‎The Lost City of Z (2016) directed by James Gray • Reviews, film + cast • Letterboxd

The Lost City of Z

2016 Directed by James Gray

In 1925, Percy Fawcett ventured into the Amazon in search of a myth. What he discovered became legendary.

At the dawn of the 20th century, British explorer Percy Fawcett journeys into the Amazon, where he discovers evidence of a previously unknown, advanced civilization that may have once inhabited the region. Despite being ridiculed by the scientific establishment, which views indigenous populations as savages, the determined Fawcett, supported by his devoted wife, son, and aide-de-camp, returns to his beloved jungle in an attempt to prove his case.

Charlie Hunnam Robert Pattinson Sienna Miller Tom Holland Angus Macfadyen Ian McDiarmid Franco Nero Bobby Smalldridge Tom Mulheron Edward Ashley Harry Melling Daniel Huttlestone Johann Myers Michael Ford-FitzGerald Aleksandar Jovanović Michael Jenn Nicholas Agnew Frank Clem Clive Francis Matthew Sunderland Yelena Solovey Murray Melvin Bethan Coomber David Calder Stacy Shane Richard Croxford Niall Cusack Colin Carnegie Pat Mooney Show All…

140 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by davidehrlich ★★★½ 5

If not for the ineffably modern hollowness of Charlie Hunnam’s speaking voice, or the distinct rind of 21st century celebrity that still clings to co-star Robert Pattinson like the dying traces of yesterday’s cologne, someone could easily be fooled into thinking that “The Lost City of Z” was shot 40 years ago. In fact, that might be the greatest compliment a viewer could pay writer-director James Gray (“The Immigrant”), a man who seems increasingly determined to revive the glory days of our national cinema, when movie were pictures and auteurs were mavericks. Gray pulls from the past as liberally as Quentin Tarantino, but without the ego — he doesn’t try to process his influences through the slaughterhouse of his own…
Review by matt lynch ★★★½ 1

HOW GREEN WAS MY INFERNO
Review by SilentDawn ★★★★★ 7

98

Percy Fawcett, the subject under a dual-microscope in James Gray's latest memory flip-book, forces the viewer to reconsider Adventure - as a genre and as a daydream - through immense meditation to his particular obsessions and mystifying personal narrative. Being both a product of colonialism and a primitive prognosticator of empathetic relations to other cultures, he's a White Explorer desperately trying to rebel against the stigma even as he continues to roam the jungle in search of a fabled city spoken in whispers and translations comprised of miscommunication. Whether he reached his destination is unknown, but Fawcett's idealism feeds Gray's melancholic grasp on clinical study and, without revealing the trick, his own personal interpretation of the story. The Lost…
Review by Jonathan Rosenbaum ★★★½

It's rare to find a movie these days that believes in adventure and sincerity and pure storytelling as interchangeable qualities, and lives up to all of them.
Review by Brendan Michaels 5

Percy's ambitions of finding Z reflect that of Gray's ambitions with his biggest project to date. Reminiscent of the films of David Lean, The Lost City of Z is a marvel of a film that packs a surprising emotional punch. Gray's themes of family continue and deepen more with this astonishing film. I couldn't stop looking at it. Images that feel reminiscent of Paths of Glory and Apocalypse Now are great but Gray adds his own spin to keep it fresh. So many amazing images that it's too much t unpack on a first viewing. That final shot is an all timer. This confirms that James Gray is the next great American Director. Let's all bow down to a true master.
Review by SilentDawn ★★★★★ 6

98

Gray's triumph over the tricky delicacy and tenderness of a well-timed match cut is nothing less than majestic. One in particular, matching a household fixture with a remnant of the front in WWI, reorients the space as one environment, both wasting moments as Fawcett yearns for the winding greenery and mysteries of the Jungle once again, shackled to necessities of family and honor. Just a remarkable, remarkable work.

Recent reviews

Review by Koticho ★★½

Seria um filme bem melhor se durasse meia hora a menos.
Review by Ashton Kinley ★★★★★

Me, still crying furiously in the last twenty minutes, even while James Gray's thick New York accent on the commentary goes on about three-act structures and having Sienna Miller talk to a wall to achieve a trance-like performance during those final moments????

Like Percy, I am most passionate about one thing, and one thing only, and that is being absolutely WRECKED™ by this movie.
Review by Cubano ★★★

Informativ, aber nicht spannend. Perfekt, um ihn im Unterricht zu zeigen.
Review by elgeneralissimo ★★★★½

Beautifully shot, visually stunning.
Review by Patrick ★★★

This was a pretty big disappointment from the perspective of characterization, especially after my having just seen The Immigrant, a movie that resonates with such depth of character but is also so formally eloquent that I was left especially devastated. I guess it’s a lot easier to create understandable characters when you can do so from the bottom up and aren’t beholden even slightly to the murkiness of distant historical figures’ actions when attempting to tease out motivation. Still, The Lost City of Z is thankfully an absolute treat to behold as visual storytelling and it’s nice to see a filmmaker who can lead a creative team to not only achieve intricate period detail but who knows how to frame…
Review by Jamelle Bouie ★★★½ 2

Increasingly frustrated with great movies that have weak endings, or which should have ended several beats before they actually did.

Also, it’s true, Robert Pattinson is great here.
Review by Ron Hayes ★★½

Charlie Hunnam has GOT to be the blandest actor currently working, and coupled with a tedious script that can summon no suspense, this 240-minute movie felt like 4 hours.
Review by Paul ★★★½

a steady-paced drama, based on the true story of percival fawcett's multiple years-long quests to find this lost city of his, and convince his narrow-minded countrymen of what they thought to be impossible, an advanced civilization older than theirs, in the middle of the jungle. an almost-unrecognizable robert pattinson accompanies him on his journeys (with several others), and while they make considerable headway, at first purely as a mapping expedition, they always are waylaid.

beautiful, varied environments both in "amazonia," and back in britain, but severely color-graded throughout, which wound up becoming a bit of a distraction at times. sienna miller and tom holland give his family some needed depth, while portrayal of natives was respectful, and seemed mostly realistic. minor trigger warning: if you are very sensitive to nudity, you might have to look away in the scenes where they meet the natives 😛
Review by MawnesEverjeans ★★★

Very well done.