76 of 78 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
the most criminally overlooked movie of all time, August 22, 2002
Mountains of the Moon is possibly the most criminally overlooked movie of all time. For all the horrid yet prize-winning films about morose Europeans falling in love with colonial Africa, this absolute diamond about the search for the source of the Nile has gone inexplicably unappreciated.
The Cinematography of this film is breathtaking (being one of the handful of people who saw it in the theaters, I should know). The filmmakers have not only captured the wonders of the African landscape, their job of depicting Victorian England is something even the folks at Merchant/Ivory must envy.
Beauty aside, Patrick Bergin and Fiona Shaw turn in two of the greatest acting performances of the Twentieth Century. I first fell in love with Shaw in this movie...not even playing Petunia Dursley has strained my affection.
Mountains of the Moon is, at its core, a meditation on the meaning of friendship. Where does friendship end and love begin? Betrayal in one (even if only a suspected betrayal) can be just as fatal as in the other.
With one final nod to Delroy Lindo in a smaller, but crucial, role before I go, I give Mountains of the Moon my absolute highest recommendation. This is one of the best movies ever. Get it today.
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36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Why can't Hollywood make films like this?!, November 9, 2001
This is one of those truly excellent films that you remember and want to see again and again. And each time you see it, you see more deeply rather than more limitations.
It is the semi-fictionalised story of Richard Burton's attempt to find the souces of the Nile in the 19C, across huge stretches of uncharted Africa. While he appears larger than life, Burton really was an awe-inspiring character - a true pioneer who appears so modern for his time, respecting non-European cultures and learning their languages. It was he who first translated the 1001 and one Nights; if not for him, we might not have known the story of Alladin and hundreds of others.
The characters are subtle and multi-faceted in this film. And the adventure was very real. You encounter hostle tribes with unique cultures, religions, and architecture, whose politics were deadly dangerous. (Burton split his palette when a spear entered his cheek during a night raid.) You see the machinations of scientist-explorers of the Victorian era, including a hilarious scene where Livingston and Burton compare scars. And then there is Burton's relationship with his partner Speake, who may have also been his lover. It is so fascinating that you wil want to learn more in the several fine biographies of Burton that exist.
One of the best films I ever saw.
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28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ripping Good Yarn and the Last of Genre, February 14, 2004
This wonderfully intelligent, beautifully acted, photographed and directed film of an exciting and true chapter in history bombed at the box office for no discernible reason other than it didn't have big stars and probably wasn't hyped enough.
Made by one of America's best directors, Bob Rafelson, this story of Burton and Speke's quest for the source of the Nile is one of the last best of the great historical epics made pre-CGI and shot on location and ranks right up there with Lawrence, Zulu, etc.
The film makes plain just what a dangerous and crazy enterprise this kind of effort was with both men nearly killed on the first outing. Speke is captured and speared in arms and thighs and Burton has a spear shoved through one side of his face and out the other. They barely manage an escape and return to England. And yet, they go back and try again!
The second attempt is an arduous and ghastly journey as well, with danger, death and disease plaguing every step. The character of the two men is revealed in these travails, and the film is an exploration of the bonds of friendship and loyalty and the strains that can bind or tear them apart.
This is wonderful stuff with two daring and mad white Englishman traipsing around uncharted Africa in search of a river's source for the adventure, discovery, thrill and fame of it all. They endure unimaginable hardship only to have a falling-out on their return to England.
Sir Richard Burton , translator of the Arabian Nights and various erotic literature, swordsman, rake, linguist was a brilliant, unorthodox and unconventional man. He is wonderfully played by Patrick Bergin, with vitality, humor and charisma to spare. John Hanning Speke is shown as a disciplined and courageous explorer & friend, but troubled and conflicted sexually and emotionally. LLain Glen is wonderful as the tightly wrapped Speke, severely suppressing his (probable) homosexuality.
The supporting cast is fine, and the photography and location filming exceptional. The complications of the relationships: Burton and his wife, Burton and Speke, Speke & his probable lover, are limned with taste and intelligence.
Nineteenth century Africa would be a forbidding and hazardous place for native and non-native alike. It would take exceptional men to leave behind all they knew and venture into a completely unknown and uncharted vast continent, without communications and without a supply line and completely on your own. Lunacy if you think about it. Well, whether historically accurate in every detail or not, this film captures the essence of this mad quest and the extraordinary men who made it! Well worth your while.
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