A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia (1992)

Lawrence and Feisal go to argue for Arab independence at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference.

Director:

Christopher Menaul

Writer:

Tim Rose Price

Stars:

Ralph Fiennes, Alexander Siddig, Denis Quilley

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ralph Fiennes	...	T. E. Lawrence
Alexander Siddig	...	Feisal (as Siddig El Fadil)
Denis Quilley	...	Lord Curzon
Nicholas Jones	...	Lord Dyson
Roger Hammond	...	Valence
Peter Copley	...	Maitland
Paul Freeman	...	Dumont
Polly Walker	...	Mme. Dumont
Gillian Barge	...	Gertrude Bell
Jim Carter	...	Meinertzhagen
Michael Cochrane	...	Winston Churchill
Robert Arden	...	Wilson
Arnold Diamond	...	Clemenceau
Bernard Lloyd	...	Lloyd George
Keith Edwards	...	Fleischmann

Storyline

In 1919, the great English military man T. E. Lawrence tries to help the king of the Syrian in the Conference of Peace in Paris. The film shows the hero of the movie Lawrence of Arabia (1962) in a phase of reflection and politics, defending the Arabs against the pretensions of England and France.

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Plot Keywords:

peace | arab | paris peace conference | king | homosexual subtext | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Biography | Drama | War

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 May 1992 (USA)

Also Known As:

En farlig man

Company Credits

Production Co:

Anglia Films,KQED,Sands Films

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The original Lawrence of Arabia (1962) is one of Steven Spielberg's favorite films. Upon seeing this film, Spielberg cast Ralph Fiennes in Schindler's List (1993).

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Quotes

T. E. Lawrence: I loved you, so I drew these tides of men into my hands and wrote my will across the sky in stars, To gain you Freedom, the seven-pillared worthy house, that your eyes might be shining for me, when I came.

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Connections

Follows Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

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Soundtracks

String Quartet In C Minor, Op.35
(uncredited)
Music by Ernest Chausson

User Reviews

Entertaining and informative, especially if you're interested in current events

The great Lawrence of Arabia fights side-by-side with the Arabs to help save Arabia from Turkish invaders. Fade to black. Roll credits. End of story.

Well, not entirely. A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia, tells more. In this movie, T.E. Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) goes to Paris with Feisal (Alexander Siddig) to argue for Arab independent rule during the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. In Paris, instead of the shifting sands of the desert, Feisal and Lawrence encounter shifting political alliances.

If you're interested in current Middle East affairs, this movie provides some insight. It portrays the division of the Middle East into "spheres of influence." England, France, and the United States would each be responsible for a particular sphere. Feisal and Lawrence want Great Britian to make good on their wartime promise to create Syria as an independent Arab state. However, Britian now supports France as the eventual ruler of Syria.

A brief scene shows Lawrence watching a worker oiling a chandelier. Lawrence explains to his companion, "If France gets Syria, we [the British] get the Persian Gulf." His companion replies that if Britian must choose between loyalty to Feisal or access to petroleum... well, Feisal doesn't stand a chance.

Through Feisal, we get some sense of how the Arabs must have felt as their homeland was carved into pieces of pie for the powerful, oil-hungry Western world. It's interesting that, through most of the movie, Feisal speaks to other officials only through Lawrence although Feisal speaks fluent English. In fact, Feisal relies on Lawrence to not only interpret but, in some cases, to create his thoughts. While this may or may not be historically accurate, it certainly highlights Feisal's precarious position.

The movie briefly questions Lawrence's motives in helping Feisal. (`I want Syria to be our first brown dominion,' says Lawrence, `and I can do it with my Arabs.') Ultimately, though, it portrays him as a well-intentioned man caught up in politics that are out of his control. Syria did, in fact, go to France. In the 1920s, however, Britian supported Feisal as ruler of a new Arab kingdom - Iraq.

Terrifically acted by Ralph Fiennes and Alexander Siddig, this movie wraps up the loose ends of the Lawrence of Arabia legend. By the time the credits roll, you know much more about who, how, and why than you did before.