Werner Herzog’s Queen of the Desert will finally make its way to North America in 2017 and (naturally) there’s a new trailer trumpeting the historical drama’s arrival.
The film, released in Germany way back yonder in the simpler days of 2015, features Nicole Kidman as British traveler/writer/archaeologist/spy/explorer/political officer Gertrude Bell. Here’s the bluffer’s guide to what the motion picture offers:
Gertrude Bell (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), and an encounter with the legendary T.E. Lawrence (Robert Pattinson). Stunningly shot on location in Morocco and Jordan, Queen of the Desert reveals how an ahead-of-her-time woman shaped the course of history.
That sounds a bit like something created in a lab just for This Had Oscar Buzz, now doesn’t it? The delay in Queen of the Desert‘s arrival in America may have something to do with the film’s early reviews and weak box office performance. Its premiere at the Berlin Film Festival inspired lukewarm reviews and questions about the way Bell’s story was presented. Being yet another film with a white person as the center of attention in the Middle East likely hasn’t scored points either.
Queen of the Desert will make its U.S. debut on April 14 in limited theatrical release and as a VOD offering.
