Oftentimes when audiences see films of a historical nature, they tend to be drawn to the ‘epic’ films they’ve most heard about. When the name T.E. Lawrence is mentioned, most movie aficionados immediately yell out the name of David Lean’s “Lawrence of Arabia.” Undoubtedly Peter O’Toole’s fine performance in that film is the one that will always be remembered as the definitive one. However, I would like to call your attention to a much lesser known film, made in 1991, which is thankfully finding its way onto DVD. The name of the film… “A Dangerous Man.” Stepping into the shoes of T.E Lawrence was the then mostly unknown Ralph Fiennes, who is best remembered for his amazing performance in “Schindler’s List” (for which he SHOULD have won the Oscar), and more recently “Red Dragon.” Though there are moments when Fiennes seems to be evoking the bravura performance of O’Toole, more often than not he also shows a quieter almost introspective side of Lawrence.

“A Dangerous Man” makes no attempt to remake the classic, but instead depicts a different period in Lawrence’s life. One that takes place after the events of ‘Lawrence of Arabia.” Here he travels with Prince Feisel (Siddig El Fadil) as his ‘interpreter’ to the Paris Peace Conference of 1919. I say interpreter with a bit of a sly nod as Feisal knows quite a bit more English than he lets on, but realizes he needs the Englishman in order to be heard. It is the intention of both Lawrence and Feisal to fight for the rights of the Arab people.

I have to mention Siddig El Fadil’s in the role of Feisal. In “Lawrence of Arabia”, he was played by Sir Alec Guinness as an older and more refined gentleman. As Feisal was closer to Lawrence’s age in real life, representing him as younger and somewhat cocky is a bit more realistic as far as history is concerned. Fadil brings a somewhat boyish charm to the character, and really shows he is an actor of great range. He is best known to audiences as Dr. Julian Bashir (later Americanizing his name to Alexander Siddig) in “Star Trek Deep Space Nine.” It is almost unfortunate that he is so identified with that character, as I have yet to see him many roles outside of the series. The only one that comes to mind recently was seeing him in the underappreciated “Reign of Fire.” I would really like to see Siddig given the opportunity to take on a bigger role in a mainstream film, just to see where he might take it.

There is no way to compare “A Dangerous Man” to “Lawrence of Arabia”, but certainly there are those who will. They might complain that it is not as grand as David Lean’s film. Of course, the story being told is not as grand either. Director Christopher Menaul made the choice to take Lawrence down a bit off of the pedestal that so many people put him up on and show him as a real person. Looking into the writings of Lawrence, it is likely that Fiennes portrayal is closer to what he might have really been like. Of course, this is probably rather pretentious of me to say as I wasn’t there, but it is no more pretentious than those who claim O’Toole’s performance was historically accurate.

I don’t mean for any of my comments about “Lawrence of Arabia” to be taken as a knock. I love the film and embraced it from the moment I first saw it. “A Dangerous Man” is by no means a perfect film; as a matter of fact it didn’t grab me right at first. The beginning of the movie jumps back and forth in time, and it is done rather sloppily and was at times a bit confusing as to what was happening. But once the movie settles in to tell the tale, what it gives the viewer is a more personal look at the man, as well as a chance to see another part of his story.

Directed by: Christopher Menaul
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Siddig El Fadil, Denis Quilley, Nicholas Jones
Extras: Ralph Fiennes Trivia, T.E. Lawrence Biography, T.E. Lawrence - In His Own Words
Specifications: Full Screen
Studio: BFS Entertainment
Release Date: 3/23/2004
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website

We'll give A Dangerous Man a B.