Jungle fever takes a toll on audiences
A sprawling true story of discovery at the turn of the 20th century informs writer-director James Gray’s ambitious journey into the heart of darkness.
Based on author David Grann’s nonfiction bestseller, The Lost City Of Z charts the battle between globe-trotting cartographer Percy Fawcett and the Edwardian scientific establishment.
Percy sacrifices relationships with his wife and children, and risks the safety of the men in his care as he traces the Rio Verde upriver to its source.
The quest begins in 1905, when the Royal Geographical Society asks British artillery officer Colonel Percy Fawcett (Charlie Hunnam) to map uncharted territory in Bolivia with the help of local tribesmen.
Percy accepts and abandons his wife Nina (Sienna Miller) to venture into the unknown with aide-de-camp Corporal Henry Costin (Robert Pattinson).
Their son Jack (Tom Holland) is born is his father’s absence and Percy returns home with a strong conviction that he has stumbled upon proof of a lost civilisation that will astound the academic elite.
A second expedition in the company of wealthy adventurer James Murray (Angus Macfadyen) teeters on the brink of disaster, but Percy pushes forward, terrified of failure.
Shot on location in the Colombian rainforest, The Lost City Of Z is a handsome tribute to one man’s struggle against himself and Mother Nature.
Hunnam delivers one of the strongest performances of his career against a lush backdrop. Pattinson is reserved in support, while Miller embodies an endlessly supportive spouse, who encourages her husband to chase his dream.
However, at least 20 minutes could have been cut from this bloated film’s two-and-a-half meandering hours and tossed to the piranhas that swarm during one terrifying sequence.