Word: deserting
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Lavinia Currier's Passion in the Desert begins as a historical chronicle of the late 18th-century Napoleonic wars in Africa, but soon reveals more central concerns as a meditation on the ties between man and beast. The central conceit of the picture is a love affair, not as platonic or intellectual as you might think, that springs up between a soldier and a leopard. Yes, that is what I said, and it's a lot of ground for one picture to cover conventions of visual storytelling cannot easily accommodate such philosophical ambitions. It's hard enough to stage this...
Thankfully, Currier has a unique director's eye, and her film clearly demonstrates a deep and committed interest in the issues it raises. On the other hand, Passion in the Desert is at times too earnest for its own good, presenting its unlikely blend of Dances With Wolves and Quest for Fire with so little humor that both the movie itself and our capacity to buy into it are seriously wobbling by the last act. An admirably spare approach and a bold confrontation with heady material save Passion in the Desert, but just barely, from being as arid and unfriendly...
...draw, measure and document the cultural landmarks of the Egyptian dunes. Of course, the military party with whom he travels are little concerned with monuments or cave-drawings. They have been yanked from their homes and families to conduct a miserable campaign against the Mameluke Dynasty, marching around the desert with their camels and cannons, blowing the face off an ancient sphinx when there's nothing else to do. (And you thought modern-day French were rude...
Rock stars and child stars getting busted for drugs: this is not unusual. But, gee whiz, little buddy, you too? BOB DENVER, enshrined in the psyches of a generation of TV watchers as the emblem of clownish naivete, a fawn facing down the elements on an uncharted desert isle with nothing but innocence...well, you get the picture. Gilligan got busted for weed possession. The narcs caught Denver after he signed for a package containing about 25 grams of marijuana sent to him mail order, and officers searched his home, finding more marijuana and "marijuana paraphernalia." Sounds more like...
Miller plans to continue his directing career, shooting a mystery called Swelter, Murder in the Desert, this summer, and then beginning work on a futuristic film which will probably be shot in Brazil...