Denis Villeneuve on LAWRENCE OF ARABIA | TIFF 2021

Filmmaker and friend of TIFF Denis Villeneuve on LAWRENCE OF ARABIA. Explore a selection of past works from the Quebec auteur — along with three films hand-picked by Villeneuve that influenced his latest blockbuster, DUNE — at TIFF Bell Lightbox. Learn more at TIFF.net

[rhapsodydigby]

When you watch dune 2 you really get a sense of his love for this movie

[TheCrazyDcoolest]

Damn Lawrence's eyes are almost more blue than fremen eyes.

[craigstewart]

Noel Coward: "If you had been any prettier, it would have been 'Florence of Arabia.'" Roger Ebert: "I've noticed that when people remember 'Lawrence of Arabia, ' they don't talk about the details of the plot. They get a certain look in their eye, as if they are remembering the whole experience, and have never quite been able to put it into words."

[TonyGrayCanada]

Denis is a very moving speaker, even in his second language.

[DelightLovesMovies]

I never get tired of watching Lawrence of Arabia.

[samfilmkid]

"Lawrence of Arabia is to cinema what the pyramids are to architecture."

[GreasyFox]

Dune would not existed without Lawrence of Arabia. Who can forget those beautiful 70mm shot scenes?

[ujjwalreal]

I deliberately stopped myself from watching Lawrence of Arabia until I could find it playing on a big screen, which I finally did, in glorious 70mm and my god was it worth the wait. Best cinema experience of my life

[sahibpreetsingh]

In the times when the industry is being dominated by CGI effects. I'm extremely happy that filmmakers like Villeneuve still exist who are keeping practical effects and movie sets alive. Lawrence of Arabia was and is still a masterpiece.

[banba]

"Lawrence Of Arabia is part of my cinematic education..." I have loved and watched that film at least two dozen times and often thought a Dune adaptation would have to approach the scale and scope of that epic masterpiece! Thank goodness a student of genius has come along to match the film to the original work! Thank you Denis! Got my tix for 10/22 and I can't wait to be as immersed in the Dune film as I was in the book!

[mf_from_hell]

Denis Villeneuve is the only director I can think of that has truly captured that same feeling of grandeur. You get a sense that you're watching something on a massive scale in almost every scene in Dune. I don't think anyone has understood David Lean quite as well as Villeneuve.

[odu_history_]

Lawrence of Arabia is my mother's favorite movie. When I was a kid, I was so bored by it. I remember it came on TV one time and I walked into the living room at the scene where Lawrence and Farraj arrive at the Suez Canal. I only saw the ship behind sand dunes and thought, "Why is a ship moving through the middle of the desert? This is dumb, " and didn't try to watch the movie again until I was 17. That year was 1989, and the film had gone through its restoration. My mom and I had some kind of falling out (something stupid that was my fault but I can't remember) and I decided to take my mom to see the restored version to make up for it. Honestly, I went in with the belief that I was about to be bored out of my mind and that I was going to just have to power through nearly four hours of boredom.

Boy was I wrong! What an amazing film!

I fell in love with the film and, being a musician, Maurice Jarre's score. My own kids sat down to watch it and they love it too. Even when they were very young, like four and five years old they would sit down to watch it all the way through. When I came back from my third deployment to the Middle East in early 2001, I brought back keffiyeh's and agals, and my kids would actually pretend like they were T.E. Lawrence, Sherif Ali, and Auda Abu Tayi. Unfortunately, they didn't get to pretend for very long because 9/11 meant that Middle Easterners didn't get to be the heroes of playtime anymore.

Anyway, the film had a pretty profound impact on my oldest son who, like Denis Villeneuve, decided to become a filmmaker. It was actually Lord of the Rings that got my son thinking about filmmaking, but Lawrence of Arabia is definitely one of the top films that he draws inspiration from.

[spaceman]

I knew there was a thread from Wadi Rum to Arrakis, now confirmed: Herbert had read Seven Pillars. Wow, chills

[robertvanderpool]

He is 100% correct, Lawrence of Arabia on 70mm film is an experience. I was lucky to have seen it on film three times at the now closed Seattle Cinerama.

[evanevans]

Yet, that blowing out of the match shot near the beginning, cutting to Arabia, perhaps sums up the genius of the whole film.

[Major]

This movie birthed multiple generations of the greatest filmmakers

[doryds]

Seeing Lawrence of Arabia on the big screen is something I will never forget. The scene where a person emerges as a tiny dot from the vast desert simply cannot be appreciated at home, even if you have a 100" TV.

[TechNoir-wzic]

I wish i could see Lawrence Of Arabia on an IMAX screen it needs to be re-released In England for a limited time so i can experience it on an Imax screen and so many others can as well, it's just the sort of movie you couldn't make today if anyone attempted to make anything on that scale it would include too many CGI shots...Peter O' Toole's performance is just earth shattering and so complex the way he becomes a part of the Arab revolt/culture and becomes heavily involved with the war against the Turks (Ottoman Empire) and also later on realizing he can't be one of them, is seriously played to perfection by O' Toole and Omar Sharif is incredible as well, so are the rest of the other cast members, not too many films can be called life changing but this is one of

[pedroivobatiston]

"Lawrence of Arabia" is my favorite film of all time. I'm really glad to see Villeneuve talking about his personal experience with this masterpeace.

[raystaar]

While I didn't go on to become a filmmaker, I was equally impressed by the spectacle of David Lean's crowning achievement on the big screen in 70mm. Iconic, awe inspiring and unforgettable, 'Lawrence of Arabia' is unarguably of the greatest movies of all time.