Lost in the telling...
2 stars (out of 5)
Director: Sherry Horman
Cast: Liya Kebede, Sally Hawkins, Craig Parkinson, Meera Syal, Anthony Mackie, Juliet Stevenson, Timothy Spall, Soraya Omar-Scego
Rating: (R16)
It is surprising it has taken more than a decade to turn Waris Dirie's book into a feature film.
Not only was Dirie's memoir of transition from desert nomad to catwalk superstar riveting in a rags to riches way, her candid recollection of being scarred for life by the practice of female circumcision was groundbreaking. So, why would such a powerful literary success be gifted to a relative unknown director hung up on giving it the Full Monty Brit-com treatment?
All too often you wish that film-makers took a little more licence with literary adaptations, but this is a case where they would have been best advised to leave well alone.
Born into an oppressive patriarchal society in the Somali wilderness, Waris Dirie's recollection of being scarred as a youngster, through to her escape on foot to Mogadishu and eventual refugee status in London is fascinating, yet it is treated almost as a hindrance to the main event.
Dirie's transformation from emaciated teen to model is interesting, and Ethiopian model Liya Kebede is well cast in the role, but Desert Flower is too focused on interrogating the vacuous fashion industry.
It's an opportunity lost to handle such a powerful message so flippantly. Read the book.
Best Thing: Timothy Spall, definitely the most plausible character here.
Worst Thing: Not focusing enough on what is at the crux of the story.
See it with: Anyone citing religion as a justification for female genital mutilation.
- Mark Orton
