Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

That is the unanswered question here. Why? Why exactly was Gertrude Bell so fascinated with the desert states she explored. She rode camels a lot. She walked a lot. She appeared to be tall. All superficial things about this character. But we all that camel riding and walking got boring after a while...and not a very long while at that. Clearly there must have been a fascinating woman there...but you'd never know it by this film. 128 minutes is not too long for most films...but it was too long here.That's not to say the film has no redeeming qualities. Oddly enough, I can't stand James Franco. But here I found his performance very engaging...although it took me a while to realize who he was. Of course, as one of the good things about the movie, we only see him in the early scenes of the movie.Nicole Kidman did a fine job as Gertrude Bell. That wasn't the problem with the movie. The problem was the script and the directing. The most interesting casting may have been that as Robert Pattinson as "Lawrence of Arabia"; quite interesting...but he's no Peter O'Toole. And I found it interesting to see Jenny Agutter, who I lost track of since 1976 in "Logan's Run" (I know I just dated myself).The film wasn't bad enough to turn off, but it did take me several sittings to wade through the plodding plot. It's a shame...I have a feeling there was a fascinating story here.

Extremely well written/directed/acted!Naturally, "the book is better", but what's new about that line?See it asap...

Frankly disappointing. I had expected more of Werner Hertzog but perhaps it was not so surprising for his first feature film - unfamiliar territory ? For years I have studied the exploits of Gertrude Bell in the Middle East. She had a profound political influence in Mesopotamia. In effect she drew the boundaries of present day Iraq. Included within these boundaries were the Kurds , the Sunni and the Shia. We are felling the effects to this day. However Mr Hertzog seemed more interested in her love life - such as it was. I watched with my brother - he is even more interested in Gertrude Bell than me. He has visited the various sites associated with the Bell family - Red Barn in Redcar,N Yorks , East Rounton and Mount Grace Priory. Definite thumbs down from him. I suppose a "romantic" element was inevitable to attract an audience.

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.