Legendary Trails the Gift of Incense
((Thurs. (15), 8-9 p.m., PBS))
Host: Emma Freud. Director David Willcock and editor Mark Stokes turn "The Gift of Incense"-- the first hour of a four-part travelogue about sacred sites -- into something less than compelling as British radio broadcaster Emma Freud playfully tackles the territory where Judaism, Islam and Christianity began.
She and a crew of six traipse along the ancient trade route, covering 2,500 miles in four weeks. She shares tea with a Bedouin camel herder in the middle of the vast desert; visits Mukalla in Yemen; and discovers Shibam, a towering city made of dried mud known as "the Chicago of the desert."
Ruins, magnificent vistas, camels and donkeys, hospitable Bedouins and legendary sites turn up. Marvel of marvels, the carved-out-of-mountain buildings of ghost town Petra appear. She chats with one of its few inhabitants. The other Bedouins were moved out 10 years ago but Freud doesn't find out why.
The docu flickers to life briefly when it visits the desolate realm of the Queen of Sheba, but the moment passes. In San'a, Freud hears about gat, a plant with a narcotic effect and she passes time at a Yemen all-woman gat matinee, but nothing comes of it.
She explains that all the Bedouin women wear black outfits so the men won't be tempted; in the face of thousands of generations, Freud opines that temptation and self-control are the man's problem, not the woman's.
And so it goes. The film-footage waste and intellectual and spiritual shallowness stupefy as Freud, on her bed, coyly notes to William Megalos' unblinking camera, "You can go now. Thank you." Whatever director Willcock was thinking isn't clear.
Viewers get a look at the Wailing Wall, which Freud appreciates. At the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, seen only partially, Freud confesses she's found her own spiritual home. Delivering her gift of frankincense to a priest, she descends to the Altar of the Manger and the Altar of the Nativity, but doesn't explain much.
Program seems like home movies with Freud the center of attention while history's monuments lie unexplored and unexplained behind her.
Described by a WNET exec as "armchair travel for the mind as well as the eye, " the docu doesn't merit such acclaim. Perhaps subsequent episodes -- exploring sacred spots in Peru, sites associated with Buddha and a French-Spanish pilgrimage route -- will be better organized, written and narrated.
Camera, William Megalos, Caren Moy; editor, Mark Stokes; sound, Peter Sturken, Maurice Hilton; original music, Roger Simmonds.
Variety is striving to present the most thorough review database. To report inaccuracies in review credits, please click here. We do not currently list below-the-line credits, although we hope to include them in the future. Please note we may not respond to every suggestion. Your assistance is appreciated.
