Review of The Lost City of Z (2017) by Spangle — 24 Apr 2017

A journey to find a lost city is always about more than finding the city itself. Conquistadors set out to “discover” the Americas and explore the new world for three reasons, “God, gold, and glory”. Facing horrific conditions in the jungle and squaring off with the naturally confused and hesitant natives of the land, the men - for all of their faults - embarked on a journey that changed the course of human history. Yet, being willing to embark on such a journey naturally calls for a man that is willing to get away. One that is willing to leave his homeland and take on such an arduous with the odds being against him ever returning home again. Either disease or conflicts with the natives would prove to be the end for him and others in his party and, as such, is always a journey to find more than a city or explore a civilization. It is a calling for people that are missing something and want to find something in those jungles that is more than a city of gold. What they hope to find is unknown to even them and is one that will undoubtedly forever change their life.

Percy Fawcett (Charlie Hunnam) was one such man. Initially sent to Bolivia on behalf of the Royal Geographical Society and British Army in order to end a border dispute between Bolivia and Brazil over where the border actually is between the two, Fawcett quickly becomes obsessed with the Amazonian jungle. In his initial mission to find the source of a river known to the British that holds the key to where the border lies, he stumbles across pottery and a carving in a tree. Around him is nothing but jungle, except for these small trinkets. Upon returning to Britain, he immediately calls for his return to find a lost city he is calling “Zed”. Despite the fact that his wife Nina (Sienna Miller) is pregnant with their second child and his son Jack (soon to be Tom Holland) does not remember him, Percy believes he must go back to the jungle. With the backing of a few investors, he does set out to find this lost city, returning with Corporal Henry Costin (Robert Pattinson), Corporal Arthur Manley), and explorer James Murray (Angus Macfayden). Upon there, illness and a loss of rations prevent them from completing the journey. Finally, years later after spending time in France for World War I, he returns with son Jack to complete his journey for this lost city.

However, in spite of its apparent set-up as a film about a man embarking on a life’s journey to find a city and throwing away his family in the process, The Lost City of Z is mostly a character study. Percy Fawcett is a man who has made Major in the British Army at the beginning of the film, but without a medal. He has received some distinctions in the past, but is the only man to have the rank of Major without a medal. Compounded by the fact that his father was a drunk with an infamous reputation that ruined the Fawcett name, Percy first accepts the surveying mission to Bolivia in an effort to restore his name. Calls from Britain for him to return immediately due to adverse conditions on his first trip are met with stubbornness from Percy, who insists on completing the mission given to them nonetheless. Though he loves his wife Nina and loves his children, he is on a search to find himself in this Amazonian jungle. He feels destiny calling him with even a psychic he visits in the trenches of World War I telling him that his soul will never rest until he finds what he is looking for in the jungle. To Percy, this means the lost city. If he just finds the city, he will be okay and will stop hearing the voice in his head to run. However, what he is running to is an illusion. There has been a possible city found there in this century, but it is not what was calling Fawcett. His call what one of self-identity. Who is he? He has no rank. His father was a drunk. All he has is this city and it is the only accomplishment he could ever dream of having that will define his destiny and leave a mark on the world. If he could find this city, he would be remembered and revered for his bravery. If he fails, he is seen as a crazy person who fell for the old “El Dorado” mirage that explorers and conquistadors had fallen prey to throughout time.