Great photography and staging. David Lean really shines with his aesthetically pleasing and epic compositions that set a character two dimensionally against the background view. Everything fits really well in the frame but the acting is really the most marvelous aspect. The storytelling is very rich and active, everything is engaging and based in a specific reality. The movements are real, lived in, organic, and the actors commit very specifically to their circumstances.
This is masterful filmmaking in terms of shot choices and direction of the action. The direction of the action is very well choreographed to be as authentic as possible.