Friday March 29th, 2024
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Nicole Kidman, James Franco & Robert Pattinson Star in Arabian Desert Drama

The hollywood starlet plays writer and British secret service operative, Gertrude Bell, dubbed the female "Lawrence of Arabia"

Staff Writer

 Nicole Kidman, James Franco & Robert Pattinson Star in Arabian Desert Drama

Leave it up to Hollywood to break stereotypes, produce stereotypes, reinvent history and be the most effective mouthpiece for US foreign policy; soft power at its best! With the US expecting to lift sanctions from Iran, what better way to prepare than have Nicole Kidman play a white female showing the beauty of their culture and how the latter played a role in shaping the Middle East...Far-fetched? Possibly.

Filmed in Morocco and Jordan, the drama/adventure/romance stars Nicole Kidman, previously glittering vampire Robert Patterson, huba huba actor James Franco, Damien Lewis (expected to be the next James Bond) and, since we are talking about reshaping the Middle East here, Syrian Actor Jihad Abdo.

Expected to hit screens later this year, the movie tells the life of Gertrude Bell (1868-1926) who was said to played a crucial role in setting the path for a new political order in the Middle East following the end of the First World War and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Not being able to find love in a hopeless place (England), the young adventurer, writer, historian and member of the British secret service ventures to Tehran.

After a failed love affair with diplomat and gambler Henry Cadogan played by James Franco, she gives up on love and sets out to explore the region. Leading a rich life of learning languages, translating literature, meeting with Muslim dignitaries in Cairo, Basra and Baghdad, her charm and strong personality earn her trust and respect finding herself a medium between the region she dedicated her life to and the British Empire. Dubbed 'the Female Lawrence Of Arabia', Bell played a role in drawing up the new borders for the region following the fall of the Ottoman Empire, with the movie covering around ten years of her life.

Director Werner Herzog promises rich Arabian landscapes, a gripping drama and a bunch of us Arabs.