| Overall Grade: |
A+ |
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| Story: |
A- |
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| Acting: |
A+ |
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| Direction: |
A+ |
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| Visuals: |
A+ |
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The only time the critics have ever been right
by Blahs (movies profile)
Jul 18, 2007
1
of
1 people found this review helpful
I am shocked to see that the average user rating is a B+ on this movie. I must watch this movie once a month. This is a movie for people who love movies--the casting, direction, dialog, story, and exactitude of historical fiction are amazing.
As someone knowledgable of the exploration of the Libyan desert in the 1930s, I can say that the story is VERY loosly based upon actual events. Count Almasy was a desert explorer working out of Cario prior to WWII who would have met Catherine Clifton (Actually "Clayton") sometime in the early 1930s. They would not likely have had an affair as: (a) Almasy was almost certainly homosexual, (b) it is unlikely they were in Cairo more than once at the same time, and (c) Clayton died in an airplane crash in Britain just shortly after having met Almasy. As well, Almasy did more than just "giving the Germans maps of Cario." In 1942, he actually succeeded in escorting a couple of German spies to an area near Wadi Halfa and depositing them into British-held territory.
Putting that aside, the movie takes some loosely related historical events, asks the question, "what if?" and runs with it. The result is a tight storyline that works well and allows the viewer to get lost in the world of 1930's Egypt. The cinematography, score, acting, etc. are all top notch. It is no wonder that this film won 14 Academy Awards. |
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