

I have seen the film again, read the other reviews and I too consider this movie excellent in its own right, the stars are spot on and the acting very believable. It is a definite companion piece to Lean's "Lawrence of Arabia", I have the 2 DVDs side by side in my collection at home. It might not have the trainwrecks and the battles with the Turks, but the politics of the time are very important, also very interesting, emphasised more strongly in this film than "Lawrence of Arabia". History buffs will lean toward this film I feel, as I have done. You will not even notice it was made for TV, the story is so gripping. Ralph Fiennes is remarkable in the role of T.E.Lawrence, working as translator and for the Arab cause, King Feisal perfectly portrayed by the young actor Alexander Siddiq, the others the politicians including Michael Cochrane as Winston Churchill are first rate, Nicholas Jones as Lord Dyson is chilling. To sum up, extremely good, an important and interesting film (not dry as someone said, the translation scenes, the speeches for world leaders had me on the edge of my seat) One has to look back at history to understand what is going on today. In the main, all the historical facts are in place here, and therefore one can at least, partially understand the complex situation in the region in our present age as we tune in to the News. Comment from Malcolm in Toronto, May 27th 2007

Interesting, but also uninteresting.

The key plotlines of 'A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia', an "unofficial sequel" to that 1962 movie, are actually fairly intriguing, though it's all kinda presented via quite underwhelming means. My personal interest in events onscreen dipped and piqued fairly often. A trimmed run time would've helped, I'd imagine.

On the cast, a debuting Ralph Fiennes makes for a solid Lawrence, though that is not a surprise given he is an excellent actor. Alexander Siddig (aka Siddig El Fadil, also basically debuting) is another noteworthy name, though I feel like he would've made a better Sherif Ali (not that he appears here) rather than Prince Faisal - Siddig is good, all the same.

Ralph Fiennes takes on the dangerous Peter O'Toole role of T. E. Lawrence in "A Dangerous Man," about Lawrence of Arabia, who knew his way around the desert in World War I, bewildered by red tape in the 1919 Paris Peace Conference that eventually helped give us World War II and possibly World War III (though the 1921 Cairo Conference actually divided the former Ottoman Empire into lines in the sand).

Notable are Denis Quiley as Lord Curzon and Michael Cochrane as Winston Churchill, though the whole cast is fine.

Don't think of this as a sequel to David Lean's masterpiece. In "Lawrence of Arabia" O'Toole played Lawrence as the tragic archetype of a liberator no longer needed once "his" chosen people had their freedom.

Fiennes' Lawrence is up against a worse adversary than the Ottoman Empire: entrenched bureaucracy (what today we call the swamp). British civil servants who probably spent their War years in Whitehall smugly do their best to hamper Lawrence's delegation and cut his legs off before his friends. All in the name of aiding the French.

The ins and outs of governmental duplicity (it existed on medieval China, the British Empire and modern America amongst these same breed of bureaucrats) are easy to follow as they do their best to sideline Lawrence and the Arabs as the British and the French gaily scheme.

This movie has a good cast but shares no production values with Lean's magnum opus. Consider them two separate types of beast.

BTW, it takes all the rumors of Lawrence's private life as gospel. That will fascinate rather than irritate the viewers it's most likely to attract.