In Desert and Wilderness Movie Review 2001

Children's adventure story has problems for what should be its target audience since it is in Polish with subtitles--maybe the stunning visuals will interest the kids. Set in North Africa at the end of the 19th century, Stas and Nel are children of engineers working on the Suez Canal. They are kidnapped by rebels but escape from their captors, along with two African children, Mea and Kali, who were slaves. Their journey across the beautiful but desolate country is fraught with hardship and unexpected adventures. Based on the novel by Henryk Sienkiewicz.

Distribution

Vanguard International Cinema, Inc., Newport Plaza, 1901 Newport Blvd., Ste. 225, Costa Mesa, CA 92627-2289, Phone: (949)258-2000, Toll-free: 800-218-7888, Fax: (949)258-2010, URL: http://www.vanguard-cinema.com

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 111 minutes.
Originally from Polish.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Africa, Kidnapped!, Childhood Visions, Period Piece: 19th Century, Survival

Screenplay

Gavin Hood

Cast

Adam Fidusiewicz, Karolina Sawka, Lingile Shongwe, Mzwandile Ngubeni, Krzystof Kowalewski, Krzysztof Kolberger

Cinematography

Paul Gilpin

Director

Gavin Hood

Music

Krzesinir Debski