Jul 10: Desert movies

A nice piece on films which are linked with deserts and sand.

The desert makes a stark backdrop for many Westerns of course, as has been previously mentioned with films such as 'The Searchers' which has featured on the blog.

Here's a few that I have in my memory bank.

Obviously Lawrence of Arabia has to feature fairly early with its portrayal of the desert and the relationship between Lawrence and the people living in the desert.

I watched that last year on Criterion Collection BluRay and it retains its power, particularly when he meets his fellow Englishman having spent so long in the desert.

Also check out 'Woman of the Dunes' which is a variation on Onibaba which I have previously blogged about, or The Sheltering Sky.

A classic is 'Ice Cold in Alex', set during the War and presumably sponsored by Carlsberg.

And more recently of course, we have Dune.

For those who want to read more, there is a Google Book sample of a book called 'The Invention of the American Desert' on this link.

What other films can you think of to add to the list?

Update

Thanks to Richard Allaway for sending some images and details of a film studio in Morocco, which he has visited.

Atlas Studios

This is at Ouarzazate, Morocco

Image: Richard Allaway - shared under CC license

https://www.flickr.com/photos/geographyalltheway_photos/5545932927/in/album-72157629710683685/

Game of Thrones is also filmed nearby.