Review of Arabesque (1966) by Harpreet S — 08 Dec 2013

Stanley Donen's "Arabesque" starring Gregory Peck and Sophia Loren; Peck is a professor and an expert in ancient hieroglyphics, Loren is a wealthy and powerful man's mistress, at least that's what we know initially.

Donen's film surprised me with its visual style, which involves tilt shots, splendid images through mirrors, and even animal footage to show what's happening inside a character's head. Where it fails is in its screenplay, it's very confusing, sometimes you don't know what's happening or why it is happening; the relationship Yasmin (Loren) has with Beshraavi (Alan Badel) makes me suspicious, sometimes you wonder why he doesn't get rid of her, considering the things she is doing right in front of his eyes to spoil his plans.

We also never find out what's so great about the prime minister that Peck is so keen on helping, among other things. Specific scenes seem amateurish, almost so bad that it's good. I did enjoy quite a bit, particularly the compatibility of Peck and Loren.

It's a messy affair, but has good amount of humor to cover its flaws; so if you can dismiss most of your brain cells you will have fun.