The Lost City of Z (2016) - The Lost City of Zzz... - 5/10 (28/04/22)

The Lost City of Z is based upon the true story of British explorer Percy Fawcett who explored the depths of the Amazon at the dawn of the twentieth century. His life already inspired the movie Manhunt in the Jungle all the way back in 1958. Different non-fiction books are also based upon this story.

This movie has a dragging length of two hours and twenty-one minutes and is hard to sit through. Instead of offering exciting adventures in exotic places, this movie mostly consist of lengthy dialogues in dark locations and adds some contemporary social commentary that is completely out of place in the historic context of the source material. Percy Fawcett's son for instance seriously disrespects his father in an unacceptable way while his wife is portrayed as a self-confident feminist with ideas that are way ahead of the time. These elements might please contemporary viewers and as a human being, I tend to agree with several of the opinions and views exposed here but they just don't have their place in a movie taking place in the early twentieth century that should be about expeditions into the unknown.

On the positive side, the cinematography of this movie is authentic and lush. The locations for instance have been chosen with care. The costumes and settings bring the past back to life. The few scenes in the Amazon are breathtaking and make you want to discover more of this region.

At the end of the day however, The Lost City of Z has to go down as an ambitious failure. Despite an outstanding budget and excellent technical quality, the movie itself is a long-winded dramas with numerous anachronisms that exaggeratedly attempt to please contemporary audiences. If you want to watch a movie based upon a true story that actually explores the depths of the Amazon, give the excellent Jungle about the life of Yossi Ghinsberg a chance.