Queen of the Desert (film)
| Queen of the Desert | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Werner Herzog |
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| Screenplay by | Werner Herzog |
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| Music by | Klaus Badelt |
| Cinematography | Peter Zeitlinger |
| Edited by | Joe Bini |
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Production
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| Distributed by | IFC Films |
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Release date
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Running time
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128 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $36 million |
| Box office | $2 million |
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. The film follows Bell's life chronologically, from her early twenties till her death. It is Herzog's first feature film in six years after his 2009 film My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?
The film stars Nicole Kidman, James Franco, Damian Lewis and Robert Pattinson. After going through many delays and casting problems, production finally took place from December 2013 to March 2014 in Morocco, Jordan and England. It was screened in the main competition section of the 65th Berlin International Film Festival and had its premiere on February 6, 2015. It had a theatrical release in Germany on September 3, 2015. The film received mostly negative reviews from critics and was also a financial disappointment, grossing $2 million against a $36 million production budget.
The film chronicles the events of Gertrude Bell's life, a British explorer, traveller, archaeologist and political officer.
Talking about casting difficulties and delay in shooting of the film, Herzog said, "There are some actors I’d very much like to be in the film and it’s problematic to get them in the same place at the same time."Naomi Watts was originally cast in the role of Gertrude Bell but was later replaced by Nicole Kidman. Kidman, talking about her role, said, "She's the female Lawrence of Arabia. She was English, and basically defined the borders between Iraq and Jordan that exist today, borders that she negotiated between Churchill and different Arab leaders. She went out to the desert with the Bedouin and all the different tribes that were feuding at the turn of the 20th century."Jude Law was initially cast in the role of Henry Cadogan but later dropped out due to scheduling conflicts and was replaced by James Franco.
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Wikipedia