Daughter of the Sands on AllMovie

Originally titled Les Noces de Sable, Daughter of the Sands was written by Jean Cocteau, who surprisingly did not also direct. Told almost completely in pantomime, the film is a modernization of the Tristan and Isolde legend (Cocteau was quite fond of making classical allusions, both subtle and obvious, in his films). Denise Ciardi plays a girl of humble birth who falls in love with Larbi Tounsi, the son of a powerful sheik. Overcoming great odds, the girl and the prince are brought together through the machinations of her guardian Itto Bent Lahsen, who plays a character appropriately named "The Mad Woman." Unfortunately, by the time the woman unites the couple, they've already passed over into another world. A mystical coda caps this very odd film, which never settles very long on any one mood or cinematic style.