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Queen of the Desert

Queen of the Desert

2015
Drama, Biography
2h 8m
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. (imdb)
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Queen of the Desert

2015
Drama, Biography
2h 8m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 24.96% from 185 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(185)
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Rated 14 Feb 2015
50
29th
There's nothing raw whatsoever about this more or less solid biopic which is also dry and lacking in form. Never in a million years would one have guessed that this was directed by Werner Herzog.
Rated 25 Jan 2016
44
29th
Romanticism was already present in e.g. Fitzcarraldo's love of the opera, so Bell's doomed love affairs which she channels into an abandon to the desert are not foreign to Herzog. So mostly this is a failure of technique - jumpy Steadicam shots that ape dollies, an amateur screenplay that puts random events into succession without getting to a larger idea, middlebrow pronouncements about "poetry", no word on imperialism. Once Herzog was possessed by the breath of God, and now he ain't no more.
Rated 16 Feb 2015
100
90th
Herzog back on form, evident more in the script than the direction. James Franco's British is terrible but everything else I enjoyed.
Rated 07 Jan 2019
61
26th
Often jarring three-way marriage between a director's unique sensibility, pivotal history & romantic melodrama. Herzog finds a kindred spirit in the character of Bell as a fearless adventurer on a quest for poetry & ecstatic truth but her busy life story along with its grand setting open doors for too many fascinating & relevant angles for the script to handle. Struggling to address them with meaning, the film dissolves it all into a very watchable but frustratingly disjointed travel romance.
Rated 24 Mar 2016
70
70th
Nicole Kidman is refined, elegant & unusually beautiful. The story however is a somewhat cursory look at the life & accomplishments of Gertrude Bell. After a false start, they spent a lot of the time wandering the desert & detailing her love life & not explained well how she came to wield so much influence in the area. James Franco was unexpectedly mild. Too much Arabic was spoken (without translations). Beautiful cinematography. Overall It was enjoyable, but light on story & historical context.
Rated 13 Mar 2016
62
37th
Well made film from a technical standpoint with little wrong but also little that makes it stand out either.
Rated 02 Feb 2016
50
77th
Such grace! That's something Werner Herzog's Queen of the Desert (2015) has. While the story struggles to get interesting, the stunning cinematography makes it hard to take ones eyes off!
Rated 08 Apr 2015
42
22nd
Herzog's expensive joke or an honest try at the hopelessly romantic? Not that it makes much of a difference. It's bad either way.
Rated 21 May 2023
40
26th
Indicates how today's map and conflicts have more than a little to do with decisions made by individuals acting directly or indirectly on behalf of the great powers, but the screenplay never really comes to grips with the complexity of this idea or the complexity of the life or character of Gertrude Bell. Seems to want to suggest that these imperialists were animated (and de-animated) by a kind of death wish, but also seems to avoid the lingering questions concerning the end of Bell’s own life.
Rated 27 Aug 2016
70
28th
It had some decent moments, but overall a bit dull and a bit unbelievable.
Rated 06 Jul 2018
50
35th
ger; [königin der wüste]; die chronik einer unverheirateten dame die aus england kommend, durch die wüstet reitet um das land und seine menschen kennen zu lernen.;
Rated 09 Apr 2017
80
80th
Much better than the scores and reviews would indicate. Gertrude Bell is essentially a female T. E. Lawrence who you would have expected to hit is off immediately with their risk taking personalities, love of the desert and of Arabs. But it was not to be, especially since he was a closet gay living in the heart of Islam. Interesting well presented story nonetheless.
Rated 25 Jan 2016
20
13th
If this wasn't directed by Herzog I would've stopped watched after 10 minutes of cheesy dialogue and light as air drama, as it is I gave up an hour in thinking it must get better but it never did. How this film happened is a mystery to me but Herzog likes to do his own thing and I guess he thought making a fluffy romantic travelogue was a good idea
Rated 11 Jan 2017
85
18th
1438: what a shame. a great person who introduced poorly in a week drama
Rated 18 Aug 2016
65
27th
é... não tem muito como defender
Rated 07 Apr 2016
50
22nd
rather boring
Rated 13 Jul 2016
3
27th
This hurts. A non pass mark on a Herzog film. It just feels wrong. This absolutely did not feel like a Herzog film though in saying that. I was waiting to see what direction he took this story. The answer was none.
Rated 02 Jun 2016
5
0th
bu filmi werner herzog'un cektigine inanmiyorum
Rated 28 Jan 2016
69
6th
Somehow Kidman majestically finds a way to sneak her boobs into a PG-13 movie. Good show. Herzoggy cinematography is worth checking out. That's...about...it...
Rated 31 Jul 2019
10
13th
gereksiz
Rated 15 May 2022
58
22nd
An earnest try at romance, which in typical Herzog fashion gravitates away from human intimacy and towards a love affair with the landscape. Looks great, but it's an aimless wanderer.

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