Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.5

Queen of the Desert Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Stephen Larson February 4, 2018

Werner Herzog's Queen of the Desert (2015) is noteworthy for featuring the first female protagonist in the Bavarian auteur's prolific oeuvre in a filmography that spans six decades of predominantly strong male characters. This film is based on the life of Gertrude Bell, a woman who occupied many diverse roles. She was a historian, poetess, explorer, cartographer, archaeologist, and political attaché for the British Empire. Her extraordinary knowledge of the Middle East and the Hashemite dynasties was pivotal in the formation of what is today Jordan and Iraq. Herzog's biopic begins in 1914 with a dimly lit roundtable discussion concerning that region's future and the value of Bell's input on the matter. Several of the participants are skeptical of what Bell knows (and she isn't even present to defend her views). Two who are intimately familiar with Bell, including her friend T. E. Lawrence (Robert Pattinson), stand up for her in front of Winston Churchill (Christopher Fulford). Herzog flashes back to 1902 when the recent Oxford graduate Gertrude Bell (Nicole Kidman) has returned to the country home of her parents in County Durham, England. Hugh Bell (David Calder) and Florance Bell (Jenny Agutter) want their daughter to find a male suitor at a ball attended by British officers and dignitaries. Gertrude is neither interested nor intimidated by her counterparts. Kidman plays her with the actor's characteristic grace and intelligence. Gertrude is a smart and independent young lady whose yearning to explore unknown and exotic places. She arranges with her father to be sent to the Tehran embassy where her uncle serves as the British minister. There she meets and is swept away by Consul Secretary Henry Cadogan (James Franco), who teaches her Farsi and poetry. The film also shows the affair she has with British Consul General Major Charles Doughty-Wylie (Damian Lewis), a married man she often correspondents with through poetic love letters. (Here Herzog employs the device of epistolary narration.) In addition to her friendship with T. E. Lawrence, which is only very sporadically shown, Gertrude also shares her wisdom with the friendly guide, Fattuh (Jay Abdo). Herzog chooses a multi-episodic structure to dramatize twelve of Bell's fifty-seven years and the result is an elliptical narrative that focuses more on her romantic dalliances than it does on her many different achievements.

Robert Pattinson and Nicole Kidman in costume as two famous historical characters.

Queen of the Desert biggest weakness is Herzog's screenplay which although specific to the period it covers, doesn't show and tell the audience a great deal about Gertrude Bell's contributions. Herzog composes a fair bit of flowery dialogue but it feels more read off the page than passionately delivered. As the British underscretary and one of Bell's first lovers, James Franco looks ragged and tired, perhaps owing to the ultra-hectic schedule that the multi-talented filmmaker tries to maintain. Franco portrays the bit part competently but unconvincingly. In the various festival reports about Queen of the Desert that I read, audiences laughed at his English accent. They also delivered guffaws at Pattinson but for different reasons. Pattinson plays Lawrence of Arabia with cold, low-key intelligence and that's perhaps appropriate given no one could match Peter O'Toole's stalwart performance in David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia (1962). The problem is that Pattinson is not given ample screen time with Kidman as Herzog has to oscillate between Bell's three romances. I thought Damian Lewis was the best of the three. He simply shares better chemistry with Kidman and is a better match for the type of character she's portraying.

Cinematographer Peter Zeitlinger's CinemaScope lensing of the wide-open desert spaces is the film's greatest strength and almost unintentionally, a big detractor. Herzog's narrative drags along in spots and feels overlong at 128 minutes (this shouldn't be the case). While Herzog often situates Bell in the desert, he has some dramatic difficulties in prolonging the tension of a wild desert sandstorm, for instance. On the plus side, Zeitlinger photography of the vistas is stunning and exquisite and it helps to break up the hackneyed dialogue. It's also a nice change-up from the close wide shots of Bell and her suitors. As a whole, Queen of the Desert is handsomely mounted and technically polished but structurally uneven and underdeveloped in its character arcs.

Queen of the Desert Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Queen of the Desert has been released on Blu-ray in Germany (Euro Video), Italy (Blue Swan), and Australia (Transmission Films). This dual-format BD/DVD marks its North American debut courtesy of Shout Factory. The MPEG-4 AVC-encoded feature is placed on a BD-50 and carries an average video bitrate of 29984 kbps. (The full disc boasts a total bitrate of 36.87 Mbps.) In watching Queen of the Desert's 2:40:1 presentation on a 130' screen, I thought the transfer looked very good with a few minor issues. You'll notice throughout these screenshots that Herzog uses sparse light from the side for the nighttime scenes and also for scenes shot at dawn and dusk. Black levels are solid and detail is consistently good. Skin tones can fluctuate but any changes were based on the time of day and lighting conditions Herzog and his DP were under. I caught some artificial banding when Bell and Cadogan visit the Tower of Silence (see Screenshot #19). There was a little edge enhancement present but aside from these anomalies, Shout delivers a mostly terrific transfer. My score is 4.25.

Shout! has encoded the feature with its standard twelve chapter selections.

Queen of the Desert Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Queen of the Desert's Blu-ray comes with a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround (3167 kbps, 24-bit) and a down-converted DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo (1576 kbps, 24-bit). The 5.1 mix was the main source for this review. The lossless mix carries excellent balance and directional effects spread pretty evenly across the front speakers and surround channels. Klaus Badelt's score is analogous with Maurice Jarre's Oscar-winning score for Lawrence of Arabia but it's a fine effort on its own. Dialogue is generally audible but whispers and muffled utterances were harder to discern. My score is 4.25.

While the movie is delivered primarily in English, there is some Arabic and Turkish dialogue translated into English (see #20).

Queen of the Desert Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer (2:30, 1080p) - a theatrical trailer for Queen of the Desert presented in approx. 2:40:1 with DTS-HD MA sound.

• Bonus Previews - other IFC trailers for Band Aid, Sex Doll, and Wakefield that load promptly after the disc loads.

Queen of the Desert Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

While Queen of the Desert is definitely lower-tier Herzog (with some detractors calling it by far the director's worst--a bit harsh), it contains gorgeous cinematography and period costumes. In spite of some miscast roles that beset the film, Kidman and Lewis give their typically fine performances as distant lovers. Shout Factory delivers very good video and audio presentations. For Herzog completists and fans of the cast. RECOMMENDED.