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Review: Gertrude of Arabia in ‘Queen of the Desert’

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By Ben Kenigsberg

April 6, 2017

Filmmakers can be the victims of their own histories, and it’s tempting to knock “Queen of the Desert” for not being “Aguirre, the Wrath of God” or “Fitzcarraldo.” The movie, written and directed by Werner Herzog, was largely dismissed when it played at the Berlin Film Festival in 2015 and is only now opening in the United States.

Mr. Herzog has spent his career making movies about quixotic quests. When these films are at their finest, Mr. Herzog can seem as driven and half-mad as his characters. Like his heroes, he has plunged into the Amazon to face what he once called, in the documentary “Grizzly Man,” “the overwhelming indifference of nature.”

That makes him a natural fit to tell the life story of Gertrude Bell, the British adventurer, archaeologist and linguist who has been labeled the female Lawrence of Arabia. (One of her less couth colleagues in the film calls her a “chattering windbag of conceited, gushing, heavy-chested man-woman.”)

Mr. Herzog’s aesthetic adventurousness also makes him a bit of a mismatch with the conventional way he has chosen to relay Bell’s exploits, which include attempts to make inroads with the Bedouins and the Druse and (eventually) advising the British on the carving up of the Middle East. Bell is embodied, in a commanding and versatile performance, by Nicole Kidman, who supplies a gravitas and emotional complexity worthy of the woman she plays.

Unavoidably, the material puts Mr. Herzog on geographic and thematic territory previously charted by David Lean. (The heroine, like the protagonist of Mr. Lean’s “Lawrence of Arabia,” is shown in the Nafud Desert, the site of “the sun’s anvil” in that great 1962 film.) T. E. Lawrence himself appears; he is played, in a winking turn, by Robert Pattinson, who can be seen to even better effect — in the same period — in James Gray’s coming “The Lost City of Z.”

The first half dwells on Bell’s romance with a junior diplomat (James Franco, surprisingly credible as a dashing Brit). In one of the few moments that smacks of true Herzogian weirdness, Mr. Franco’s character takes Bell to the top of a tower where human remains have been left and asks to kiss her in front of a vulture. By the time Bell’s affections turn to a married miliary officer (Damian Lewis), the movie has abandoned most of its eccentricities.

But if Mr. Herzog mostly seems content to follow Hollywood rules, there are respects in which he improves on them. He has cast Arab actors in Arab roles, a change from the practice in Mr. Lean’s era. And unlike Mr. Lean, he doesn’t sentimentalize the landscape, which is not to say that “Queen of the Desert” is an ugly film. Even the stodgiest biopic would be redeemed by Mr. Herzog’s eye. The shots that track Bell into her meetings with Arab leaders may have you catching your breath.

Wrath-of-god level? No. But explorers need to work with what they find.

Queen of the Desert Rated PG-13 for genteel courtship. Running time: 2 hours 8 minutes.

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Queen of the Desert Reviews

[It] demonstrated that Herzog can fail big, as well as on a DIY scale.

Full Review | Nov 10, 2023

The director fails to find a dramatic framework through which to view his subject.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4 | Apr 4, 2022

With so many classics to his name, Werner Herzog need not apologize for helming Queen of the Desert -- it's just shocking that his name is attached to something as arid and uninspired as this stillborn drama.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4 | Sep 22, 2021

Queen of the Desert is as dull as it is misguided.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/5 | Sep 24, 2020

You know you're in trouble when the opening credit's font looks like it's ripped from a bootleg version of Microsoft Paint.

Full Review | Mar 30, 2020

Gertrude Bell's story is fascinating and deserves to get a big screen treatment. Unfortunately this is not the movie that does justice to her influence.

Full Review | Sep 10, 2019

A not too well defined script, and in which we find parts as strange as those of the vulture, which touch the comedy absurd. [Full Review in Spanish]

Full Review | Aug 22, 2019

It's an epic letdown to fans of Herzog's work and to his subject.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/10 | Apr 17, 2019

Queen of the Desert has the note of a travelogue about it -- that is to say, it feels well-travelled, but not well-lived.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 4, 2019

Everything is inert - the editing, the images, the direction.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4 | Nov 3, 2018

A lovely, beautifully shot and costumed, but dull film, and Kidman is undeniably good in it. She is every inch a queen, to be sure, and radiates intelligence, not to mention posture, in every scene.

Full Review | Aug 23, 2018

Every dilemma is resolved minutes after it begins. There is no danger, no complex character to dissect, nothing.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Dec 5, 2017

Yet for a director so adept at discovering, eliciting and pursuing a kind of inspired mania and adventurousness in his fellow man, coming across his first female heroine Herzog stumbles.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 16, 2017

While I'd hoped this was Herzog's manic fever dream of a sweeping melodramatic romance, it wanders off a cliff.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Nov 5, 2017

Typical of films focused on women, it dwells too much on her romantic involvements rather than the complexity and significance of her intellectual and emotional achievements.

Full Review | Aug 29, 2017

Herzog seldom has made a movie this sparkless and generic in its feel.

Full Review | Aug 22, 2017

... offers a half-hearted examination of colonialism and pre-war British foreign policy, although much of the context becomes lost in a film that turns rambling and tedious when it should be at its most suspenseful.

Full Review | Apr 28, 2017

Romantic longing has never really been part of Herzog's cinematic vocabulary (love in his films typically looks like manic obsession), which may explain why some of it is more stiff than emotionally moving.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Apr 26, 2017

This may be Werner Herzog's most conventional film, but its mostly untold true story knows what it means for a woman to choose a life of adventure and intellect.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 26, 2017

A strongly conventional film that ends up sinking into irreparable lethargy. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Apr 20, 2017

Queen of the Desert

Review by brian eggert april 18, 2017.

A scene in the middle of Queen of the Desert finds Gertrude Bell, the British explorer of the Ottoman Empire, being asked to eat the head of a lamb as the honored guest of the Sheikh. Undoubtedly, the real Bell would have observed the custom and felt honored to chomp into some lamb face-meat. And, in fact, the film’s version of Bell, as portrayed by Nicole Kidman, impliedly eats the lamb head in this scene, although the action occurs off-camera. One can suppose that Kidman refused to ingest actual lamb for the scene; then again, perhaps the lamb head was not actual food but rather a prop. Either way, the film does not show the meal, marking a rare moment of wanting authenticity from director Werner Herzog, one of today’s finest filmmakers. Queen of the Desert has been made not in the Herzogian tradition of mad people who venture into the wilds of Nature to face the sublime; rather, the German maverick tries something decidedly more Hollywood by evoking David Lean’s romantic epics, most palpably Lawrence of Arabia —albeit more conventional.

After years of making documentaries and fiction films about people reconciling their place in the natural world, it’s not difficult to understand why Herzog was drawn to his subject. Gertrude Lowthian Bell (1868-1926) carved out her own place in the world at an early age, being one of the first women allowed to attend Oxford to study history. Bored with the dull life of a British woman, she soon traveled to the former Ottoman Empire, visiting regions and cities across Arabia that few Western women of the time had ever experienced: Syria, Persia, Mesopotamia, and countless others. She became fluent in Arabic and other languages, earning a respected place among the divided tribes of the Arabian world, later earning her the relegated title of “the female Lawrence of Arabia”. During and after World War I, Bell worked alongside Churchill to construct British imperial policy in the Middle East and divvy up the Ottoman Empire. During her time in Arabia, she served as an author of archaeology, cartography, and documented her travels, focusing largely on the preservation of relics from the Babylonian Empire. Her influence was formative, above all in modern Iraq, where she reportedly stands as the example against which all western women are contrasted.

Herzog tells her story from an original screenplay. He was backed by several independent producers (Benaroya Pictures, H Films, Evolution Entertainment, and others) for a shoot in England, Jordan, and Morocco on a budget of around $36 million. The relatively brief shoot (December 2013 to March 2014) required few special FX or action sequences, and the finished film screened the following year at the 2015 Berlin Film Festival. After some unfavorable early reviews, the film’s several production companies kept Queen of the Desert languishing in distribution negotiations for over a year, until finally IFC picked up distribution rights for a limited theatrical release and VOD debut. A similar series of delays and finagling among producers and distributors found another recent Herzog film, Salt and Fire , long-delayed and finally released with a whimper just a week before Queen of the Desert . Neither film shows Herzog at his best, but even the worst efforts from great filmmakers are interesting failures.

Queen of the Desert resembles Lawrence of Arabia in many ways, including our questions about what drives the protagonist. Whereas David Lean weaved that enduring question (“Who are you?”) into the fabric of his nearly 4-hour masterpiece, Herzog leaves the answers to the audience, quite unsatisfyingly so. Without various kernels in the drama to help us understand Bell, Kidman’s performance feels lifeless. The character travels from one life event to the next without reason, her romances feeling basic and uncomplicated—a far cry from the love affairs in the similar setting of The English Patient . Somewhere between the script and the performance, the film fails to provide a way to understand Bell beyond her admiration for Arabia. Herzog also sidesteps any postcolonial commentary that may put the story into a more dynamic historical context. Of course, Lawrence of Arabia also avoided a critical postcolonial view; but in 1962, the outcome of the decisions made by the British imperialists and Arab leaders was less apparent than today. Then again, Herzog has never been about complicated political views—his films are existential and feeling.

All the while, the film’s conspicuous casting lingers after most scenes, as watching Kidman paired alongside Franco seems strange in this context. First, the age disparity is distracting onscreen, and by no fault of Kidman’s. To be sure, any preoccupations about Kidman’s age-appropriateness can be justified and corrected by biographical and Hollywood history. After all, Bell was well into her forties by the time of her romances with Cadogan and Doughty-Wylie, who were about her same age, so Kidman was an apt choice. It’s Franco who was miscast (he replaced a more fitting Jude Law). If anything, Herzog has reversed the usual trend of Hollywood’s youngest starlets getting the best roles by casting an age-appropriate performer in the lead; whereas Franco, with his effortlessly modern sensibilities, looks far too boyish and cartoonish to play a British romantic. And while it’s refreshing to see a May-December romance with an older woman and a younger man, Franco’s persona doesn’t fit this period setting.

The production looks epic-sized, with Herzog’s longtime cinematographer Peter Zeitlinger capturing the mystique and Orientalized allure of the desert in long, unbroken takes and pensive views of the landscape. Klaus Badelt’s score borrows more than a few cues from Maurice Jarre’s iconic score to Lawrence of Arabia , which is par for this otherwise conventional film from a director that is anything but. Indeed, it might be impossible for Herzog to make a normal film well, and so the result is rather slow and empty. With Queen of the Desert , the director fails to find a dramatic framework through which to view his subject. Admittedly, Bell’s life of wandering around the Middle East on various archeological pursuits does not have an inherently cinematic narrative. And what’s worse, Herzog rarely takes more than a week or so to write his screenplays. For all his attempts at embracing and paying homage to Hollywood convention here, the fit seems incongruous and the treatment oversimplified, despite the material containing themes ingrained in Herzog’s body of work.

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Queen Of The Desert, review: Werner Herzog's film is like a feminist Lawrence of Arabia

Berlin film festival 2015: nicole kidman plays a victorian 'blue stocking' in this surprisingly conventional movie, article bookmarked.

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Nicole Kidman in a still from the film 'Queen of the Desert' by director Werner Herzog.

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Queen Of The Desert isn’t what you expect from the visionary German director Werner Herzog. A world premiere in The Berlin Festival this weekend, the film might best be described as Herzog’s feminist version of Lawrence Of Arabia. T.E. Lawrence himself appears (played in eccentric, tongue in cheek fashion by Robert Pattinson of Twilight fame) but the main protagonist here is the English writer and archaeologist Gertrude Bell (Nicole Kidman), who eventually became an Arab expert and helped draw the borders of Iraq.

We’re used to Herzog movies about deranged adventurers (often played by Klaus Kinski) on reckless missions into the jungle or over mountains. After a prelude set in 1914, Queen Of The Desert , though, starts off as if it is an episode of Downton Abbey . Kidman’s Gertrude is a “blue stocking” in late Victorian England, recently graduated from Oxford and bored rigid by British both country house life and by the parade of chinless wonders who want to marry or elope with her. She implores her father to allow her to travel and eventually he ships her off to Tehran where her uncle is British envoy. Here, she falls in love with gambler, poet and cardsharp Henry Cadogan (James Franco, playing an upper class English roué.)

Nicole Kidman and James Franco in 'Queen of the Desert'

Herzog deals with the affair between Gertrude and Cadogan in sappy fashion. To show his devotion to Bell, Cadogan gives her half of a priceless coin. Cadogan also encourages her love of Persian culture. The swirling camera work and expressive music heighten the sense we’re watching an overcooked TV mini series-style melodrama.

Gradually, as Bell becomes more and more steeped in Arab culture, the storytelling develops an edge. Kidman gives a typically intelligent performance as Bell, showing her as a strong willed woman who refuses to accept conventional patriarchal attitudes, whether she encounters them in English drawing rooms or Bedouin tents. She has a beauty and a dignity that immediately command respect. At the same, she is always prey to her emotions. She feels just as strongly toward the handsome, repressed British officer Charles Doughty-Wylie (Damian Lewis sporting a Ronald Colman-like moustache) as she once did to Cadogan.

Lewis doesn’t have much screen time but gives a strong sense of his character’s torment: he is unhappily married and very drawn to Bell but, at the same time, he has such a strongly developed sense of duty and honour that he can never fully pursue his desires. Pattinson’s performance, meanwhile, is comic and a very long way removed from Peter O'Toole. He plays Lawrence Of Arabia as a sharp-tongued, sardonic figure who can see through the pretensions of his bosses and colleagues.

One of the disappointments of Queen Of The Desert is that Herzog doesn’t draw more trenchant parallels between the Middle East that Bell encountered and the region today. He includes some enjoyably satirical scenes with a blustering Winston Churchill (Christopher Fulford) and other high ranking Brits, having their photos taken with camels. He is more interested, though, in exploring Bell’s love of desert culture than in unpicking the politics behind British imperial policy. She talks in rapt fashion of the freedom, dignity and “poetry” of Bedouin life.

A still from the film 'Queen of the Desert' by director Werner Herzog.

There are some beautiful shots of desert landscapes, plenty of scene-stealing work from the camels, and, early on, some very picturesque shots of the British countryside. Herzog’s dialogue is often witty, especially in the scenes involving Bell’s outspoken uncle. At times, Herzog seems to be aspiring to the grandeur of David Lean’s widescreen films. Composer Klaus Badelt’s music self-consciously invokes memories of Maurice Jarre’s scores for Lean’s films. In the end, though, Herzog’s approach is surprisingly diffident. We are never quite sure whether the film is intended as an epic weepie or a character study of a visionary British eccentric. This is the closest Herzog has come to making a conventional Hollywood movie - what it lacks is the perversity, drive and wildness that are usually his hallmark.

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Queen of the desert, common sense media reviewers.

Strong female character in otherwise dull, lifeless drama.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

The movie champions Gertrude Bell but is slightly

The movie serves as an introduction to Gertrude Be

Brief guns and shooting; main character slightly w

The main character's breasts show through a we

A use of "bitch."

Social drinking. Characters pass a bottle of scotc

Positive Messages

The movie champions Gertrude Bell but is slightly unclear regarding her achievements. The closing credits crawl suggests that while she did her best to honor her Arabic friends, her English colleagues may have undermined her efforts.

Positive Role Models

The movie serves as an introduction to Gertrude Bell, who insisted on being her own woman/person in every situation and refused to be treated as anything less. She chose a life of education, exploration, discovery, and achievement over a life of family, which may be troubling to some viewers but inspirational to others. Either way, she's a fascinating figure, and the movie could inspire viewers to conduct further reading and research.

Violence & Scariness

Brief guns and shooting; main character slightly wounded (bloody scratch). A man talks about hunting and shooting elephants. The main character is held captive for a brief time. Goat heads shown (as food).

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

The main character's breasts show through a wet gown while she bathes. She passionately kisses two men. Sex is suggested (nothing graphic shown). A man invites her for "fornication" in a barn.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Social drinking. Characters pass a bottle of scotch; main character wakes up with a painful hangover. Mention of "hashish."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Queen of the Desert is director Werner Herzog 's biographical drama about Gertrude Bell, an English writer and explorer. There's some violence -- including guns and shooting, with a bloody scratch shown. The main character (who's played by Nicole Kidman ) is held hostage for a brief time, there's discussion of hunting elephants, and goat heads (used for food) are shown. Bell's breasts are visible as she bathes while wearing a white gown. She also kisses two men, and sex is suggested but not shown. Another man invites her for "fornication" in a barn. She drinks from a bottle of scotch and wakes up with a painful hangover. Other social drinking is shown, and "hashish" is mentioned. The word "bitch" is used once. Though the movie is beautiful, and the main character is inspirational, the storytelling is lifeless and dull. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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What's the Story?

In QUEEN OF THE DESERT, Gertrude Bell ( Nicole Kidman ) lives in England near the turn of the 20th century. She's received an excellent education at Oxford, and while her parents want her to marry, she'd rather see the world. She begins in Iran, where she meets poetry-loving Henry Cadogan ( James Franco ) and falls for him. Later, jilted, she dedicates herself to exploring the Middle East, learning language, writing, braving danger, and eventually becoming a kind of diplomat. She meets T.E. Lawrence ( Robert Pattinson ), nearly has an affair with army officer Charles Doughty-Wylie ( Damian Lewis ), and eventually helps Winston Churchill (Christopher Fulford) in drawing the borders between Jordan, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia.

Is It Any Good?

It's rather confounding that one of the world's boldest, most curious filmmakers could take a bold, curious subject like Gertrude Bell and make such a dull, inert (if pretty) movie about her. But Werner Herzog 's Queen of the Desert sat, unreleased, for two years after poor early reviews, and it's easy to see why. In spite of the talented cast, Herzog's great eye for outdoor compositions, lush widescreen cinematography, and a dreamy score -- perhaps in an effort to recall the story's close cousin, Lawrence of Arabia -- the movie simply doesn't move.

Bell is painted as a fearless, endlessly curious woman, and it's difficult not to admire her, but aside from getting her heart broken by two clueless men, not much of consequence happens to her from scene to scene. In one sequence, she's held prisoner for several weeks at the whim of an Emir, but she doesn't look any the worse for wear after she gives him a withering comment and walks out. Many scenes are set up -- in one, she receives a magnificent "stolen" horse as a gift -- and then dropped (she trades it for camels, offscreen, with no drama or consequences). Perhaps someday, Ms. Bell will receive a movie worthy of her legacy.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about Queen of the Desert 's violence . Despite the talk of violence, how much is actually shown? How intense is it? What effect does it have?

Is Gertrude Bell a role model ? Why or why not?

What makes her so open to learning about and understanding other cultures? Why are others so scared, or violent, toward others?

How does this movie compare to other biographical movies about powerful women? How many can you think of?

Movie Details

In theaters : April 7, 2017
On DVD or streaming : September 26, 2017
Cast : Nicole Kidman , James Franco , Robert Pattinson
Director : Werner Herzog
Inclusion Information : Female actors
Studio : IFC Films
Genre : Drama
Topics : History
Run time : 110 minutes
MPAA rating : PG-13
MPAA explanation : brief nudity and some thematic elements
Last updated : July 17, 2024

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Queen of the Desert Review: Kidman & Pattinson Fall Flat

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Werner Herzog has had one of the most fascinating careers in Hollywood history, which spans over 50 years. He has directed Oscar-nominated documentaries (Encounters at the End of the World), written and directed a unique slate of narrative features ( Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans , Rescue Dawn ) and even portrayed distinct characters in front of the camera ( The Grand , Jack Reacher ). The multi-hyphenate returns behind the lens to direct his first feature since 2009's My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done? with Queen of the Desert , which brings the story of Gertrude Bell to the big screen. She is well known as an important historical figure, whose travels and writings helped shape Middle East countries such as Jordan, Syria and Iraq in the early 1900s, but this sprawling biopic, which screened as part of AFI Fest in Hollywood on Sunday night, is plagued by wooden performances from an all-star cast and a protagonist whose motivations are ultimately vague, at best.

The film opens with a title card that explains how Gertrude Bell was instrumental in forming the boundaries for Middle East countries such as Iraq and Jordan, while helping establishing their governments in the aftermath of the Ottoman Empire. As historic and important as these feats may be, they certainly aren't compelling enough fodder for a two-hour biopic, as we follow Bell through these "adventures" throughout the Middle East, the impetus of which is seemingly to escape her dreadfully rich parents (David Calder and Jenny Agutter ), to carve her own path through life. She wants to travel into dangerous places she isn't supposed to, and meet important people she shouldn't have access to, and while her determination is certainly admirable, the motivation behind these travels and this path she wants to create are strangely absent from this story.

Interspersed with passages from Bell 's writings during her adventures, we follow Nicole Kidman 's title character as she defies direct "orders" from the British government, and exceeds all of their expectations by, honestly, just meeting with a number of different Arabic tribes and exploring their culture. These meetings did help shape British policy in historic ways, but hardly anything in this story provides for any sort of compelling viewing, aside from a few well-placed and surprisingly effective jokes... although it's worth mentioning that some of the laughs heard in the Dolby Theater seemed to come at the expense of the story itself.

If there is one thing that's abundantly clear about Gertrude Bell through this film, is that she was extremely unlucky in love. Her journey's origins are actually spawned because she is so bored with the suitors her wealthy family has lined up for her, and she desperately needs to get out of London. Shortly after her exodus from England, she strikes up a relationship with the dashing Henry Cadogan ( James Franco ), which ends in such a bizarre and anti-climactic fashion, and then she later begins a romance, of sorts, with Charles Doughty-Wylie ( Damian Lewis ). Neither relationship "ends" particularly well, and, even worse, does practically nothing to move the story forward, even though there isn't much of a story to move forward to begin with.

Queen of the Desert 's cause isn't helped at all by downright dull performances from Nicole Kidman , James Franco , Damian Lewis and Robert Pattinson as a young T.E. Lawrence, whose life story was told in the inimitable classic Lawrence of Arabia . Nicole Kidman 's performance is actually as admirable as the historical figure she portrays, since she isn't given that much to work with, but James Franco 's portrayal of Henry Cadogan is so laughably boring that the Razzie's might be calling his name next year. Robert Pattinson and Damian Lewis are both serviceable as T.E. Lawrence and Charles Doughty-Wylie, but the tiny amounts of charisma they manage to inject are simply not enough, for how much they are shown on screen.

If there is one thing worth watching Queen of the Desert for it's gorgeous landscapes captured by cinematographer Peter Zeitlinger and director Werner Herzog , but if you're looking for an inspiring biopic, you just won't find it here. It's worth noting that Werner Herzog himself revealed during his introduction at AFI Fest that the film we saw was a different cut than what was screened at the Berlin International Film Festival earlier this year. Since the reviews coming out of Berlin weren't terribly kind either, I can't imagine any significant improvements were made with this new cut, because it's just a surprisingly bland film that manages to largely waste a talented cast. The director also revealed that the film is scheduled for release in March 2016, so we'll have to wait and see how general audiences respond to this droll drama. Chime in with your thoughts on my review below, or on Twitter @GallagherMW .

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Queen of the desert.

Directed by Werner Herzog

One woman can change the course of history

A chronicle of Gertrude Bell's life, a traveler, writer, archaeologist, explorer, cartographer, and political attaché for the British Empire at the dawn of the twentieth century.

Nicole Kidman James Franco Damian Lewis Jay Abdo Robert Pattinson Jenny Agutter David Calder Christopher Fulford Nick Waring Holly Earl Sophie Linfield Mark Lewis Jones Beth Goddard Michael Jenn William Ellis John Wark Richard Goulding Charlie Hollway Younes Benzakour Hamza El Moustaati Abdellah Bensaidi Abdellatif Chaouqi Megan Sullivan Mohamed Boussalem Mehdi Quazzani Mostafa El Houari Hamid Najah Mohamed Ziat Anas El Baz Show All… Qualid Mezouar Hicham Haijji Abderrahmane Baalla Nick N. Raslan Amadou Salah Ismael Kanater Fehd Benchemsi Nadia Niazi Fatima ezzahra El Jaouhari Anas Cherifi Francis Montary Colin Goodwin Peter Stevenson Ayoub Layoussifi Younes Bouab Assaad Bouab Sarah Crowden Renee Faia Mustafa Haidari Christina Low

Director Director

Werner Herzog

Producers Producers

Cassian Elwes Nick N. Raslan Michael Benaroya Hamid Herraf

Writer Writer

Casting casting.

Beth Charkham Salaheddine Benchegra Mohcine Nadifi Shannon Makhanian

Editor Editor

Cinematography cinematography.

Peter Zeitlinger

Assistant Directors Asst. Directors

Amine Lamriki Lorenzo Bertolazzi Marouane Reda Mehdi Souissi Ed Licht Lucy Thomas

Executive Producers Exec. Producers

James Lejsek D. Todd Shepherd Jonathan Debin Ben Sachs Cathy Gesualdo Shelley Madison Stephen Hays Peter Graham

Lighting Lighting

Aziz Zougar Thomas Hollaus

Production Design Production Design

Ulrich Bergfelder

Art Direction Art Direction

Caroline Steiner Rabiaa N'Gadi

Visual Effects Visual Effects

Olaf Przybyszewski Kaspar Kallas

Stunts Stunts

Zarene Dallas Benoît Fabre Laura Väänänen

Composer Composer

Klaus Badelt

Sound Sound

Stacey Michaels Kyle Rochlin Joel Dougherty Laurent Kossayan Ellen Heuer Samantha Iorio Alex Ullrich Paul Paragon Andrew Rice Brad Sherman Tom Ozanich Dan Kremer Skyler Detherage

Costume Design Costume Design

Michele Clapton

Makeup Makeup

Alessandro Bertolazzi Chiara Ugolini Ivana Primorac Marta Roggero

Hairstyling Hairstyling

Alessandro Bertolazzi Alex Rouse Kathryn Fa Luca Saccuman

Benaroya Pictures 120dB Films Palmyra Films Sierra/Affinity Elevated Films

Morocco USA

Primary Language

Spoken languages.

English Arabic French Turkish

Releases by Date

06 feb 2015, 03 sep 2015, 11 sep 2015, 01 mar 2016, 07 apr 2016, 09 jun 2016, 18 aug 2016, 29 sep 2016, 08 apr 2016, 21 jan 2017, 10 mar 2016, 29 nov 2016, releases by country.

Physical 15
Premiere Berlin International Film Festival
Theatrical 0
Theatrical Κ
Physical DVD
Theatrical M/12

South Korea

Theatrical 12

128 mins More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by zara ★ 3

yes we only watched this film for the crumbs of robert pattinson, yes we exist

Review by matt lynch ★★

Weirdly pretty turgid for something that seems practically built-to-order by history for Herzog with its ambitious, all-consumed iconoclast driven to push boundaries, the colonialist backdrop, and the intrinsic beauty of a hostile environment. I've been feeling like maybe Herzog needs to get away from his brand lately but I respectfully retract if this is what that looks like.

Review by Horatio Fakename ½

How bad is this movie? Its last lines are literally, "She is the queen of the desert." ROLL CREDITS! (Just kidding, there's five minutes of titles explaining what happened to every character in the film, including two who are only introduced in the final scene. Then we get the credits.)

The worst part is this doesn't even feel like the typical bad Herzog movie, flying off the rails out of the same demented genius that gives us his great films. No, Queen of the Desert is Herzog taking aim for middlebrow glory, an attempted "sweeping" epic that fails on all accounts. Nicole Kidman is a great actress and beautiful woman, but what chance does she have playing a 26 year…

Review by audrey 🌙 ★½ 1

if i can live the rest of my life without hearing james franco attempt a british accent again, it will be a life well-lived

Review by Esteban Gonzalez ★★ 1

Werner Herzog directs this film based on the life of Gertrude Bell, an archeologist from the early 20th century that travelled across the deserted landscapes of the Middle East while falling in and out of love along the way. The only positive thing I can say about Queen of the Desert is that the landscape is gorgeously photographed, but the narrative lacks an emotional arc. The film basically put me to sleep and lost my interest as soon as it began. It is formulaic, conventional, and generic. It's unfortunate because there is a talented director and cast involved, but this simply wasn't a film for me. It's as boring as a 7 AM history lesson from school. I fell asleep and missed the final 15 minutes.

Review by Raphael Georg Klopper ★★★½ 2

Searching for Meaning through the vast Infinite

Unfortunately Herzog from decades now only periodically ventured into making full-length features, as financing difficulties or his now older age impossibilities defined such conditions. And as of now, Queen Of The Desert seemed like his last big full-length movie, and emphasis on the big because this is perhaps his biggest production yet, onto making here a very old-fashioned epic biopic around the life of Gertrude Bell.

A female figure that’s as admirable as legendary, that promoted expeditions that challenged archeology at the beginning of the last century; approached and related with the Bedouin tribes among others; and who played a big part in the creation of the borders between modern Iraq and Jordan…

Review by Michael Stuhlman ★★ 2

Oof. Talk about a misfire. How they took a woman who literally scaled mountains and turned her into this I will never understand. Gertrude Bell did so many fascinating things in her life time. Yet the first 45 minutes and much of the rest is focused more on her relationships to various men. It's a damn shame, and while the actors are all game, and the technical aspects impressive, it can't distract from the fact that this is a supremely dull take on a marvelously fascinating life.

Review by kyle ★

werner herzog’s dune. praise nicole kidmuad’dib

Review by russman ★★ 1

This felt longer than Lawrence of Arabia

Review by Channing Pomeroy ★★★

We come to Werner Herzog’s films for his unique heroes. The Herzogian Hero is as recognizable an archetype as the Byronic: obsessive, self-invented, battling God and nature in Conquest of the Useless and impossible. Conquistadores, ship-draggers, Grizzly whisperers.

Gertrude Bell appears like a prime contender for the Herzog Heroes starting 11. But while Aguirre, Fitzcarraldo, da Silva, Little Dieter, and Timothy Treadwell are sui generis obsessives on mad quests, his Gertrude Bell seems driven on her desert adventures as a reaction to a pair of failed Merchant–Ivory love affairs.

That’s why this film was so disappointing. We don’t get our first Herzogian Heroine, or even a female Lawrence of Arabia. We get a middlebrow historical romance adventure with Herzogian touches.…

Review by Thomas ★★½

Not as bad as I feared but certainly disappointing. Usually, the most exciting thing about watching a Werner Herzog movie is the realization that no other filmmaker could have made the movie the way it is. In other words, the knowledge of watching something utterly unique. “Queen of the Desert” doesn´t give me that feeling, instead it feels like any other average or even below average Hollywood historical biopic. With this setting and subject matter, you would hope to see Herzog´s “Lawrence of Arabia” (T.E. Lawrence even appears as a character, played by Robert Pattinson of all people) but instead it´s one of his most forgettable films. It´s still well-made, featuring stunning on-location photography, several evocative shots, and intriguing performances,…

Review by Cathal ★★★

Didn’t know what to expect with this one but it ticked a lot of boxes, namely it had a good cast and the story was well paced and interesting. Wouldn’t watch it again but I’m happy I watched it.

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This was published 8 years ago

Queen of the Desert review: Werner Herzog surprises with touch of Merchant Ivory

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QUEEN OF THE DESERT

M, 128 minutes, opens Thursday, June 2 Director: Werner Herzog Stars: Nicole Kidman, Robert Pattinson, Damian Lewis, James Franco

T.E. Lawrence (Robert Pattinson) and Gertrude Bell (Nicole Kidman) become involved in the lavish Queen of the Desert . Credit: Transmission

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Queen of the Desert is unexpected: a lush, romantic biopic written and directed by Werner Herzog. The idiosyncratic German filmmaker, who has so often enabled characters either disruptive or obsessive in his dramatic works and outlandish or blithely focused in his documentaries, has created a work that not only references the historical setting and panoramic desert compositions of David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia , but the refined desire and period elegance of the Merchant Ivory canon.

It is a surprisingly conservative reckoning of what was a fascinating life. As played spanning more than 20 years by Nicole Kidman in a diligent performance, Gertrude Bell was a daughter of English aristocracy who made her life in the Middle East at the beginning of the 20th century as an explorer, anthropologist and political operative. She crossed deserts, climbed mountains and after World War I created borders that a century on are being shaken by warfare.

Kidman's Gertrude Bell is determined to blaze her own trail in <i>Queen of the Desert</i>.

Kidman's Gertrude Bell is determined to blaze her own trail in Queen of the Desert . Credit: Transmission

Kidman's Bell is first seen as a young woman striving to escape a stultifying and rigid England. She is one of the first female graduates of Oxford University, with a first-class honours degree in modern history. She finds her way through an understanding father and supportive stepmother to Tehran in Persia, where her uncle Sir Frank Lascelles (Mark Lewis Jones) commands the British embassy.

Her role, if any, is unclear, but Bell's curiosity and mobility allowed her to transcend the strictures of dignified expectation. She is a woman in a man's world, even more so when she begins to encounter the many native tribes in the Arab world where she has no equivalent, but Herzog does not dwell on Bell's gender at length. He credits her perseverance and persuasive charm, but also paints her as a figure of almost exotic otherness.

The desert is vast, beautiful and foreboding in the lens of Herzog's long-time cinematographer Peter Zeitlinger, but it never suggests the bitter fury of the jungle landscapes that marked 1982's Fitzcarraldo or 2006's Rescue Dawn , where the dense greenery bore down on Christian Bale's intensity and dismantled his fugitive aviator. Given how his films have consistently explored extremes of terrain, it's noticeable how little Herzog draws from the locations in Morocco and Jordan.

The definition stems from matters of the heart, with Bell involved in sequential relationships with three men. The first is Henry Cadogan (James Franco), an embassy secretary in Tehran, who Franco plays with a wavering accent and the sense that he took the role as one of his art projects where he's observing himself rather than committing to a performance. The actor's ironic self-detachment can prosper in a Seth Rogen comedy, but not in a starched-collar epic.

Robert Pattinson, seemingly game for anything after his years as a pale Twilight pin-up, fares better as an initially callow T.E. Lawrence, obviously less charismatic than Peter O'Toole's take in Lean's film but more of a partner in political philosophy to Bell. Homeland 's Damian Lewis is tender and commanding as married British army officer Charles Doughty-Wylie, whose recited correspondence with Bell is matched to widescreen vistas.

Despite a chronological structure, distance, time and emotional change are not easily measured in Queen of the Desert . Although Kidman makes a mix of dignified calm and quiet work for her performance, I'm not certain that's where she's at her best. There are specks of fierceness here – which is Kidman's most thrilling quality, if one rarely seen – but Herzog appears keen to measure her against the landscape, undulating on camelback towards the horizon.

Pressed to explain her attraction, which was reciprocated, towards the Bedouin tribes, Bell praises their "poetry of life", but too often the plot focuses on exchanges with sheiks and emirs. Even though she's disdainful of a British hierarchy that could be condescending or uninformed about the reality in the field, Bell is nonetheless measured against its Arab equivalent. There are too few instances of wayward everyday life – a staple of Herzog's documentaries – to be found in this story.

Then again, the conservative inclinations that permeate Queen of the Desert are not what you'd expect of the now-73-year-old director, whose infamous struggles with leading man Klaus Kinski have become the stuff of cinematic myth. This is his first dramatic feature in seven years and, in smoothing over the complexities of Gertrude Bell's decades in the Middle East, Herzog has made his most orderly movie yet.

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Tv/streaming, collections, chaz's journal, great movies, contributors, berlin 2015: werner herzog’s “the queen of the desert”.

There are two romances at the heart of Werner Herzog ’s 16th narrative feature, “The Queen of the Desert.” The first is that between Gertrude Lowthian Bell ( Nicole Kidman ), traveler-archeologist-political figure, and Henry Cadogan ( James Franco ), a British officer and civil servant who takes his name from a Conservative Member of Parliament who died in 1908 from cancer at the age of 40. The second is between Bell and Charles Doughty-Wylie ( Damian Lewis ), a Major in the British military based upon a namesake with whom Bell reportedly exchanged love letters in the two years prior to his death at Gallipoli in 1915. That both romances end prematurely isn’t in itself a problem, of course; it’s that in dramatic terms neither rises above the wishy-washy, making the rest of Herzog’s latest film a curiously run-of-the-mill affair, assisted through its motions by a wall-to-wall score that suggests it’s meant to be taken as a sincere prestige biopic rather than the breezy comedy it was received as by a forgiving or easygoing paying public at this year’s Berlin Film Festival.

In Bell, Herzog finds a historical character entirely suited to the director’s trademark eye for the outlandish. Born in 1868 into a wealthy family of ironmasters in northeast England, she was educated at Queen’s College in London before graduating from Oxford at the age of 17. After visiting an uncle, a British Minister in Persia, in the 1890s, Bell traveled much of the world, most notably across Arabia, the Ottoman Empire and the Middle East, where she defied the gender inequalities and prejudices both of local customs and the military personnel of her own country based there. Building relationships and utilizing these for her and others’ political gains, by the time she died in 1926, Bell was recognized as a major influence in the foundation of what we know today as Jordan and Iraq. One history of this region refers to her as “one of the few representatives of His Majesty’s Government remembered by the Arabs with anything resembling affection.”

“The Queen of the Desert” opens in Cairo, 1921, at a meeting between top-ranking British military personnel, Winston Churchill ( Christopher Fulford ) among them. The order of the day is to divvy up the now fallen Ottoman Empire. There’s some initial disagreement among the men. “Petty rivalries only after cocktails,” quips Britain’s future Prime Minister, ever a figure of curt repartee. After further quibbles, he poses a question: who does know this politically diverse territory more than anyone? Cut to twelve years before this meeting, to the Lowthian Bell Estate, where our eponymous heroine-to-be dances at a ball with several intellectually inferior suitors, before proclaiming, in sobering daylight: “I can’t take it, I can’t take it anymore. I feel so domesticated.” Appealing to her rich father for an escape from the stifling doldrums of stiff upper lip England, Gertrude is sent to the British Embassy in Teheran, where she meets Cadogan, a man who teaches her Farsi and the poetry of Omar Kayyam. Asking her father back home permission to marry Cadogan, Gertrude finds her request rejected on the grounds that her chosen one is of too low a social station. It doesn’t end well.

Working with DP Peter Zeitlinger, Herzog shoots early sequences with a palpable restlessness, as if from the perspective of an overawed young man, placing the Steadicam at around chest height and allowing Kidman to tower over us—and, but for Franco, most other characters too. In later scenes, though weather-beaten by the desert, Kidman retains her arrow-straight back and Rapunzel hair, an image of dignity and incorrigible independence among the long line of sheiks and tribal leaders she disarms with smiles, gifts and more than a smattering of chutzpah. Insisting she is merely an archaeologist to the foreigners she meets and merely a traveler to two British archaeologists—among whom is wily T. E. Lawrence ( Robert Pattinson ), a fellow eccentric with a PhD who foregoes gendered formalities by calling her Gertie—Gertrude is able to negotiate her way across the visually barren and politically labyrinthine Arab land with relative ease. There’s little in the way of narrative tension.

Herzog, who has ridden unchecked on the coattails of his own reputation—as a visionary documentarian with a cool voice, a knack for bringing equally oddball individuals to the big screen, and an investment in things known or referred to as ecstatic truths—was presumably drawn to Bell because of her startling life arc: from the claustrophobic domestic prison of her class to a leading political influence on Arabian politics and the British government’s policies on same. But the paint-by-numbers feel of this biographical overview never threatens to dig deeper. What, at the end of all this, remains but for Bell’s own enigma? Kidman, for her part, does what she can—if that’s ever much at all—with the dreadful dialogue she’s given, looking pensively across the vast sands before her as a “Dear Diary” voiceover tells us that her heart belongs to no one but the desert.

In contrast, scant time is given by Herzog and his collaborators to the political complexities of the fiercely tribal land that Bell helped divide in line with the imperialist agendas that went far beyond her. The veteran director seemingly has little interest in demystifying the small legend that precedes and follows the real-life person, preferring to speculate about her romantic life than the insidious foreign policies that both conditioned and were conditioned by her. That’s all well and good, of course, if the narrower focus finds enough actorly nuances to justify it. But as Gertie’s two leading men, Herzog casts a lazy jester in Franco and an overworked thesp in Lewis. Given the intrigues and even political insights that a serious, fully committed treatment of Bell’s life might have resulted in, it’s a shame her years in the land she loved are apparently reducible to ill-fated investments in two bland, charmless men.

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Berlin Review: Why ‘Queen of the Desert,’ Starring Nicole Kidman, is Werner Herzog’s Worst Movie in Years

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Werner Herzog and Nicole Kidman get royally bunkered in “Queen of the Desert,” a stunning misfire which counts as the first major disappointment of this year’s Berlin International Film Festival . This independently-produced biopic of the revered British explorer-writer-archeologist Gertrude Bell, budgeted at a reported $36 million, will struggle to recoup that figure in North America – presuming it does obtain a proper theatrical release.

Bell (1868-1926) lacks the name recognition of Grace Kelly in most territories, though it’s a different story in the Middle East, the part of the world where she made her name – according to legend, she decided the boundaries of modern-day Iraq using a pencil and ruler – and where she remains much better known than her cinema-immortalized male “counterpart,” T.E. Lawrence (“of Arabia”).

READ MORE: The Best Things Werner Herzog, Nicole Kidman and James Franco Said About ‘Queen of the Desert’

But any comparisons with David Lean’s landmark 1962 epic “Lawrence of Arabia” are, unsurprisingly, not to Herzog’s advantage — ditto Richard Boleslawski’s “Garden of Allah,” in which Marlene Dietrich smoldered and suffered so nobly among the unforgiving dunes. If anything, it will appeal more strongly to fans of Stephan Elliot’s riotous 1994 camp classic “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert,” though midnight-movie denizens presumably weren’t Herzog’s target audience when he started work on the screenplay.

That was, rather remarkably, Herzog’s last Berlin International Film Festival competition entry before “Queen of the Desert” – and, via the spirited and self-sacrificing character of Isabelle Adjani’s Lucy, it’s maybe the closest thing in his entire fictional oeuvre to a film with a female protagonist .

Fans of his documentaries will of course recall Fini Straubinger from 1971’s “Land of Silence and Darkness” — not that Herzog himself would recognize the term “documentary,” just as he has so often railed against how “facts” are a trap for the literal-minded. (The “accountant’s truth,” in his irresistible phrase.

To point out that in its first minutes “Queen of the Desert” presents a 1902 in which Queen Victoria is still alive – the Empress kicked the bucket in January 1901 – is, presumably, to succumb to the narrow-mindedness of the beancounter. But if Herzog is going to be so cavalier about such details, why does he punctuate his film with so many datelines – specific years, places, “three months later,” and so on – and give the whole thing a tawdry, old-fashioned TV movie air? And if the “accountant’s truth” is to be eschewed, wouldn’t it be a good idea to instead deliver a bit of his preferred alternative, “ecstatic truth”?

Despite throwing herself into a life of chaste-wandering and work (“My heart belongs to no one now but the desert”), Bell does eventually end up in another lover’s arms, drifting into an ill-advised affair with married army-officer Charles Doughty-Wylie (Damian Lewis). Once again, sparks of genuine ardor are conspicuous by their absence, and the “Downton Abbey”-level, lazily-anachronistic dialogue (not to mention Kidman’s makeup) is more hindrance than help.

Choosing to make a film about such an astonishing, rule-disregarding, inspirational woman and concentrate on her relationships with fellas (“I’m just a woman who misses her man,” she sighs) is questionable enough as it is – but if Herzog had managed to properly dramatize those relationships, he might have conceivably gotten away with it, rather than ending up with this exercise in syrupy, (sometimes cringe-inducing) banality.

The most ironic aspect of the enterprise is that the one man with whom Bell conducts believable, intriguing dealings is the one upon whom her sex-appeal has zero effect: none other than T.E. Lawrence himself, played with a plummy-voiced knowingness by Robert Pattinson. Pattinson doesn’t get very much screen time here, but manages to come up with a Lawrence a universe away from Peter O’Toole’s iconic portrayal – a kind of proto-Beat rebel in fancy Arab duds – and his dialogue exchanges with Kidman have a little touch of Steed and Mrs. Peel that at least gives their scenes some kind of oomph.

Where is the berserk majesty of 2009’s double-whammy “The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans” and “My Son My Son, What Have You Done?” What’s he playing at here? Having gotten one foot in Hollywood’s door menacing Kidman’s ex Tom Cruise in “Jack Reacher,” is he now hoping to convince some studio that he’s capable of handling a major project? If so, “Queen of the Desert” is what the no-nonsense Miss Bell – who’d surely have despised this picture – might call a bloody funny way of going about it.

“Queen of the Desert” premiered this week at the Berlin International Film Festival. It is currently seeking U.S. distribution.

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‘borderlands’ review: cate blanchett video game disaster is the worst movie of the year, borderlands.

ZERO STARS.<br>Running time: 102 minutes. Rated PG-13 (intense sequences of violence and action, language and some suggestive material). In theaters.

Sometimes when a job doesn’t work out, the former employee will omit that short-lived work experience from her resume.

For Cate Blanchett, that erasable gig is the unspeakably terrible new movie “Borderlands.”

If I was the two-time Oscar winner, I’d hire a crack team to work around the clock to scrub all mention of it from the Internet. The film is that embarrassing.

Unfortunately, for the time being, the star of “ Tár ” and “Blue Jasmine” is stuck as the lead of the worst movie of the year — a grueling, 102-minute endurance test that’s as lifeless as the video game it’s based on.

And Blanchett is not entirely free from blame either. She reads the lines, such as they are, like a TSA agent at the crack of dawn.

The actress has no palpable connection to her ragtag, barely-alive ensemble, including Jamie Lee Curtis (another Oscar winner), Kevin Hart (an almost Oscar host) and funnyman Jack Black .

Not Blanchett’s fault, but she also dons an ugly bright red wig that might have been inspired by Dairy Queen soft-serve.

Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ariana Greenblatt, Florian Munteanu and Cate Blanchett in Borderlands

Everything about “Borderlands” is appalling: the acting, writing, direction, design. As the characters trudge through the sand on their hunt for the mysterious Vault, the desperate audience scours the screen for anything to enjoy — or, at the very least, understand. Our search proves fruitless.

A check-cashing Blanchett plays Lilith, a no-nonsense bounty hunter who’s tasked with recovering the lost daughter of Atlas (Edgar Ramírez) on the planet Pandora.

“I’m not a babysitter,” barks Lilith, as off-putting as her movie.

Whereas the Pandora of James Cameron’s “Avatar” took hundreds of millions of dollars to bring to dazzling life, my casual estimate of director Eli Roth’s “Borderlands” budget is about a buck fifty.

Cate Blanchett as Lilith looking intense

Lilith finds the bunny-eared girl named Tiny Tina (Ariana Greenblatt, who I bet misses her “Barbie” press tour right about now), who says, “Miss Lilith, can you grab my badonkadonk?”

A stupid joke, she’s referring to a toy rabbit.

Tiny Tina, crying-baby-on-an-airplane annoying, could be the key to opening the Vault, which contains a vague weapon … I think.

To unearth the lost sort-of treasure, the pair join with Roland (Hart), Dr. Tannis (Curtis), a scientist, a “psycho” named Krieg (Florian Munteanu) and Claptrap the irksome robot (Black), who’s in a competition with Tiny Tina to cause the most movie ticket refunds.

They drive through the desert shooting people like a middling “Mad Max,” only their basic, color-saturated vehicles are more “Thomas the Tank Engine.”

Kevin Hart, Cate Blanchett, Ariana Greenblatt, Florian Munteanu and Jamie Lee Curti staring into a hole

Most of the cast is dressed in the cartoon-punk style of Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn, but occasionally you’ll spot a nonchalant extra wearing a plain T-shirt.

What happens in the middle of the movie? Who’s to say?

There are some routine fight sequences and it is revealed that one of the heroes is a clone. Truth be told, I never could figure out what was going on beyond the MacGuffin of seeking the Vault.

The dialogue is cluttered with migraine-triggering video game jargon, and the movie makes no effort to stand on its own, like “ Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves ” so ably did last year.

There’s hardly any character development or dramatic peaks and valleys in “Borderlands” to hold the viewer’s interest, even for such a brief runtime. And the action is subpar. All we get is Oscar winners debasing themselves.

For instance, when the group discovers the actual, physical key to the Vault, Curtis slowly turns her head, eyes wide, mouth agape, in a recognizably Spielbergian manner. But the scene is shot so poorly — without any style — that the actress looks ridiculous.

Some comic relief is provided, though.

When a person was vaporized during the climactic battle, I laughed.

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Mattel Disney Descendants: The Rise of Red Fashion Doll & Accessory – Red, Daughter of Queen of Hearts with Movie-Inspired Clothes & Pocket Watch

Rebel out with this doll of Red, Daughter of Queen of Hearts, from Disney Descendants: The Rise of Red!
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Kids ages 4 years and older can recreate the epic thrills from Disney Descendants: The Rise of Red!

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Rebel out with Red, Daughter of Queen of Hearts, from Disney Descendants: The Rise of Red! With her fiery red hair and iconic outfit, this doll of Red looks just like her whip-smart, trouble-makin’ character from the movie. She bends at the arms, elbows, wrists and knees -- and is ready for action-packed adventures as she travels back in time with her included pocket watch accessory. Makes a great gift for fans who will want to collect them all! Each sold separately, subject to availability. Dolls cannot stand alone. Colors and decorations may vary.

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Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa’ on Netflix, A Moving Portrait of the Only Woman To Summit Mount Everest 10 Times

Where to stream:.

Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa
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From Oscar-nominated director Lucy Walker comes a story about perseverance and determination. Lhakpa Sherpa’s personal life went completely awry, but still she found the courage to summit Mount Everest a record ten times. After premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival, the film lands on Netflix and can be streamed now.

MOUNTAIN QUEEN: THE SUMMITS OF LHAKPA SHERPA : STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: Following Lhakpa Sherpa on her 10th summit of Mount Everest in 2022—the world record for summits by a woman— Mountain Queen explores Sherpa’s most formative relationship (with the mountain) through the lens of her her humble beginnings growing up illiterate in Nepal, her abusive relationship with fellow climber George Dijmarescu, and her connection with her three children.

What Will It Remind You Of?: A documentary that truly toes the line between riveting sports feature and emotional character drama, Mountain Queen feels a lot like Simone Biles: Rising , which tells the inspirational story of the woman behind the legend.

Performance Worth Watching: It’s hard not to choose Lhakpa, who tells her story plainly and without expectations of pity. She is strong in her fortitude for climbing Mount Everest a record 10 times, in speaking about her abusive ex-husband George who belittled her, and in discussing her life as an illiterate immigrant in America who was raising three children on her own—inspirational doesn’t even begin to describe the woman at the center of this film.

Memorable Dialogue: There are many inspirational quotes to choose from, from Lhakpa herself and her two daughters, but one of the more memorable lines is Lhakpa lamenting about the 9-to-5 washing dishes at Whole Foods that she has to maintain to support her family and her climbing dreams. “I wish I could be outdoors all the time, but I can’t, I need to work,” she says at the beginning of the film. “Eight hours, nine hours… Whole Foods looks like a jail.”

Sex and Skin: None, and anything racy would have felt out of place in this inspirational and heartfelt story.

Our Take: Lhakpa Sherpa has summited the world’s highest mountain Mount Everest a record ten times, but that’s only the tip of the iceberg of things that she’s accomplished and overcome. The riveting documentary feature from Lucy Walker tells the story of not only her tenth summit but also all that led her to this moment—namely a childhood in poverty and an abusive marriage to a fellow climber that relocated her to America, where she struggled to find a job due to her lack of education in Nepal.

Mountain Queen spends much of its runtime on Lhakpa’s personal life, which is inextricably linked to her relationship with the mountain. Her first foray onto the mountain was only possible because she disguised herself as a man to enter; her Sherpa Nepalese society forbade women from entering a school, let alone summiting a mountain. Before leaving Nepal, she mothered a child out of wedlock which shunned her from her society, later marrying a fellow climber and having two more children with him before divorcing him after repeated domestic violence. But Everest was always her safe place, a challenge and a thrill that was worth chasing for Lhakpa.

Unlike some other climbing documentaries, Walker’s team remains unseen and uncommented upon, allowing Lhakpa and her family to assume their rightful place at the center of the story. Occasionally, the filmmaking feels cobbled together and lacking depth—Lhakpa’s daughter Sunny is moody and reserved at the beginning of the film, opening up about her traumatic childhood later on but never fully divulging how this shaped her relationship with her mother. Similarly, her son from a previous relationship is shown at the beginning of the film but doesn’t reflect on his own disjointed childhood. The missing pieces are forgivable given the heft of what they are dealing with, but both of their journeys ultimately feel partially formed in a narrative that is otherwise quite open.

Even with some fractured storytelling, Lhakpa is a vibrant persona to focus on. Her charisma is clear through her broken English, and it’s hard not to walk away from the film feeling a little bit inspired to chase your own dreams. And the best part is that she’s not done yet.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Lhakpa’s story is worth telling and might even move you to tears.

Radhika Menon ( @menonrad ) is a TV-obsessed writer based in Los Angeles. Her work has appeared on Vulture, ELLE, Teen Vogue, and more. At any given moment, she can ruminate at length over Friday Night Lights, the University of Michigan, and the perfect slice of pizza. You may call her Rad.

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A California rodeo performer who strikes up a long-lasting bond with Queen Elizabeth II of England. A California rodeo performer who strikes up a long-lasting bond with Queen Elizabeth II of England. A California rodeo performer who strikes up a long-lasting bond with Queen Elizabeth II of England.

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‘mountain queen: the summits of lhakpa sherpa’ review: netflix doc tells 10-time everest climber’s inspiring personal story.

The Nepalese mother and survivor of domestic abuse is a warm, engaging presence in Oscar-nominated filmmaker Lucy Walker's latest.

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IMAGES

Marco Carnovale: Film review: Queen of the Desert (2015) by Werner
Nicole Kidman Queen Of The Desert Review
Queen of the Desert movie review (2017)
Queen Of The Desert Movie Review: Nicole Kidman's Radiance Not Enough
REVIEW: 'Queen of the Desert' is as dull as it is misguided
Queen of the Desert

COMMENTS

Queen of the Desert movie review (2017)
Early in "Queen of the Desert," Gertrude Bell's father recounts a story to her about her first words spoken as a child that encompasses the entirety of her identity and disposition. Apparently, when her nanny tried to put her in a dress she pushed the woman away and proudly exclaimed "On my own!" Bell is quickly established as an impetuous, headstrong, and intelligent woman ...
Queen of the Desert
Queen of the Desert unites some undeniably talented professionals, but it's difficult to discern what drew them together -- or understand how its compelling real-life story became such a muddled mess.
Review: Gertrude of Arabia in 'Queen of the Desert'
Nicole Kidman plays Gertrude Bell, the British adventurer, archaeologist and linguist who has been labeled the female Lawrence of Arabia.
'Queen of the Desert' review: Nicole Kidman embodies Gertrude of Arabia
Movie Review 'Queen of the Desert,' with Nicole Kidman, James Franco, Damian Lewis, Robert Pattinson. Written and directed by Werner Herzog. 128 minutes.
Queen of the Desert
Rotten Tomatoes, home of the Tomatometer, is the most trusted measurement of quality for Movies & TV. The definitive site for Reviews, Trailers, Showtimes, and Tickets
Queen of the Desert
Queen of the Desert - Metacritic. Summary Gertrude Bell (Nicole Kidman) chafes against the stifling rigidity of life in turn-of-the-century England, leaving it behind for a chance to travel to Tehran. So begins her lifelong adventure across the Arab world, a journey marked by danger, a passionate affair with a British officer (James Franco ...
Queen of the Desert
Nicole Kidman and director Werner Herzog bring to life the extraordinary true story of a trailblazing woman who found freedom in the faraway world of the Middle East. Gertrude Bell (Kidman) chafes ...
Queen of the Desert (2015)
Queen of the Desert: Directed by Werner Herzog. With Nicole Kidman, James Franco, Robert Pattinson, Damian Lewis. A chronicle of Gertrude Bell's life, a traveler, writer, archaeologist, explorer, cartographer, and political attaché for the British Empire at the dawn of the twentieth century.
Queen of the Desert (film)
Queen of the Desert is a 2015 American epic biographical drama film written and directed by Werner Herzog and is based on the life of British traveller, writer, archaeologist, explorer, cartographer and political officer Gertrude Bell. [ 7][ 8] The film follows Bell's life chronologically, from her early twenties until her death. It was Herzog's first feature film in six years after his 2009 ...
Queen of the Desert
Read an in-depth review and critical analysis of Queen of the Desert by film critic Brian Eggert on Deep Focus Review.
Queen of the Desert (2015)
Queen of the Desert (2015) * 1/2 (out of 4) Nicole Kidman plays Gertrude Bell, the legendary British woman who would tackle various things in her lifetime and she would become one of the most loved figures in history. This Werner Herzog biography would make you think the only thing she accomplished was dating the wrong men.
Queen Of The Desert, review: Werner Herzog's film is like a feminist
Queen Of The Desert isn't what you expect from the visionary German director Werner Herzog. A world premiere in The Berlin Festival this weekend, the film might best be described as Herzog's ...
Queen of the Desert Movie Review
Strong female character in otherwise dull, lifeless drama. Read Common Sense Media's Queen of the Desert review, age rating, and parents guide.
Queen of the Desert
Bell acquires the services of a trustworthy guide (Jay Abdo) and begins a series of dangerous exploration into many desolate areas. "The deeper we immerse ourselves into the desert, the more everything seems like a dream," she writes. It is her reverence for this arid wilderness which charms the Turkish military leaders, nomadic warriors, and ...
Queen of the Desert Review: Kidman & Pattinson Fall Flat
Director Werner Herzog brings Gertrude Bell's life to the big screen with an utterly flat, albeit stunning drama starring Nicole Kidman.
Queen of the Desert (2016)
Visit the movie page for 'Queen of the Desert' on Moviefone. Discover the movie's synopsis, cast details and release date. Watch trailers, exclusive interviews, and movie review.
‎Queen of the Desert (2015) directed by Werner Herzog • Reviews, film
Cause to me she was one of the most annoying creatures ever. (Maybe i'm just a bad feminist) Herzog lost all of his uniqueness in this plain, messy movie, but at least robpat was peculiar and weird af. A chronicle of Gertrude Bell's life, a traveler, writer, archaeologist, explorer, cartographer, and political attaché for the British Empire at ...
Queen of the Desert (Official)
QUEEN OF THE DESERT is written and directed by Werner Herzog. The film is produced by Michael Benaroya (LAWLESS, THE WORDS, MARGIN CALL), Cassian Elwes (ALL IS LOST, DALLAS BUYERS CLUB, BLUE VALENTINE), and Nick Raslan (HAPPY PEOPLE: A YEAR IN THE TAIGA, RESCUE DAWN). The creative team includes long-time collaborator of Herzog director of photography Peter Zeitlinger (BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF ...
Queen of the Desert review: Werner Herzog surprises with touch of
Queen of the Desert is unexpected: a lush, romantic biopic written and directed by Werner Herzog. The idiosyncratic German filmmaker, who has so often enabled characters either disruptive or ...
30 years later, few movies understand the magic of drag quite like
The three embark on the trip on an enormous bus they nickname the titular "Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert," and encounter a variety of expected obstacles, including prejudiced townspeople, a ...
Queen of the Desert (2015)
Queen of the Desert. Herzog's script loses its way in the desert at one point, dutifully chronicling a life whose principal conflicts are a bit too abstract to dramatize. In the end, it's not clear what's driving Bell, nor what's holding her back. It's such a disappointment when you consider the wild portraits of pioneers that Herzog ...
Berlin 2015: Werner Herzog's "The Queen of the Desert"
There are two romances at the heart of Werner Herzog 's 16th narrative feature, "The Queen of the Desert." The first is that between Gertrude Lowthian Bell ( Nicole Kidman ), traveler-archeologist-political figure, and Henry Cadogan ( James Franco ), a British officer and civil servant who takes his name from a Conservative Member of Parliament who died in 1908 from cancer at the age of ...
Berlin Review: Why 'Queen of the Desert,' Starring ...
Werner Herzog and Nicole Kidman get royally bunkered in "Queen of the Desert," a stunning misfire which counts as the first major disappointment of this year's Berlin International Film ...
Katy Perry's house anthem, Nieri serves "Body Heat ...
30 years later, few movies understand the magic of drag quite like 'Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert' ...
'Borderlands' review: Cate Blanchett video game disaster is the worst
For Cate Blanchett, that bad-luck gig is the unspeakably terrible new movie "Borderlands." If I was the two-time Oscar winner, I'd hire a crack team to work around the clock to scrub all ...
Amazon.com: Mattel Disney Descendants: The Rise of Red Fashion Doll
Rebel out with Red, Daughter of Queen of Hearts, from Disney Descendants: The Rise of Red! With her fiery red hair and iconic outfit, this doll of Red looks just like her whip-smart, trouble-makin' character from the movie.
'Mountain Queen' Netflix Documentary Review: Stream It Or Skip It?
Mountain Queen spends much of its runtime on Lhakpa's personal life, which is inextricably linked to her relationship with the mountain. Her first foray onto the mountain was only possible ...
The Cowboy and the Queen (2023)
The Cowboy and the Queen: Directed by Andrea Nevins. A California rodeo performer who strikes up a long-lasting bond with Queen Elizabeth II of England.
'The Queen of Versailles' Review: Kristin Chenoweth ...
With a rich, affecting score by Stephen Schwartz, 'The Queen of Versailles' offers Chenoweth a rich opportunity to flex her dramatic muscles.
'Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa' Review: Netflix Doc
Lucy Walker's Netflix doc, 'Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa,' tells the inspiring story of the woman who climbed Everest 10 times.

Review: Gertrude of Arabia in ‘Queen of the Desert’

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