![]() Sure enough, when they arrive at the source-a land that no Caucasian has previously reached-Percy finds shards of pottery, as well as elaborate tree carvings, that indicate vestiges of the lost city. The heat proves overwhelming Henry has a cut that won’t heal the Amazon teems with fish that the explorers never manage to catch a crew member mutinies natives on shore attack the river-borne company with arrows and the mission threatens to deteriorate into a merely onerous duty when an Indian slave (on whose knowledge of the terrain Percy depends, and whom, it’s worth noting, Percy treats respectfully, like a crew member) confides to Percy that there’s an ancient city in the jungle, somewhere past the source of the river. The potentate supports the mission with the full force of his harsh reign-he offers Percy a crew of enslaved indigenous people, as well as rafts and other supplies. Percy and his second-in-command, Henry Costin (Robert Pattinson), a more experienced explorer, discover the mission’s dangers and difficulties early on, as well as its mysterious wonders-such as the discovery of an opera company maintained in a rustic encampment run by a local rubber baron. That may change, though-he’s dispatched by the Royal Geographical Society to lead an expedition into the Amazonian jungle bordering Bolivia and Brazil so that, by mapping the vague border, war between those countries can be avoided (and British economic interests can be served). Though Percy (so I’ll call him, to distinguish the character from the historical person) is brave and capable, he’s the son of a dissolute father, and his lineage impedes his promotion both in the Army and in society. ![]() The action starts in 1905, when Major Percy Fawcett (Charlie Hunnam), serving to maintain British rule in Ireland, is summoned to London for a meeting. It’s the story of a search that-it’s no spoiler to say-doesn’t come to fruition, a series of missions that don’t achieve their goals, and that nonetheless reverberate powerfully and enduringly with the force of its ideas and ideals. The film opens today, and with its bluff, romantic resuscitation of the cinema’s classic adventure-tale genre and tone, it’s perhaps Gray’s most radical attempt at abstraction and displacement. His new film is “The Lost City of Z,” which is based on the nonfiction book by David Grann, a_ New Yorker _staff writer, chronicling an early-twentieth-century British explorer’s ill-fated expedition in the Amazon jungle. He’s a devoted, meticulous, fanatical realist whose clear, tough, physical dramas sublimate themselves into undertones and overtones, murmurs and intimations, reminiscences and dreams. ![]() James Gray’s films are the public trace of a secret doctrine: don’t follow the words, follow the music don’t believe your eyes, believe your heart. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |