Passion in the Desert

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Passion in the Desert

PG-13

1997

1h 33m

Fantasy

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Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

74%

Tomatometer

19 Reviews

65%

Popcornmeter

500+ Ratings

During Napoleon's invasion of Egypt, he sends the aging artist Jean-Michel Venture de Paradis (Michel Piccoli) there to capture the sights of the country. Soon after arriving, Jean-Michel and his accompanying solider, Augustin Robert (Ben Daniels), become separated from the rest of the French troops. Augustin leaves Jean-Michel to find water, and the artist decides to commit suicide. Alone and lost in the desert, Augustin forms a strange bond with a leopard.

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Emanuel Levy

Variety

04/04/2007

C+

Part an adventurous love story between a man and a leopard, part a metaphysical meditation about the mysteries of Nature, Lavinia Currier's feature directorial debut is dramatically inert but visually striking.

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Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

01/01/2000

2/4

Passion in the Desert is a brave folly of a film, easy to laugh at but deserving a certain respect, if only because it involves such a foolish and difficult story.

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Betty Jo Tucker

ReelTalk Movie Reviews

12/15/2012

An impressive feature film debut for filmmaker Lavinia Currier. With the exception of one scene that crosses the line, her work here shows intelligence, sensitivity, artistry, and courage.

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Cole Smithey

ColeSmithey.com

11/24/2007

3/5

A shameless art movie about a man falling in love with a wild leopard; that takes guts.

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Film Threat

12/06/2005

3/5

Susan Tavernetti

Palo Alto Weekly

05/20/2003

3/4

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12/18/2014

Dumb movie! Dumb title. All the action is in the trailer.

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09/23/2014

Part an adventurous love story between a man and a leopard, part a metaphysical meditation about the mysteries of Nature, Lavinia Currier's feature directorial debut is dramatically inert but visually striking.

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Frances H

09/04/2014

Really liked this film about the strange bond between a man and a leopard in the Egyptian desert. Balzac is one of my favorite authors and this story is really brought to life in Currier's film.

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07/23/2014

stupidest movie I've ever seen. granted this was a long time ago but it doesn't make it any less bad

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08/16/2012

This is a masterpiece!Ben daniels played soo goo that i can say i haven't seen many actort better than him.Also i loved the part when that painter drinks his scuarrls.You must watch it

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04/16/2012

Near flawless execution; extremely unique and memorable; full of simple yet deep allegory. An almost perfect film.

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Lavinia Currier

Director

Ben Daniels

Augustin Robert

Michel Piccoli

Jean-Michel Venture de Paradis

Paul Meston

Grognard

Kenneth Collard

Officer

Nadia Odeh

Bedouin Bride

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Synopsis

During Napoleon's invasion of Egypt, he sends the aging artist Jean-Michel Venture de Paradis (Michel Piccoli) there to capture the sights of the country. Soon after arriving, Jean-Michel and his accompanying solider, Augustin Robert (Ben Daniels), become separated from the rest of the French troops. Augustin leaves Jean-Michel to find water, and the artist decides to commit suicide. Alone and lost in the desert, Augustin forms a strange bond with a leopard.

Director: Lavinia Currier
Producer: Lavinia Currier
Screenwriter: Lavinia Currier
Production Co: Roland-Film
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Fantasy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 8, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $249.7K
Runtime: 1h 33m
Sound Mix: Surround

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