Factual error: The timeline is completely wrong. The film begins in 1902, at which point Gertrude Bell has just left Oxford and is about to go to Persia. In fact, Bell was 34 in 1902 and went to Persia ten years earlier, in 1892. By 1902 she had already been travelling for a decade.
Queen of the Desert (2015)
Directed by: Werner Herzog
Starring: Nicole Kidman, James Franco, Robert Pattinson
Factual error: The Victoria Cross is said to be "only for fallen heroes", which is how Gertrude immediately knows that Wylie is dead. But one does not have to be dead to be awarded the VC; many people have survived to be awarded it.
Factual error: The British general at the party in Cairo wears a beard. Beards had been against regulations for the British Army for decades at that time. No British soldier would wear one.
Gertrude Bell: Paradise has no time, age or sanctuary. Awaits us.
Gertrude Bell: I operate for no-one.
Sir Mark Sykes: What is it then that attracts you to the Bedouin out there?
Gertrude Bell: Something that you and your world you can not ever understand. It's their freedom. It's their dignity. It's their poetry of life.
Charles Doughty-Wylie: Will you write to me?
Gertrude Bell: Yes, I'll write to you from every post office in the desert.
Join the mailing list
Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.