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Letters from Baghdad
Gertrude Bell, the most powerful woman in the British Empire in her day, shaped the destiny of Iraq after WWI in ways that still reverberate today.
16 June 1938, Liverpool, England, UK
2 June 1960, Bromley, Kent, England, UK
30 May 1977, London, England, UK
25 January 1946, Portola, California, USA
9 February 1987, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK
14 November 1959, Kensington, Liverpool, England, UK
27 November 1946, Stoke on Trent, England, UK
17 January 1947, Lancaster, England, UK
April 23, 2017
Her story is told mostly via her letters, read by Tilda Swinton, and it contains astute warnings for the future. But frustratingly there are no contributions from historians or biographers to provide context and analysis.
June 03, 2017
A carefully researched documentary that uses an extraordinary wealth of appealing archival footage accompanied by Tilda Swinton's voiceover as Bell.
June 22, 2017
This lively production, scored to the rhythms of throbbing table drums, serving up her sharp, sly criticism of the misogynistic attitudes of her male counterparts, reaches too far, presenting her as a sort of proto-Wonder Woman. But not very much too far.
June 16, 2017
While Bell deserves a more comprehensive portrait, this documentary brings her into vivid focus and captures the world she inhabited.
June 08, 2017
In an age of a rebooted "Wonder Woman," Bell is the real thing, intrepid, fierce and smart.
June 02, 2017
An exquisite documentary on the extraordinary life and work of Gertrude Bell.
June 02, 2017
But although Bell herself is fascinating, Letters From Baghdad is less so.
June 01, 2017
But despite its shortcomings, Letters from Baghdad is one of the rare documentaries which is in itself an aesthetic achievement.
June 08, 2017
It provides a sturdy, often exhilarating bridge between the present and a past that not only isn't distant, but isn't even really past.
June 01, 2017
A fascinating documentary about Gertrude Bell, frequently dubbed "the female Lawrence of Arabia," that could have been even better with more exposition and historical context.
June 21, 2017
It's a portrait of a complex woman that respects her achievements but ultimately adores her courage.
June 14, 2017
The result is something that feels fresh and modern.
