Ambitious if flawed tale of British explorer Col. Percival Fawcett

Rating: 8/10 (29 October 2017)

I really wanted to give this film a perfect five-star rating because it is such an ambitious and unique film, telling the true story of British explorer Col. Percival Fawcett, who disappeared while searching for a lost city in the Amazon in the 1920s. Charlie Hunnam gives a riveting performance as the driven explorer working to prove himself to his peers (he's a military officer who'd never seen combat), working to restore his family's good name after being disgraced by his father, and working to financially provide for his family. There have been many masterfully made films about explorers, but I was most taken with how "The Lost City of Z" was a near perfect blend of old fashioned Rudyard Kipling type of adventure story while also tapping into the likes of Werner Herzog's "Aguirre, the Wrath of God," unafraid of delving into Fawcett's obsession and creating a haunting, hallucinatory film experience. Gorgeously photographed by Darius Khondji ("Se7ven," "Delicatessen," "The Beach," and many more), the film is worth watching for the location photography alone. What I think held this film back from being a masterpiece is that although it was at once a ripping old fashioned adventure film and also a smart meditation on obsession and escaping one's past, it never quite goes deep enough into either. It never goes as far as "Aguirre" or "Apocalypse Now" into it's heart of darkness, and it never fully embraces it's Edgar Rice Burroughs inner heart. Still, it's an ambitious film and Hunnam terrific in the lead, as is Sienna Miller as Fawcett's loyal wife who only sees him between expeditions. Overall, writer/director James Gray has made something unique and fascinating, which made me want to go back and look at some of his previous films, which I seem to recall being interesting, but also mixed bags.