Anyway... Last Friday I received Lawrence's 50th Anniversary Collector's Edition Blu-Ray. This gargantuan set comes with a three-disc Blu-Ray, along with an 88 page making of book (lots of nice pictures), a remastered copy of the original soundtrack (cool, but I prefer the City of Prague Philharmonic's re-recording) and a 70mm film frame. Mine is a shot of Lawrence just before the Tafas Massacre - as good a frame as any.
Among the goodies, of course, is the newly-restored balcony scene. I've dissected this piece at length here, judging solely by its transcript. Having now actually seen it, I'll offer further commentary.
The scene runs about five minutes in length. It starts with Allenby informing Lawrence "there's blood on your back" and continues until "the best of them won't come for money." Thus we see not only extended footage, but alternate editing and presentation of the sequence.
The editing differences proved jarring. This version dissolves from Allenby's "tell me what happened" to Lawrence and Allenby chatting on the balcony. After the added footage it cuts to Bentley and Dryden's brief argument, then back into Allenby saying "Not many people have a destiny" - thus, even later than in the existing film. Besides which, the early dissolve jars with the hard cut later. It's a sloppy, irritating juxtaposition.
Then there's the dubbing. Charles Gray sounds absolutely nothing like Jack Hawkins. I know Gray dubbed Hawkins in films after the latter lost his voice to cancer, but doing that for a whole film is different. Having bits of Hawkins dialogue book-ending the new footage makes an already drastic difference insurmountable. On this basis alone it's easy to see why Robert Harris and Co. didn't reinstate this sequence in '89, and why it was good to leave it as an extra.
Don't believe me? Here's a short 40 second clip via Youtube:
Adrian Turner suggests this scene was originally cut because David Lean couldn't fit it into the narrative. This is borne out, I think, by the editing style. It just will not do to have the dissolve and then, much later, a hard cut. This makes the time elapse unclear and throws off the pacing. Did Lawrence tell Allenby the whole story of his Deraa defilement? How long was Dryden hanging around Allenby's office before exiting? This is unusually sloppy work from Lean, himself an ex-editor, but attests to the scene's problems.
Why view the scene? It's one of the few times Allenby lets down his guard and shows himself a human being. Jack Hawkins lost this and at least two other scenes in earlier cuts of Lawrence, which must have rankled. It provides Lawrence more pointed motivation for his final change of heart. It shows more clearly the paternal relationship between the two men - Lawrence eager for a father figure, Allenby exploiting that weakness. And as expected from Robert Bolt, it contains elegant dialogue.
But this points up its problems, too. It's primarily a character scene, interesting but not strictly functional. While not overly long, at its specific place in the film - Lawrence's last attempt to opt out of his "destiny" - it slows things down considerably. In other words, it's that most unfortunate thing: a beautiful superfluity.
So my curiosity is satisfied yet disappointed. I'm glad I've seen this scene, yet it wasn't all I'd hoped it would be. Oh well, unreasonable expectations and all that.
Exit 2012! I'll have my best and worst movies post up a few days late, but rest assured it's coming. Here's to another year of fabulous blogging. Happy 2013 everyone!
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