#loa screenplay

[dying-suffering-french-stalkers]

I was just rereading the LoA script and this line stuck out.

[dying-suffering-french-stalkers]

[dying-suffering-french-stalkers]

“Life isn’t fair.  It’s just fairer than death, that’s all.”

The Princess Bride by William Goldman // Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979), dir. Hayao Miyazaki // Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie // Casablanca (1942), dir. Michael Curtiz // The Magnificent Seven (1960), dir. John Sturges // Lawrence of Arabia screenplay by Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson // “Words Can Hurt” (2014 commercial) // The Princess Bride

[dying-suffering-french-stalkers]

@windsweptlassie asked:

Film lawrence is nonbinary.....op you're absolutely right how does it feel to be so smart (also if you have any good meta on this topic let me know!!)

Ahhhh thank you!! Quite frankly, it's outright canon in the film:

I don't know of any meta on the topic, unfortunately, but I'm going to throw this into the blue void in case I missed it or someone wants to start one!

[dying-suffering-french-stalkers]

feel free to ignore this but what's your take on the 'if i fear him, who love him, how must he fear himself, who hates himself' line, i'm not good w english so i'm having trouble fully grasping it and you seem like you know your shit abt this film

Thank you so much for this ask, Anon, and sorry for taking so long to answer.  I hope I can explain this well!

First, let me give you the screenplay for this scene, which might help you form your understanding (under the cut because that will make this post very long!):

With that in mind, I interpret that scene as Ali finally admitting to himself that, despite how much he loves Lawrence (and oh, does he love him, even at the end), some part of him is genuinely afraid of what movie!Lawrence was capable of (i.e., the “No prisoners!” scene).  This knowledge, too, scares Ali.  If Ali can fear Lawrence despite his [Ali’s] love, he knows that Lawrence must fear and despise himself even more than Ali does, because unlike Ali, Lawrence does not love Lawrence.

The line is as much an admission of love (in 1962!) and an indicator of how well they've come to know each other as it is an admission that even their love cannot solve everything.  Lawrence reached one breaking point and is quickly heading for complete mental, physical, and spiritual exhaustion; his final breakdown comes in the next scene, in the hospital.  Lawrence has a great deal of trauma and soul-searching to work through, and Ali knows he cannot (and should not) depend on Lawrence for the next stage of fighting, which will take place in the political realm.  They have to work out their problems on their own from here on out.  This will be a struggle for them both, but it must be so.

[dying-suffering-french-stalkers]

That day, Ali was amazed to discover that when Lawrence said “You’re an ignorant man,” what he meant was “I love you.”

[dying-suffering-french-stalkers]

Lawrence of Arabia screenplay (PDF) — Robert Bolt, 1962

[dying-suffering-french-stalkers]

Just when I think this screenplay is done murdering me, Robert Bolt comes back to pierce my heart anew.