A masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (21 December 1999)

The first thing that struck me about this movie was the beautiful depiction of the love story between Katherine and Almazy. In most love movies, the main characters seem to fall in love simply because they are in the same movie and their love is usually depicted by them running laughing somewhere outside. In TEP the 2 main characters are characterized with a lot of depth to their personalities so it is easy to see why they are attracted to each other. Furthermore the dialogue between them is simply sparkling with intelligence.
The plot is very logically structured. At first viewing I was a bit put off by the tragic ending, but on further viewings I realized that the ending was perfectly integrated with the rest of the movie.
Of course the cinematography is absolutely beautiful as well as the accompanying music.
Many commenters complain about the acting being "wooden". I find it hard to understand that we are talking about the same movie. I have very rarely seen a movie where the personalities of the characters were so well depicted.
There are lots of fine details that will keep you thinking about the movie. One of my favorite scenes is the campfire in the desert where the explorers take turns performing. Katherine is very well contrasted to her dull husband who just sings a silly song about bananas, whereas she tells a greek myth, where her husband and Almazy are metaphorized.
A perfect 10 in my opinion.