The Lost City of Z, based on a true story, tells the tale of Colonel Percival Fawcett, an Englishman convinced that in the thick of the Amazon Jungle a phantom civilization was tucked away from the rest of the world. Determined to find it and prove that the people of “Amazonia” were indeed real, Percy, as he was known, set off on several missions to South America.
Initially, Percy, played by Charlie Hunnam, is an Army officer who’s dismayed by his own lack of notoriety and advancement. When an opportunity to utilize his cartography skills is offered, Percy sets off on a mission to Bolivia, where he and his team are tasked with mapping the unknown areas of the country to alleviate border dispute tensions between Bolivia and its neighbor Brazil.
Joining Percy in his documentation and surveying is Henry Costin, played by Robert Pattinson of the Twilight series. (Long live Team Edward!) The obstacles Percy and Mr. Costin encounter are numerous, including lack of food, too few supplies, and attacks from the natives of the jungle, who try to shoot the team of explorers with their homemade arrows.
Even though each journey is harrowing, Percy presses on, believing wholeheartedly that one day he will indeed find the mysterious, lost city. Will his dream of proving that there are cultured natives living in unexplored areas come true? Is there really evidence of a once shining city of gold yet discovered by white men?
Because the story takes place in the early part of the 1900’s, when travel from England to South America was arduous, Percy’s exploration takes him away from his wife and children for years at a time. Sienna Miller plays Percy’s wife Nina Fawcett, an independent and headstrong woman who supports her husband’s need to seek the truth of the world while at the same time feeling slightly resentful that she cannot join him simply because she is female. Nina, who Percy affectionately refers to as Cheeky, is left to raise their children, and even when their eldest son Jack becomes bitter about his father’s lengthy absences, she continues to be her husband’s most ardent defender.
As a lover of history, most of the time when I watch a movie based on a true story, I feel compelled afterwards to research the real facts, eager to learn even more. I can tell you with certainty that after seeing The Lost City of Z, going online to further educate myself about the real Percival Fawcett was the last thing on my mind! This movie was so slow, and I kept looking at the time surreptitiously, praying the minutes would go by faster. Put it this way, watching this movie would be like watching Titanic, and rooting for Leonardo DiCaprio’s character Jack to hurry up and drown already! I just wanted it to end!
My husband Mike attended the movie with me, and several times I had to gently elbow him because I caught him doing the head nod as he tried to seek the sweet mercy that only sleep could deliver during this film, which is close to two and a half hours long. Normally I dislike when people talk in the theater, but I couldn’t help myself, leaning over to whisper in his ear, “Are we there yet?”
After the film was over, Mike concluded, “It was like they took several bad movies, and mashed them together to make a really long bad-movie. There’s no way I would recommend this to anyone.” The Lost City of Z? More like The Found City of Zzzz’s.
Movie times: click here
Genre: Action, Adventure, Biography
Director: James Gray
Actors: Charlie Hunnam, Robert Pattinson, Sienna Miller
Rating: PG-13 for violence, disturbing images, brief strong language and some nudity
Running Time: 2 hours 21 minutes
