Harem (1985)

Genres - Drama  |   Sub-Genres - Romantic Drama  |   Run Time - 107 min.  |   Countries - France  |   MPAA Rating - NR
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Synopsis by Eleanor Mannikka

This film's two well-known stars -- Nastassja Kinski as Diane, a sophisticated trainee on the New York Stock Exchange, and Ben Kingsley as Selim an Arab mogul -- are hard-put to bring life into this beautifully photographed but underscripted romantic drama. Diane is kidnapped and brought to Selim's scenic fortress hideaway in a North African desert. In an interesting role reversal, Diane has no qualms about bedding down an attractive man, but Selim's harem is purely decorative -- he does not share her cavalier view of sexual relationships. The twist is that Selim is not really that bad -- in spite of the fact that he has kidnapped the girl, he actually feels compelled to uphold a time-honored tradition that he doesn't really believe. Selim is an aesthete who wants to embrace the ways of the Western world.

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Keywords

seduction, harem, kidnapping, missing-person, promiscuity, sex, stockbroker