Missing Storyline Found in Lost City Z!!
For those of you just joining us, The Lost City of Z is a book I read in 2017 to complete my reading challenge. It covers the life and obsession of Colonel Percy Fawcett and his exploration of the Amazon from 1906-1925.
Across the board I felt like The Lost City of Z was a great adaptation from the novel. There are a few things you have to be willing to let go of, and by far the biggest thing to wrap your head around is that the movie only covers the portion of the book that is Percy Fawcett’s life and adventures. I will, however, give credit to the fact that the creators did a fantastic job with this portion of the storyline. One of my only critiques was that they made Fawcett and his wife seem very well composed throughout their many trials and tribulations. They only scratched the surface of how Nina Fawcett felt utterly alone and unequal for the majority of her marriage, or how she spiraled into madness when she was trying to scrape by financially throughout the years Percy was gone and when he never returned. It also made Percy seem completely level headed in the course of his exploration for the Lost City of Z, when in reality he himself became somewhat insane in the pursuit of the legend.
I also don’t quite know how to feel about the ending. I know it’s Hollywood, so there is the pressure to provide a nice ending with a tidy bow…but it was so far from the reality that I had a hard time accepting it. I would have loved if they had left a lot more mystery to the fate of the final expedition, where they just left and never came back…no answers. The fact that the film makes it seem like the Fawcetts found Z and decided not to come back didn’t really make much sense to me.
I would definitely suggest this movie to those who love history and/or adventure. I still think it is highly recommended to pick up the book because there is a whole separate portion that is dedicated to what happens after the Fawcett expedition goes missing and all the additional explorers that searched Amazonia for the lost pioneers and the lost city.