One of my favourite films, will never understand the hate.

Rating: 10/10 (22 May 2020)

The cinematography is gorgeous, every shot looks like a painting. The score is understated and haunting and Marta Sebestyen's rendition of Sezerelem is just beautiful. The script was very well written, it felt poetic yet very natural. The story is incredibly layered and subtle, I have watched it a number of times now and I always notice something new. The scenes and character arcs in North Africa and Italy parallel each other very well.
One common complaint I have heard about this film is that the characters are unlikeable. I didn't really think so. Almassy's surly persona feels like a front. He likes to imagine himself to be a rational and practical man, hence the whole writing papers without using any adjectives nonsense, but in reality he is hot headed, impulsive and passionate, and this aspect of himself comes out when he falls for a woman who is very similar in this regard. Their self absorption is ultimately their downfall. He feels like a much warmer person in the scenes in Italy, as though his ordeal has humbled him somewhat and taught him to pay more attention to those around him, he takes interest in Hannah's affairs in a way he neglected to when he was with the likes of Maddox.
Katherine's relationship with her husband is a complex one. She loves him as a friend and Almassy as a lover. "Romantic Love and Platonic Love are quite different things". She does not wish to hurt him, but as Clifton mentions in an obliviously triumphant way, she has basically settled for a man who she has always viewed as a friend and she ends up breaking his heart when she meets a man that she actually has feelings for. It's a good cautionary tale for "nice guys" who are desperate to get out of the friend zone. Clifton makes every attempt to put her on display and tempt fate by leaving her alone in the desert with Almassy, in spite of his protestations, so I can only feel so sorry for him, her wondering off was inevitable given the circumstances.
Another common complaint is that his switching allegiance to the Nazis, being justified by Love was dodgy. Put yourself in his shoes. Imagine the one person you care about in all the world is slowly dying a painful death in the middle of nowhere, you've been walking for days looking for help, when you finally find the "good guys" in the war, they treat you like dirt mock your name and arrest you and cart you away, and all the while your beloved is left to die, they've effectively murdered that person through their ignorance. Are you seriously telling me you'd be noble and put the war effort first if you'd been through all that? Most normal people are not that self sacrificing, almost everyone would do the same thing in the circumstances, especially if they were desperate and still thought that they had a chance of saving their loved one.
Most of the complaints levelled at this film are not in my opinion justified and are mostly the result of people not paying attention to the film.
And if you think that anything that's unabashedly romantic is soppy, then that's just your problem.