Classic Epic

Rating: 9/10 (2 February 2002)

Though the eponymous character is a dull enigma from beginning to end (and is played in an annoyingly mannered way), and that the political / sexual angles are insufficiently detailed, this remains one of the director's greatest triumphs and the best of his five latter-day epics. Its brilliance is entirely visual - deserts, mountains, palaces, cities and trains have rarely been filmed with such compositional flair or dramatic feel.