film The Lost City of Z

The Lost City of Z

At the beginning of the 20th century, Percy Fawcett, exploring into the Amazon jungle to find the golden city of much talk. Hearing that premise is enough for us to be curious to watch the dynamic film by James Gray, The Lost City of Z. However, this film managed to appear different from other standard adventure films, by promoting the cultural background and the way people think at that time.

Gary puts Fawcett in the context of the British exploratory age, complete with the assumptions of the people there about how primitive Amazonian people are. With Gray's shrewdness in directing, as well as a subchile-like magnet from Charlie Hunnam as Fawcett, the audience can see thoroughly the emotional journey of Fawcett. We see the change, from the moment Fawcett became a victim of his time, to become a 'cultured

The film begins with a portrayal of how society does not fully accept Fawcett, who is a soldier. We will witness scenes of fox hunting, party hunts and intimate conversations between Fawcett and his wife Nina, played very natural and elegant by Sienna Miller. He summoned the cop's wife and told him how Fawcett felt he was a failed man.

This initial scene builds the character of each figure and motion film that is not so fast. Even at the most dramatic moments in the forest, Lost City managed to capture the audience, not through the tense and fast-moving scenes.

For the audience who had watched Gray's previous work, The Immigrant, and felt the film was slow, it might feel the same rhythm in this movie. However, for those who want to survive, will be rewarded with a spectacular adventure spectacle enriching the mind.

Fawcett's decision to accept the dangerous offer of the Royal Geographical Society to go to Bolivia mapped the Brazilian border area, because he saw it as an opportunity to clear the name of his family that had been ravaged by his father who was a gambler. He also abandoned Nina, who understands the sacrifice can be fruitful to the family image in the long run. 

Travel full of discovery

On the expedition, Hunnam displays the figure of Fawcett as a flat man. Along the way he and his team were led by canoeing by people in South American Indians. However, suddenly they are attacked with arrows from the river bank. Fawcett was shown to attack the Indians with his bare hands, assisted by his British colleagues while singing the patriotic song Soldiers of the Queen. Fawcett clearly saw Indians in a different, more humane way than his peers.

He also had heard rumors about the lost city and found pieces of old ceramics that became evidence of the advanced civilization there.

Fawcett then may be obsessed with the golden city he calls Zed. However, he does not turn crazy like similar characters in other adventure movies (try to remember Kurtz's figure in Apocalypse Now or Aguirre's figure in Aguirre the Wrath of God). Even while in the Amazon, he continues to miss his wife and children.

And when Fawcett addressed the Royal Geographical Society on his return to England, he held the fragments of ceramics he found, showing how much he had changed. He was scorned when he said civilization in South America was more advanced than England. Fawcett also mentioned his colleagues have been trapped and too fanatical to the church.

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Image caption

The scene when Fawcett returned to Amazon with his son.

The movie continues with Fawcett returning to a thrilling journey when he decides to plunge into the first world war, at nearly half a century old. Gray describes the war scene, with its size set with finesse and serenity. Lost City continues the ambition of an epic history story that The Immigrant has previously shown. There Marion Cotilard plays a Polish woman forced into prostitution in New York in the 20th century.

Travel inside

With the camera arranger Darius Khondji, Gray creates the Lost City's dimmer look. Each scene is gracefully composed: tanned tone coloring scenes in Europe, while the green color in the forest is reduced. The film is not nuanced like a colorful fantasy movie.

The scenes in Bolivia being shooted in Colombia, made as harsh as possible make people feel that the insects are actually passing in front of them.

Gray did shoot Hunnam with a rather glamorous look like a star. But Hunnam, who was introduced through the Sons of Anarchy series, proves he is an actor with a depth of acting. He displays Fawcett with various layers of emotion perfectly.

In 1925, Fawcett's eldest son, Jack (Tom Holland, who played his role strongly but also looked innocent) joined his father on his way to search for the golden city of Z. At that time they already have many rivals. "The Americans will come here with their rifles, we must pray they will not kill the Indians," Jack told his father.

Pada kenyataannya, Fawcett dan Jack menghilang dalam perjalanan itu. Tidak ada yang tahu nasib mereka. Buku laris karya David Grann, yang merupakan inspirasi bagi film ini, memberikan solusi argumentatif tentang misteri hilangnya kedua orang itu. Namun, dalam film buatan Gray ini endingnya lebih ambigu. Gambar terakhir film ini bahkan amat indah dibayangkan.

Perjalanan imajinatif Gray ke dalam karakter Fawcett, benar-benar membentuk film yang emosional ini. Meskipun Fawcett memiliki pandangan maju tentang orang Indian, dia selalu melihat sesuatu secara tiga dimensi. "Kuatlah," katanya kepada putranya ketika mereka dikepung oleh orang-orang Indian. "Kalau belum waktunya, kita pasti akan baik-baik saja."