“To look for what is beautiful is its own reward.”

On paper, James Gray has had an unbelievable career.  Making his feature debut with the Venice Silver Lion winner Little Odessa (1994), each of his next four films competed for the Cannes Palme d’Or, most recently with The Immigrant (2013).  His latest breaks this string of “successes”. 

Premiered at the New York Film Festival, and landing a less noteworthy slot as a Berlinale Special Gala title, The Lost City of Z is, however, a great film in the traditional biopic sense.  It has the allure of a classic prestige picture that unfolds slowly, mesmerizing with its visuals and storytelling. 

Adapted from David Grann’s non-fiction book of the same name, The Lost City of Z is about the great British explorer Col. Percival Fawcett, whom we learnt from the history books as the man who, in 1925, mysteriously disappeared in the Amazon while looking for an ancient lost city.  He had made several trips to the hostile jungle prior to 1925, obsessed with finding a tribal civilization that predated the European colonialization of South America. 

Gray captures both his journey and obsession with a clear eye, and in the process, rekindles the magic of moviemaking in relation to exploration and mystery.  Shot largely in the natural forests and rivers of Colombia by the outstanding Iranian cinematographer, Darius Khondji, the film is bewitching to behold, reminding especially of Herzog’s Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972) and parts of Coppola’s Apocalypse Now (1979). 

Charlie Hunnam—of Pacific Rim (2013) fame—plays Fawcett in a capable performance.  He is backed by the almost unrecognizable Robert Pattinson, who sports a thick beard as Fawcett’s sidekick.  Siena Miller, who plays Fawcett’s wife, is also very good, providing the emotional anchor of the film. 

The Lost City of Z is beautiful and polished, no doubt a remarkably-realized film, yet it is Gray’s patience with pacing that is most rewarding about the experience.  One might see it as an inspired tone poem—and perhaps feel an inconspicuous undercurrent flowing through the movie, like a koi gliding in a pond.  It tells the story in this manner, where time, image and themes are interwoven, cumulating in its haunting final shot.

Review #1,435 / © Eternality Tan http://filmnomenon.blogspot.sg/