Aux sources du Nil

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.

Every time I watch "Mountains of the Moon," I grow more and more fascinated by it. An epic drama and adventure, an exploration of what makes a hero and the value of friendship... this movie is a marvel.

I barely know where to begin. The acting is exceptional, of course. Patrick Bergin really makes Captain Richard Francis Burton come alive, so much so that I started reading up on Burton on my own after seeing the movie. His Burton is a man of great courage and insatiable curiosity, but also of great pride (the film only hints at Burton's infamous sexual escapades). Iain Glen brings great depth to John Hanning Speke, a man who desires greatness but cannot escape his fundamental weakness. It would have been so easy to make these two characters into square-jawed cartoons or place them in the easy Great Hero / Cowardly Villain mold, but director Bob Rafaelson, the script, and the actors wisely give us three-dimensional real people.

While I was watching this movie, I felt like I was actually transported to Africa in the 1850s, when the first explorers ventured into what was truly the Dark Continent. You see Burton and Speke's expedition endure weather, illness, injury, and attacks by hostile tribesmen, bringing home the reality of how dangerous these expeditions really were. By the time the film ended, I felt I had been to Africa itself.

If you want to see a real epic and a fine, exciting film, this is the one to see.

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.

"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.

I have to admit that, before it was shown on television a few weeks ago, I had never heard of the movie. When I see how many people wrote a review or voted for this movie on IMDb, I guess I'm not the only one. It's clear to me that this is a movie that has never had any attention. Not from the public, the cinema's nor the festivals. Even journalist didn't pay much attention to it. Does that mean this movie isn't worth seeing? Certainly not, although the subject probably isn't very attractive to the mainstream audience.

The movie tells the story of Burton and Speke, two friends and explorers who tried to find the source of the Nile in the middle of the nineteenth century. Burton was more of an anthropologist who wanted to learn more about the indigenous tribes which they encountered on their journeys, while Speke was more interested in the discovery of the source itself. Once they were back home they become enemies, because Speke tells everybody who wants to hear it that he alone discovered the source of the Nile, namely Lake Victoria.

There are different things that I liked about this movie. The acting was very good, the costumes were nice, but what I really liked were the images from the African landscapes, the animals, the people... Seeing the images from England just made me look forward to the next scenes in Africa. It never felt right to see these two explorers in England, you're always left with the feeling that they belong in Africa. I guess that is where the strength of this movie lies ... It makes you feel exactly the way these men felt. I reward this little masterpiece with an 8/10.