Recently we've seen a number of directors make the rapid leap from small-ish indies to gigantic studio films, with mixed results for the most part. But for James Gray it has been nearly 20 years since his debut feature, Little Odessa, and with each feature he's slowly expanded in scope with 2013's underrated The Immigrant his biggest film before now. Finally, Gray is ready to leave the confines of New York behind with the historical drama, The Lost City of Z, and now we have the jungle film's first teaser.
Starring Charlie Hunnam, Robert Pattinson, Tom Holland, and Sienna Miller, the film centers on real-life explorer Percy Fawcett, whose decades-long obsession with a mythical city in the jungle of Brazil put him in grave danger. The film received relatively strong reviews at NYFF, with Amazon and Bleecker Street picking up the distribution. Hopefully they do a better job hyping the film than Gray's work has previously received.
Here's the synopsis:
Based on author David Grann’s nonfiction bestseller, The Lost City of Z tells the incredible true story of British explorer Percy Fawcett (Charlie Hunnam), who journeys into the Amazon at the dawn of the 20th century and discovers evidence of a previously unknown, advanced civilization that may have once inhabited the region. Despite being ridiculed by the scientific establishment who regard indigenous populations as “savages,” the determined Fawcett – supported by his devoted wife (Sienna Miller), son (Tom Holland) and aide de camp (Robert Pattinson) – returns time and again to his beloved jungle in an attempt to prove his case, culminating in his mysterious disappearance in 1925. An epically-scaled tale of courage and obsession, told in Gray’s classic filmmaking style, The Lost City of Z is a stirring tribute to the exploratory spirit and those individuals driven to achieve greatness at any cost.
The Lost City of Z opens April 14th 2017. Check out the trailer below along with some new images courtesy of EW.
