I have seen the film again, read the other reviews and I too consider this movie excellent in its own right, the stars are spot on and the acting very believable. It is a definite companion piece to Lean's "Lawrence of Arabia", I have the 2 DVDs side by side in my collection at home. It might not have the trainwrecks and the battles with the Turks, but the politics of the time are very important, also very interesting, emphasised more strongly in this film than "Lawrence of Arabia". History buffs will lean toward this film I feel, as I have done. You will not even notice it was made for TV, the story is so gripping. Ralph Fiennes is remarkable in the role of T.E.Lawrence, working as translator and for the Arab cause, King Feisal perfectly portrayed by the young actor Alexander Siddiq, the others the politicians including Michael Cochrane as Winston Churchill are first rate, Nicholas Jones as Lord Dyson is chilling. To sum up, extremely good, an important and interesting film (not dry as someone said, the translation scenes, the speeches for world leaders had me on the edge of my seat) One has to look back at history to understand what is going on today. In the main, all the historical facts are in place here, and therefore one can at least, partially understand the complex situation in the region in our present age as we tune in to the News. Comment from Malcolm in Toronto, May 27th 2007
