Lawrence of Arabia
Acceptable with guidance. Age: 13+. A Catholic review of this movie for parents.
Our review
A British officer goes to the desert to help Arab tribes fight the Turks in World War I. He becomes a famous leader, but war and pride change him. By the end he is lost and sad. This is a towering work of filmmaking about pride, violence and a man undone by his own legend. Lawrence executes a man and finds he enjoyed it, shoots a wounded boy to spare him torture, and leads a massacre. A scene where Turkish captors strip and beat him implies sexual assault. The one age is 13+, set by Common Sense Media. The film is rated PG, and no Catholic classification was found.
For parents
Our one age is 13+, set by Common Sense Media. No Catholic classification could be found. Common Sense and the IMDb Parents Guide describe battles and train ambushes with bloodied bodies, the deaths of two teenage boys, and a scene where Lawrence is held down, stripped and beaten, with a sexual assault implied before the screen fades to black. IMDb also lists a couple of uses of Christ's name in vain. Things to talk about: Lawrence wants to be more than a man, and it ruins him. Ask: when did his courage turn into pride? Why did killing the traitor frighten him? The 'no prisoners' charge is shown as madness, not glory. Killing men who surrender is always wrong, even in a just war.