AFM: Jude Law Joins Werner Herzog’s Gertrude Bell Pic ‘Queen Of The Desert’

COMMENTS (7)

• Gertrude Bell is the greatest female role of all time. She freaking taught T.E.Lawrence. I would have thought a more…exciting actress would have won this role.

  Comment by Peggy — Saturday November 3, 2012 @ 1:18pm PDT  Reply to this post

  • I agree, Naomi Watts is kind of bland. I guess she saves her fiery personality for abusing the crew…(having heard this now from several people).

    I also would rather have had a female director tell Gertrude Bell’s story. What does a 70-year-old white guy know about being a woman in a man’s world??

    Comment by Jill — Saturday November 3, 2012 @ 10:19pm PDT  Reply to this post

    • I’m sure Herzog will be dealing with themes a lot deeper than gender.

      Comment by james — Monday November 5, 2012 @ 11:28am PST  Reply to this post

• Have had my own Gertrude Bell movie planned for over two years. Been in talks with Shekhar Kapur in directing. If anyone has read a word about Bell they wouldn’t cast these actors ,they’re A-list only and not at all right for the part. That incl. the same film that Scott is going to make. Watch IMDB for ,”The Desert Queen” the story of Gertrude Bell. A epic motion picture with a large budget and cast to match. Written and produced by Jeffrey P.Ackil.

  Comment by jeffrey p. ackil — Monday November 5, 2012 @ 10:19am PST  Reply to this post

• Sounds like a real interesting cast and with Herzog it won’t be boring.

  Comment by steve — Saturday December 8, 2012 @ 12:22pm PST  Reply to this post

• Look forward to any movie on Gertrude Bell

  Asking what Gertrude achieved is a bit like asking what did the roman’s ever do for us!

  An incredible life that spanned the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century.

  A member of the one of the most wealthy families in Britain, as a young woman she traveled all over Europe mixing with aristocracy, attending grand balls hosted by her uncle the British Ambassador in Berlin, as a mountaineer climbed the highest peaks in the Swiss Alps a feat almost unprecedented for woman of her era, the first woman to gain a first class honours degree from Oxford University, traveled on dozens of trips thousands of kilometers throughout the Middle East to the remotest regions to places very rarely visited by Europeans and usually only accompanied by a few trusted Arab guides, fluent in half a dozen languages including Arabic, expert on Arabic poetry, highly respected author, highly respected archaeologist, highly respected cartographer, renowned expert on middle eastern Arab affairs, in the chaos during the early stages of WWI appointed head of “Missing and Wounded Soldier Bureau” based in France, urgently requested to join the British Arab Bureau in Cairo (colleague TE Lawrence “Lawrence of Arabia”), appointed first woman officer in British military intelligence, sent to India to convince the British Viceroy to change war strategy in Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq) and then unprecedentedly for a woman sent to the British Army fighting the Turks in Mesopotamia to advice the Commanding Generals on changing strategy (imagine the Generals surprise at being told what to do by woman) , appointed army staff officer on payroll with the British Army Mesopotamia accompanying the British Army campaign right to the final victory, takes up residence in Baghdad, unprecedented for a woman appointed the chief political officer to the British Governor of Iraq and significantly responsible for drawing the borders of modern day Iraq and the establishment of Feisal as the first king of modern day Iraq, representative at the Paris Peace Conference, established the Baghdad Archaeological Museum.

  Never married; the love o her life a married man was the most senior British office killed at Gallipoli (awarded a Victoria Cross) whose war grave was visited by a lone woman during the campaign (the story goes that all shooting stopped during her visit), unprecedented respect for her by a wide cross section of Arabic tribal and religious leaders, committed suicide in 1924 after many exhausting years living in Baghdad.

  Prolific diary and letter writer and recorded her travels on thousands of photos (all on web).

  A classic photo depicts 3 people mounted on camels – Gertrude in the centre and at her side Winston Churchill and TE Lawrence.

  One of the most remarkable woman in British history, she deserves a movie perhaps more than one.

  Comment by D mill — Sunday January 13, 2013 @ 7:41pm PST  Reply to this post

• So looking forward to this movie.. I hope it is done in the David Lean style, not too fast and flashy… and lots of room for thought and reflection. Would love to see her story on the big screen. Cant wait!

  Comment by The Obsidian Mask — Saturday February 2, 2013 @ 12:12pm PST  Reply to this post