The film, "The Lost City of Z" is in movie theaters now in America. It is based on a ...wait for it...a TRUE story! (You know that is my favorite kind!) Here is a link to the New Yorker Magazine article by David Grann from 2005, the same author who developed this into a book in 2009 upon which the movie is based, "The Lost City of Z".
(An aside..did you know that in England "Z" is pronounced "zed" not "zee" as we do in America? If you think back on some nursery rhymes, you will see that "z" rhymes with "bed" and that will make you understand why they used the rhyme that way!)
I have directed you to the excellently written article above by David Grann, and since it is quite long and detailed, I won't go into much about it myself, only to say that the explorer Col. Percy Harrison Fawcett disappeared in the Amazon forest in South America along with his son and another companion in 1925. They had been attempting to discover a lost civilization that Fawcett had called "The Lost City Of Z".
The man was not a nutcase, he was a decorated World War I hero, a skilled mapmaker and a member of the Royal Geographical Society. He had received the Gold Medal from them, their highest honor.
This is a quote from his son: "True, he dreamed, but his dreams were built upon reason and he was not the man to shirk the effort to turn theory into fact".
If any of you see this movie, let me know what you think of it! Since the film was directed by an American, the name of it will most likely be called "The Lost City Of ZEE" but you now know how the English explorer would have pronounced it.
Have a great weekend, everyone! Get out there and explore!
Hope your weekend is a wonderful one !
ReplyDeleteThanks, MA! It was!! :-)
DeleteI had just read an article about this, I'd never heard of him before. Kind of like David Rockefeller who disappeared down there.
ReplyDeleteThere is another fascinating book about Teddy Roosevelt in South America, it is called "The River of Doubt". He came close to death while there, he was lucky to make it back alive. The tributary of the Amazon that he explored the "river of doubt", is today called the Rio Roosevelt!
DeleteWe say "zed" in Canada too. This movie looks intriguing!
ReplyDeleteYou say ZED,
DeleteI say ZEE.
Why is this so?
Americans are just contrary! :-)
I saw something on TV recently about this. I don't even remember what it was because I was sleepy and didn't retain it. The pictures are enough to make me want to see it.
ReplyDeleteSee my comment above about Teddy Roosevelt, if I had not been so tired, I would have mentioned the book "The River of Doubt" in this post, so I do know what you mean!
DeleteExploration isn't for dreamers, it's for realists. The whole story sounds intriguing.
ReplyDeleteIt does, doesn't it? I hope it does well at the box office, that make them make more historical movies.
DeleteIt sounds like it will be a very interesting movie....it has a good cast, too. I look forward to seeing it.
ReplyDeleteSounds like the filming was interesting, filmed in Columbia, it looks very realistic from the trailer!
DeleteIn Canada we also call it 'zed'. This sounds like a very interesting film!
ReplyDeleteSee, YOU would not have been puzzled by those nursery rhymes that I mentioned!
DeleteLet me know if you see the film!
Interesting info about the English pronunciation of the letter Z. Did not know that.
ReplyDeleteI think it is interesting. Wonder WHY we say it differently when it is pronounced ZED in Canada and Australia?
DeleteI am going to add this to my list of movies to see. We almost never go to a movie theatre and wait to see things at home. I did not know that about Z. Thanks for teaching me that! Jackie
ReplyDeleteHA HA! I will teach you things from A to Z!
DeleteGood thing the movies come out so quickly on DVD now!!
Oh, I love such true-life mysteries, lost cities, abandoned places and so on! Will check out the trailer right now.
ReplyDeleteLet me know when it comes out for you and if you are able to see it!
DeleteYou Americans with your crazy pronunciations of even basic letters. The film sounds pretty interesting. I know nothing about the story of the lost city of Z, so I'm almost afraid to read up in and spoil the movie for myself.
ReplyDeleteHa ha! Yes, we even say the letters of the alphabet differently!!
DeleteI shouldn't think it would ruin the movie for you. Still, see the movie first and then...read more detail about it later!
A fascinating article which leaves me with a sad feeling for all that is lost. If I have a chance to see this movie, I will.
ReplyDeleteOH! I am so glad that you took the time to read the article! It was very well written, wasn't it? I do very much love good journalistic writing, it is very much what I strive for!
DeleteWell that sounds like an exciting movie for us to watch out for. Meanwhile, is that a tiny white frog I see? We are Zed in Australia too :)
ReplyDeleteYes, those plants are on my front porch, from last summer! They looked the most like the Amazon to me!
DeleteThe frog is a grey tree frog (that is what it is called!)
and is on a poinsettia. Richard keeps them alive after Christmas, the leaves are gorgeous. The flower is a cereus cactus flower, it only blooms at night, you have to take a photo first thing in the morning!
Every country who has English as their first language must say ZED! (Except the USA!) :-)
Thanks for the movie recommendation! It's hard to find a movie worth spending what they charge at the theatre these days, so we seldom go. This one sounds fascinating.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about movie prices! I also wait until they come out on DVD but sometimes, I wish I had seen them on a bigger screen, if the movie is a really good one!
Delete