German director Werner Herzog is usually at his best when he
tackles ambitious, obsessive, larger-than-life (and a little delusional) explorers
and thrill seekers who create their own destiny and try to make a name for
themselves whatever physical or psychological cost. Characters that somewhat
mirror Herzog’s own drive as an artist and explorer. Sometimes these characters
fail miserably, like in the case of “Aguirre: The Wrath of God” or “Grizzly
Man,” and sometimes they succeed like in “Fitzcarraldo.” Either way, it’s an
unforgettable and hypnotic cinematic journey.
Unfortunately, in the case of his latest picture “Queen of
the Desert,” about the life of explorer Gertrude Bell, the journey is mostly
just dull and repetitive, which is especially disappointing. Even Herzog’s
lesser films are still eccentric and enigmatic enough to hold your interest.
Born to an affluent family, Bell (Nichol Kidman) quickly
escaped a life of bland domesticity in England and headed off for the Middle
East. At the dawn of the twentieth century she traveled around Greater Syria,
Mesopotamia, Asia Minor and Arabia, writing down her observations, working as
an archeologist and made lasting friendships and political partnerships with
the native people. Eventually her work was used by the British government to
establish the countries of Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran following the Arab
revolt.
“Queen of the Desert”
may be Herzog’s most glossy and romanticized film. The seventy four year old director
loves the infinite sun drenched sand dunes (with people on camelback crossing
over them) contrasted against the cloudless, baby blue sky. And as the title
suggests, Herzog clearly has great affection and admiration for his
subject—portraying Bell in such a radiant and glamorous light. She’s
intelligent and fiercely independent--traversing this dangerous terrain
unescorted with confidence and some stubbornness. At the same time, Bell is
graceful and down to earth in her interactions with the local people. She
treats them as fellow human beings (with respect and dignity) and not as
imperial subjects, or worse, as “the other.”
However, “Queen of the Desert” never finds its footing. This
is partly due to the picture’s immense scope and traditional biopic structure;
there’s enough material here to fill a three-hour film or a miniseries. But at
two hours and eight minutes the picture feels frustratingly abbreviated—mechanically
moving through various chapters in Bell’s life without any of them really making
an impression. Bell’s expeditions and meetings with different Arab tribes are
interesting but far too brief in duration. During one expedition, there’s a
great moment where Bell bonds with a Sheik over their shared love of the poet
Virgil. But after this quick moment of genuine and unexpected human-to-human
connection the action cuts to Bell’s next expedition. It would have been nice
to see more of her interactions with this particular Sheik and his people.
The expeditions should be the meat of the film but far too
often they fizzle out or get glossed over so Herzog can have more repetitive
“Lawrence of Arabia”-esque montages of Bell riding her camel through the desert,
or showing her writing in her journal, or pensively staring out into the
horizon. Furthermore, the film’s abbreviated nature renders the Arab people
that Bell comes into contact with one-dimensional. Even Bell’s trusted
assistant/guide Fattuah, (Jay Abdo) who was apparently important enough in real
life to warrant his own epilogue in the film’s closing minutes is treated like
a thinly sketched acquaintance.
The only material that makes any kind of lasting impression
is Bell’s romantic life. Herzog devotes a large chunk of the movie to Bell’s
affair with British Embassy secretary Henry Cagdon (James Franco) and later she
has an affair (mostly via letters) with British army officer Charles
Doughty-Wylie (Damien Lewis). This is all well and good but considering “Queen
of the Desert” is about an independent minded explorer it feels weird (and
little insulting) that her romantic life is the only resonant aspect of the
film.
Near the end, the
picture introduces a potentially interesting wrinkle: the tension between Arab
independence and British colonialism. Even after helping them revolt against
the Ottoman Empire, Britain still wanted control/influence over that area.
After all, they’re the ones who cut up the land and determined the boundaries
of those countries. However this intriguing dilemma (and Bell’s own conflicted
role in it) comes too late and ends up feeling like an afterthought, another
stale bullet point. In its attempt to be a sweeping period romance, a biopic
and an epic adventure picture, “Queen of the Desert” is ultimately bland and
unfocused.
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