Isabelle Eberhardt

Plot synopsis:
Isabelle Eberhardt (Mathilda May) travels from North Africa to be with her father, who is dying in Geneva. Shortly after Eberhardt euthanises him, the wife of Marquis de Mores summons her to Paris. de Mores has disappeared in North Africa, and his wife wished to hire Eberhardt to track him down, as she is familiar with the region. Eberhardt arrives in Algiers, where she approaches newspaper publisher Victor Barrucand (Claude Villers). He is interested in her writing for his newspaper, though advises her to abandon the search for de Mores on the grounds it is hopeless. The French authorities are threatened by her search efforts and confront her about them. Despite that she has already come to the conclusion that de Mores is dead, the French garrison forbid her from traveling further from Algiers. Eberhardt falls in love with Slimene (Tchéky Karyo), a French Foreign Legion soldier, who arranges for her to travel out in secret.
Eberhardt is captured by a French patrol after witnessing them execute an Arab prisoner. A French military officer, Comte (Richard Moire), imprisons and abuses her. Eberhardt befriends an Arab prisoner named Sayed, who is later executed. Slimene reveals that Comte executed Sayed in the hopes of provoking a war. Eberhardt writes to Barracund telling him everything; her story is printed as front page news. Shortly thereafter Eberhardt is viciously attacked and wounded by an Arab swordsman. Eberhardt believes that Comte is responsible for the attack. At the conclusion of the sentencing of her attacker to life imprisonment, the French authorities deport Eberhardt. She moves to Marseille, where she is accompanied by Slimene the following year. The two become married, which allows Eberhardt to return to Algiers.
Eberhardt recommences working as a journalist for Barracund. Her marriage begins to break down as Slimene does not want her travel away from him. After reaching the outpost at Aïn Séfra, Eberhardt meets a French officer, Major Hubert Lyautey (Peter O'Toole). Despite their differences, the two respect each-other and soon become friends. Lyautey requests Eberhardt travel to Morocco to ask a marabout for permission to pursue a bandit into his territory. Eberhardt is conflicted about working for the French, though agrees to do it. After arriving in Morocco, however, she finds the marabout unwilling to make time to see her, and she becomes sick with malaria while waiting. Eberhardt is taken to a military hospital back in Aïn Séfra. Slimene vists her, and Eberhardt asks him to take her with him. Slimene takes her back to his small hut, and returns in the heavy rain to get medicine for her. While he is out he realises Eberhardt will be in danger from the growing amount of water, but he does not make it back to the hut in time to save her. Inside her hut, Eberhardt realises she is in danger when it is too late and declares she wants to live an instant before a wall of water caves in the house, killing her. Eberhardt reads the final paragraph from her short story "The Breath of Night" in a voice over, as images of the desert and water appear on screen.

Tags: romantic, violence

Review:
The Anarchist's Daughter. The story of the brief life (1877-1904) of French-Russian-Swiss traveler and writer Isabelle Eberhardt, this dark little film is almost impossible to find. I saw it years ago on IFC a couple of times, but haven't been able to find it in any other format.This movie is wildly uneven in style, but does manage to touch on many of the salient points of Isabelle's life, including her relationship with the French military governor of Morocco, Lyautey, who is played here by Peter O'Toole in a clever bit of casting. We all associate O'Toole with the desert and Lawrence of Arabia, and the scenes here of the two of them walking together, she in her stylish new Arab threads, seems to be almost a passing of the torch. The fact that the real Isabelle died long before Lawrence ever set foot in Arabia is irrelevant. This is purely a gesture of cinematic homage.I also like the way the film drives home the desperation of Isabelle's poverty throughout life, and the way that she and her fellow souls are constantly pushed to the margins by the need to keep sickness and starvation at bay. Paul Schutze's moody film score helps these scenes immensely.This movie is a minor gem, imperfectly realized, maybe, but unique. I wish somebody would see fit to release it on DVD.. Slow but interesting true story of a woman, a convert to Islam, whose several books about colonial Algeria became legendary.. Watching this slow French-Australian production is interesting if only to learn about the true story of a woman whose several books about colonial Algerian became legendary.  Even the story of how the books came to be published is interesting.Per a website entry by © Robert Bononno 1988, Isabelle Eberhardt was the child of an aristocratic German mother and a Russian father, a former priest in the Russian Orthodox church, a friend of Bakunin, a "philosopher, scholar and polyglot." (Eberhardt is claimed to have been Rimbaud's daughter). She converted to Sufi Islam and was fluent in many languages.The movie is a little pedantic about justice and colonial oppression, and the character development is a not clear.  However, this fictionalized snapshot of a period not widely known by American audiences is worthwhile.A small role by Peter O'Toole is welcome.. interesting despite slow-moving pace and unsure evolution. I was thinking about the people who have moved me in some way in my life and I remembered this little film, which didn't leave much of an impression here in Sydney unfortunately. Nevertheless, it is a representation of a real person, and what a life she lived! Most of us haven't the courage or daring to be one's true self in the way that Isabelle was. Thank God for a few brave souls to pave some less-travelled roads. Yes the film may have been slow-moving and a bit vague at times but I believe that it in some way reflected the mind of Isabelle herself, for things were not so clear cut for her, and she must have felt the irony of being able to be passed off as both genders at a time when roles were clearly defined. No, I was very glad to see a film such as this made. They number too few! (7/10)