True Stories 4: 60s—Lawrence of Arabia

As we continue our explorations of ‘true story’ films, we move from the more lightweight 50s where we looked at Titanic and The Glenn Miller Story to one of the most lauded films of all time— Lawrence of Arabia written by Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson. Critics uniformly laud this film and it’s the winner of many awards. The story for the film is based on the life of British officer T. E. Lawrence and his successful attempts to unite the many warring Arab tribes in World War I to fight the Turks.

The film is iconic because the character of Lawrence is iconic. Here’s a man who did the impossible—united natural enemies to fight for the British empire. How do you tell such a story if you’re a writer given this assignment?

In the case of a historical story, you first look at the history. You can see what Lawrence did during the war from all kinds of sources—first-hand accounts from Africa and the UK. You can look at Lawrence’s own journal, which he eventually published. You can go to Africa and retrace his steps.

Or can you? Because that’s an expensive proposition, isn’t it? Still, I believe strongly in going to the location of the story you’re planning to write. You can look at pictures and film footage of anyplace in the world, but it’s just not like being there. I don’t care how fabulous your imagination is, it will never be as good, vivid, and thought-provoking as being there. So if a particular historic story grabs you, plan that trip. Make it a family vacation and let the family have fun while you research. Or if you go alone, look into the most inexpensive ways you can go. Can you rent a room from a family rather than live in an expensive hotel? Can you take granola bars and Raman noodles with you to save on food? What can you do to be there, to imagine the world, to walk in the shoes of the person you’re researching? To feel—even if but for a brief time—that you are that person.

This kind of research is crucial if there’s any way you can swing it. Such time will be well spent because you’ll discover scenes you’d never have thought of sitting at home in front of your computer. Promise.

Lawrence is a story that takes us to the desert. We feel the sand in our face, we are part of the exciting attempts to blow up rail bridges, we go with Lawrence as he works to persuade the tribes to follow him. And, most importantly, we see a Lawrence who is enigmatic, someone we are constantly trying to figure out—he’s intriguing… which makes us want to keep watching.

And for you, that means you want that reader of your script to keep reading—that’s the goal, isn’t it? To keep that reader intrigued… and painting a captivating picture of your main character will go a long way to doing just that.

Lawrence? A heroic character, to be sure. But how do you write a compelling script about a character who isn’t so heroic? Stay tuned for next week’s look at In Cold Blood.

Copyright © Diane Lake

26Jun22

Email Diane a question to Diane@DianeLake.com