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Sep 10, 2018richmole rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
A movie with three levels. Enjoy it was a travelogue, a memoir, a drama. Most of all, enjoy it for its visual presentation; superb cinematography of some of the world's most forbidding landscapes--and over 1,500 extras. What and who is it about? Gertrude Bell. Star Nicole Kidman called her "the female Lawrence of Arabia. She was English, and basically defined the borders between Iraq and Jordan that exist today, borders that she negotiated between Churchill and different Arab leaders. She went out to the desert with the Bedouin and all the different tribes that were feuding at the turn of the 20th century." The film--which infamous director Werner Herzog won the right to direct against Ridley Scott--was an uncontested commercial flop (It cost $36 million to make and theatre tickets brought in a mere $2 million) and something of a critical failure, too. Want fast-paced action? You won't find it here...this one moves at the pace of a dromedary--one reason why the critics hated it. One called it a "passionless trudge." It's not the first commercial failure Herzog has made--some failures are fascinating and memorable--and, thanks in no small measure to his long-time cameraman, Peter Zeitlinger, Queen of the Desert is one I'll remember.