Der blaue Nil

Mystery of the Nile (2005)

*** (out of 4)

Adventurer Pasquale Scaturro and kayaker Gordon Brown decided to go down the Nile River to its source in a journey that would end up lasting 114 days with over three-thousand miles being covered. The documentary shows us their journey down the river, which includes stops to see some of the people who live around the river. After viewing the film I started to read around and it seemed like there was quite a bit of anger thrown at this movie. I read that a lot of the footage was actually shot in a sound stage and I read that a few of the people in the film weren't who we're told they are but instead were just actors. I'm not sure what is true or false so I'm just going to judge the film itself and I must admit that for the most part I was entertained. I should add that I did find the narration to be rather bland and I'll admit that I really didn't care about what these people were doing or trying to do. I really didn't care about any of the mysteries that the Nile had to offer so why did I enjoy the film? Because the scenery was rather amazing. Going down the Nile gave us several great moments with some dealing with the wildlife and others dealing with the amazing body of water. There's some rather violent white water rafting and some great shots of the Nile crocodiles. It's scenes like these that make the film worth sitting through and at just 47-minutes the thing moves at a good pace.

I was really looking forward to this movie.On paper it had absolutely everything I like. Exotic location, brave explorers, exciting and dangerous expedition...What's not to like? Well a lot actually... Movie is only 47 minutes long, but authors generously treated us to 10 minute long introduction to themselves. The rest of the movie was filled with stories of an immense danger they were in , even if camera and the helicopter were following them all the time. Self advertising was the main motive of this whole enterprise. So little about the Nile, so much about the crew.The only venue for this nonsense would be a private party and bragging to friends.

Excluding the brief self-promotion of dodgy 'actors', I loved this movie because of its cinematography, still photos and music.

I agree that the "danger" posed did seem to be exaggerated.

And that studio sequence of the guys in Lake Tana did take from the up- until-then live footage.

The music is well-mixed, adding percussion to the best of indigenous voices and sounds (which can be sparse in those regions), giving the documentary an exciting tone.

All in all, well worth getting out on DVD to hear the soundtrack, and see some of the still photos.

A ragtag group of modern day explorers set off to be the 'first' to navigate the Blue Nile from Lake Tana in Ethiopia to the Mediterranean Sea.

Let's be clear. Any claim of firsts rings hollow. It's silly to say it out loud in the first place. It does not detract from how beautiful these places look. I can even accept the narration as long as I ignore the ridiculous claims of hardship and being great explorers. It's not true. At best, this is a simple travel show. If they treated it as such, this would be more satisfying. Also at 48 minutes, it feels like a highlight reel. The individual members get an introduction but non of them get much screen time. I do wish to have seen it on the big screen. It simply looks beautifully epic.

This IMAX short film tells the story of following the Blue Nile from Ethiopia to Egypt. It is also the story of past civilizations and how they prospered or suffered because of nature and their own short-sightedness or desperation. Along the way the members of the expedition see kindness and joy in places of conflict like The Sudan. Fear , danger and menace are everywhere from crocodiles to murderous bandits. The team consisting of several men and two women are geologists, archaeologists, reporters and adventurers. A cancer survivor and a "city guy" are part of the group. They face grueling challenges and flirt with danger, disease and death. Through it all they maintain a positive attitude and a real empathy for the people of the Nile and the past civilizations that both cared for and exploited the resources of this river. This is a fantastic, exciting and visually stunning film. It is full of hope and foreboding. It is amazing and inspiring.