I've watched this film several times the music is haunting and Nickole Kidman is excilent in her portraile of Gertrude Bell plus it's a historical piece the way she understood the people their way of life and how Politics can muddy up life

As the Ottoman Empire was collapsing Gertrude came in with knowledge of the tribal systems of the people and was able to help the authorities set up kingdoms with appointed Kings from the appropriate lineage to assauge the people. Thereby making the transition to life after the Ottoman Empire peaceful and firmly undergirded. The acting, settings and captioning made it an easy and enjoyable film to watch. A useful tool in the study of Gertrude who was the "Uncrowned Queen of the Desert who was divinely assigned to appoint Kings".

I stared in disbelief as Nicole Kidman entered and I was expected to believe she was a young maybe early 20's woman. I love her don't get me wrong, but that was beyond any sense of reality. Her simpering sugary overly acted "love" affair with Franco made me gag on it's sugary soft spoken sweetness and Franco always looked like he was about to turn to the camera and say, just joking wah wah wah. I don't even know what this movie was supposed to be about as my mind kept straying to other things. Should I go to the grocery store or just order a pizza. Should I do laundry now or wear an outfit I don't really like but is clean for work tomorrow. What is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow. At about the halfway mark I threw in the towel and just looked up the actual woman. Her biography was far more interesting than this tripe that the director wanted to go who knows where.

Truth be told, I haven't seen many Herzog films (although I wish I had now) which is probably why I enjoyed this more than that person who said "a typical Herzog." I thought the cinematography was really good and accurately displayed how Gertrude Bell viewed the countries in her perspective. Nicole Kidman was good in her role and so was the rest of the cast, who all gave good, realistic, stable performances. The editing to join the scenes together was very good, and because of the really good editing the film had a nice flow to it that can let you be carried by the film's wind. The true story that this film was based on is also very interesting, and was a good choice for a movie.Overall, I think you'll like it if you're like me and haven't seen many Herzog movies. Sorry about the bad review, but don't worry, I'm working on it. Right now, I'm just stating what I liked about the film, and if you'd like it or not. My personal opinion is 8.0/10, mostly because of the adventurous, exotic and foreign tone and the beautiful cinematography, and I think you'll enjoy it if you don't have too critical a mind.