Music by Jose Nieto production designer, Amanda McArthur leopard trainers, Rick and Judy Glassey released by Fine Line Features. Currier and Martin Edmunds, based on the novella by Honore de Balzac director of photography, Alexei Rodionov edited by Nicolas Gaster 'Passion in the Desert': Produced and directed by Lavinia Currier written by Ms. Currier, who produced and wrote 'Passion in the Desert' as well as directing it, is at her best in the depiction of the tense and tender relationship between the beautiful animal and lonely Augustin, while the historicalīackground and, to a lesser extent, the cultural differences between the French and the natives seem slight in comparison.Īleksei Rodionov ('Orlando'), as the director of photography, makes the landscape alluring, and the leopard trainers, Rick and Judy Glassey of Jungle Bookings, accomplish remarkable feats.ĭaniels, as the blond, blue-eyed interloper, makes credible Augustin's torturous journey between two worlds. It is there that the hunted man encounters the sleek leopard he comes to call Simoon, after the desert wind the two begin a surreal relationship of love, jealousy and betrayal that bares the animal in the man and the humanity in the beast. The Nile and the sea, it is impossible to become lost in Egypt, the two are soon staggering through the trackless terrain, with Venture using the last of their water to mix his paints.Įventually, Venture remains behind in the shade of a tree, drinking his paints to survive, while Augustin sets out for help, a journey that leads him to take refuge in a cave from angry Bedouins. A Tale in the Desert Review at GameSpot While deemed to be not for everyone, eGenesis' online world garners positive words and a respectable score. In the company of a small detachment of soldiers who take boorish pleasure in firing shells at a statue of the Sphinx, they are attacked by Mameluke forces and eventually separated from their comrades. Though far from its equal, 'Passion in the Desert' is nevertheless an engrossing, visually mesmerizing tale that resonates with reverence for nature, beauty and animal life.įilmed in the red desert landscapes of Petra, Jordan, and Moab, Utah, this story, based on a novella by Honore de Balzac, focuses on Augustin (Ben Daniels), a young French officer in Napoleon's forces in Egypt in 1798.Īugustin is the escort for Venture (Michel Piccoli), a grizzled artist sensitive to the natives' beliefs in djinns, chimera and flying snakes who has been dispatched on Bonaparte's orders to record the archeological and natural With its background of war, its desert setting, its story of overpowering love and its literary roots, Lavinia Currier's film is reminiscent of 'The English Patient.' Ultures clash and man and animal achieve transcendent communion in the fever dream that is 'Passion in the Desert.'

The New York Times on the Web: Current Film.'Passion in the Desert': A Visually Mesmerizing Tale

A tale in the desert review