Based on a true story the film is, for me, a true work of the filmmakers art. The cinematography by Darius Khondji—criticized for murky lighting because he chose to light interiors as they would have been at the time (early 20th Century)—worked so well on the big screen I could have kept watching it long after the film ended.
That goes for the acting as well, with Charlie Hunnam owning his character's determination, discipline and precarious strength so totally I felt like I was watching a much needed update on a classic Hollywood hero type. And Robert Pattison was a surprise, first of all because I didnt recognize him he so embodied his character, but also because he was so natural in every scene, as was Sienna Miller who also updated the classic Hollywood hero's wife role, not just by articulating the frustrated feminism of the time but by displaying strength of character and will that could have sustained my interest for the entire movie if the story had been her character's alone.
Though in the form of an epic—jungle exploration with typical dangers and obstacles, matched by the civilized world's version, class prejudices etc.—each scene broke with the tradition of the genre, especially in the pinpoint historic accuracy of detail and unexpected realism, while at the same time fulfilling the genre's expected settings and tropes but with dialogue that made their juxtapositions seem almost like poetic interludes, that all added up to an inspiring, for me, spiritual surrender to the infinite possibilities of any reality.
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