Le montagne della luna

This is an excellent film, and it's unfortunate that it wasn't more widely seen. I wish I would've caught it in the theater, as I'm sure it would be magnificent there.

In it, you're going to see some of the most painfully memorable scenes in cinema (that I refuse to give away), and an epic story that is most remarkably, wholly true.

I loved Raiders of the Lost Ark, and before "meeting" Sir Richard Francis Burton, thought characters of Indy's ilk were simply figments of Steven Spielberg's imagination. However, with study you will find that Burton's experience (and that well beyond this expedition) makes him one of the most enigmatic, interesting people to have ever walked the face of the earth. As they say, truth is stranger than fiction.

Slow, smart, challenging, beautiful. And highly recommended viewing.

A great story, beautifully filmed and acted about two Victorian era explorers. Irish-born Sir Richard Francis Burton, one of the greatest explorers in history, is in search of knowledge. English-born dilletante John Hanning Speke joins Burton's quest in search of glory. Together they search for the answer to one of the most elusive geographical questions of their time - what is the Nile's source? The film accurately shows how the Royal Geographical Society and other outside interests played Burton and Speke against each other for their own gain.

The film's tagline really says it all: "Two strangers made friends by a savage world. Two friends made enemies by a civilized world."

In the Nineteenth Century, the British writer, geographer and explorer Captain Richard Francis Burton (Patrick Bergin) meets the Lieutenant John Hanning Speke (Iain Glen) during a dangerous journey in Africa and after being saved by Speke, they become friends. Soon they team-up to seek the source of the Nile River sponsored by the Royal Geographic Society. Meanwhile Burton meets his fan Isabel Arundell (Fiona Shaw) and they get married to each other. Burton and Speke travel for many months through Africa where they face brutal tribes, diseases, hunger and many other dangers together. Speke finds a lake that he believes it is the source of Nile River but Burton disagrees and believes they need more scientific research to be sure. When they separately return to London, the ambitious publisher Larry Oliphant (Richard E. Grant) stirs up a quarrel between the two friends and Speke travels alone to Africa trying to prove his findings. Will their friendship end?

"Mountains of the Moon" is a fascinating adventure with a story of friendship based on a historic event, the journey of Captain Richard Francis Burton and Lieutenant John Hanning Speke to the African Great Lakes. The plot may be not accurate but the film is engaging and the landscapes are breathtaking. The viewer does not feel the 136 minutes running time. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Montanhas da Lua" ("Mountains of the Moon")

"Mountains of the Moon" is the kind of epic that seems to need a director like Bob Rafelson. I hoped this would be his "Lawrence of Arabia," but something goes amiss in the construction of the drama which Rafelson coauthored. For instance, we learn more about the two protagonists in two single lines than the 40 minutes that begin the film: Speke: (asking permission to organize some specific details of setting up an expedition in to the interior of Africa) responds, "I already have"; and for Burton: (a voice over) "Dear Isabelle…." The meandering, surprisingly cruel, first 40 minutes of the film become irrelevant.

Speke and Burton's search to find the source of the Nile is great material for a film. The scenery alone would lead any director to jump at the chance, but as so often occurs with films about Africa, the Continent overpowers the human drama. Rafelson is a master of human intimacy, and this story of two men's friendship which turns to rivalry is badly mangled by the screenplay. Burton's life alone is a huge trove for the subject of a film, and Rafelson seems to never grip the nature of these men, the essence of the story nor how to tell it.

Yet, the film is worth spending time with only to lavish in the effort of these two men and perhaps the last time when "discovery" meant a places on a map.

Capt. Sir Richard Francis Burton and his mate, John Hanning Speke's travels to find the source of the Nile, and travails to claim the rigth to say that either of these two gentlemen adventurers discovered the source of the Nile makes for one of the biggest and best EPIC adventure films in recent memory. The performances from Patrick Bergin (better known for PATRIOT GAMES and SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY), and Ian Glen (last seen on Broadway opposite Nicole Kidman in THE BLUE ROOM), turn in career-making perfomances as the two polar opposites who race to find the glory at the end of finding the source of the Nile. Bob Rafaelson, the man behind the camera, does not feel the need to spare the audience of any graphic details from the expeditions (including spearings, native sex, castrations, and ugly political maneuvering), and in the end, this is the best way to go since sparing us would have cheated us. Nor does he feel the need to spare us from any ticks in the characters themselves (Burton's blatant drinking and womanizing) and their questions (Is Speke gay? Who does end up with the bigger ego?). But the film's greatest achievements are:

1 - It makes you understand why these two gentlemen lived the lives they lived.

2- It makes you want to read more about them.

3- It really does make you feel like you too, got to go to see the Mountains of The Moon.