Queen Of The Desert

This is a surprisingly conventional film from former German enfant terrible director, Werner Herzog. Laden with majestically beautiful scenery of vast deserts, Queen Of The Desert stars Nicole Kidman as the historical figure, Gertrude Bell, who had an enormous impact on Middle Eastern politics in the early part of the 20th century and even drew up the borders of what is now Iraq.

The film has had some lukewarm reviews, but for its two hour-plus running time, Kidman — normally a bit too self-aware for our liking — does a commendable job as the fiercely independent and adventurous woman who defied British society's expectations at the time and spent many years as a solo woman accompanied by a male team riding camels across the deserts of countries like Syria and Jordan. She loved the area and its peoples — particularly the Bedouins — and took the time to get to know them and their ways, with the result being that many influential powerbrokers would speak only to her in important negotiations.

Other players include Robert Pattinson in a fairly small but effective role as TE Lawrence, aka Lawrence Of Arabia, and the two men who fall in love with Gertrude — James Franco with a very strange hybrid accent as Bell's tragic first love, and Damian Lewis as the married British Consul.

Queen Of The Desert provides some interesting background about the Middle East, showing us a different aspect from the disturbing stuff we see portrayed in the news every day.