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Mountains of the Moon

by Glenn Erickson Jan 14, 2025

It’s an excellent ‘thinking man’s safari picture’: Bob Rafelson’s beautifully produced epic examines the partnership of two of the 19th century’s greatest explorers. They jointly found the source of the Nile, but after their amazing adventure, London politics and malicious interference broke them up. Patrick Bergin and Iain Glen are the truly intrepid explorers and Richard E. Grant a duplicitous publisher. Fiona Shaw gives the most appealing portrait ever of a vibrant Englishwoman. It’s certainly the best safari movie we’ve seen, realistic and harrowing. And it comes from the producer of Easy Rider.


Mountains of the Moon
Blu-ray
KL Studio Classics
1990 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 135 min. / Street Date November 26, 2024 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Patrick Bergin, Iain Glen, Richard E. Grant, Fiona Shaw, John Savident, James Villiers, Adrian Rawlins, Peter Vaughan, Delroy Lindo, Bernard Hill, Matthew Marsh, Richard Caldicot, Christopher Fulford, Garry Cooper, Roshan Seth, Jimmy Gardner, Doreen Mantle, Anna Massey, Peter Eyre, Leslie Phillips, Omar Sharif.
Cinematography: Roger Deakins
Production Designer: Norman Reynolds
Art Directors: Maurice Fowler, Fred Hole, Ajit Patnaik
Costumes: Jenny Beavan, John Bright
Film Editor: Thom Noble
Original Music: Michael Small
Screenplay by William Harrison, Bob Rafelson from the novel by William Harrison
Executive Producers Mario Kassar, Andrew G. Vajna
Produced by Daniel Melnick
Directed by
Bob Rafelson

The fabled career of the producer and director Bob Rafelson took a major downturn in 1990 with a very different personal project. The discouraging thing is that the epic Mountains of the Moon is excellent, perhaps the best show of its kind. The true tale of African explorers is exciting, reasonably authentic and peopled with fascinating personalities. Rafelson declined to impose an upbeat finale on a historical partnership that ended in muted disappointment and tragedy. The William Harrison / Rafelson screenplay instead concentrates on the personal dynamics of two men who should have remained close colleagues.

The movie is technically about the fabled search for the source of the River Nile, somewhere in the unexplored vastness of the African interior. Africans described a place called ‘the mountains of the moon.’ Special men bond over superb feats of survival and exploration, and then fall apart because of stupid politics and greedy interference. It matters not that there is no ‘eureka’ moment of discovery and no final image of magical mountains. The explorers are terrific heroes. One would appear to be a truly great man restrained by the limits of Victorian tolerance.

 

These men are magnificent — and crazy as Hell.

 

We can’t remember a safari picture as interesting as this one. It is the early 1850s in East Africa. With a couple of Army friends, Richard Burton (Patrick Bergin of  Patriot Games) is about to mount a modest expedition, backed by the Royal Geographic Society. The handsome young Englishman John Hanning Speke (Iain Glen of  Game of Thrones) arrives with boxes of guns and ammunition, to volunteer himself for the adventure. The small group hasn’t even left the coast before it is attacked by Somali hostiles. Burton and Speke survive, but barely. Speke crawls to a boat with both legs and one arm speared, and Burton’s face has been stabbed through by a lance.

Back in England the Society is eager to mount a second expedition. Burton’s sponsor Lord Houghton (Peter Vaughan) hosts a party for him. We learn that Burton is incredibly knowledgeable — he can speak almost 30 languages, is an expert on the Middle East and is fascinated by Africa. He’s known as a free thinker and has the reputation of a womanizer. His numerous books include scandalous translations of Eastern erotica, like the Kama Sutra.

 

The Society thinks the handsome and dashing John Speke is a necessary addition, due to prejudice against Irishmen.  *  Speke has the golden hair of a Greek god, but he is neither as experienced nor as worldly as Burton. He signs a contract with the Oliphant publishing house, which wants to make a fortune from the book Speke will write — even though Burton is the published writer.

John’s friend Oliphant (Richard E. Grant) wants those publishing profits, and connives to separate Speke from his friend Burton. The aged Lord Oliphant (James Villiers) is concerned that his son is sexually ‘keen’ on Speke.

At Lord Houghton’s party, Burton meets and becomes engaged to Isabel Arundell (Fiona Shaw of Harry Potter movies), an adventurous soul who wishes she were a man so she could do what Burton does. Burton is a man of fierce loyalties and honor, and his commitment to Isabel is solid. But the expedition is incredibly risky … Speke and Burton may disappear forever.

 

The second expedition perseveres beyond all reason. Way, way out on a limb, the men suffer every imaginable problem. Bearers desert and steal supplies; Burton contracts a disease that requires that his legs be cut to release blood. They barter with isolated tribes but engage in no battles. They are greatly aided by their dedicated trail boss Sidi Bombay (Paul Onsongo), whose teeth have been filed into points. Also of great help is Mabruki (Delroy Lindo of  Get Shorty), an escaped slave with valuable survival knowledge.

They end up captured by a slaver tribe, that drugs Burton and tortures Mabruki; Speke is able to proceed alone. He finds an enormous body of water that might be the source of the Nile, and names it Lake Victoria. But their navigational instruments have been lost or stolen … they can’t document their position or make maps.

 

Some bad decisions can have terrible consequences.

 

That they get back to London at all is a miracle; Burton’s arrival is delayed. After their experience, their bond shoud be unbreakable, but Speke is manipulated by Oliphant and makes some very bad mistakes, including claiming that he led the expedition. Burton marries Isabel but even she cannot make him plead his case to the Society, which has believed the lies of the Oliphant papers. A great debate is planned, but only then does Speke learn that he’s been deceived, and that Burton will present evidence proving him a complete liar. There’s no way to recover his personal honor.

 

Mountains of the Moon is a vibrant snapshot of Victorian England, where noble efforts are dashed by mercantile power. Richard Burton is committed to learning from other societies and cultures, but the crown and the Royal Geographic Society want only to uncover new lands to colonize or exploit for profit. The bias against Ireland helps the Society accept Speke’s version of events at face value. He cannot prove that Lake Victoria is the true source of the Nile. Meanwhile, Burton seethes in resentment of Speke’s betrayal, but will not denounce him in public, hoping for Speke to find honor and come to his senses.

We actually get an idea of what makes these men tick. Richard Burton is a wild man, but also a man of high ethics. He’s eager to go everywhere and learn everything and frustrated that nobody reads his books about other cultures (although Isabel finds his ‘pornography’ hidden in her father’s library). John Speke craves celebrity. As a ‘second son’ cut out of the family inheritance, the only way John can make a name for himself is by engaging in a bold, crazy adventure.

The production values in England scenes are rich, detailed and utterly convincing, and sold by Roger Deakins’ expressive cinematography. The balance between African adventure and London politics is excellent. The Burton-Isabel romance is a lusty, risky business too. Isabel sleeps with the ‘libertine’ only to discover that he’s 100% loyal to her.

 

The acting is also of a higher caliber. Patrick Bergin and Iain Glen contribute excellent portrayals that avoid quick assessments. On safari, they are a magnificent team. Fiona Shaw is a delight as the proper yet adventurous Isabel, ready to commit all to the right man. Her smiles are real heart-melters. The supporting cast does fine work in brief roles. Isabel’s parents (Anna Massey and Leslie Phillips) are intrigued by the one-of-a-kind man she has brought to their table. Peter Vaughan’s entertaining Lord tells Burton that his clothing is amusingly unfashionable for a fancy dance party, but Burton doesn’t mind at all. Star Omar Sharif has what amounts to a tiny cameo — he has no close-up but we easily recognize his voice.

Bernard Hill ( Titanic) plays the world-famous Dr. Livingstone, who preceded Burton into central Africa by ten years, with similar goals. Hill and Bergin provide the show with one of its best scenes. The two explorers eye each other suspiciously until the subject of scars comes up — soon they’re all but disrobing to show off wounds and bullet holes. Livingstone becomes convinced that Burton is a true fellow, another madman explorer.

Another crazy scene worth mentioning is when a pampered slaver king brandishes a pistol he’s confiscated from Burton, looking to shake off his confusion by finding somebody to shoot. Burton is the obvious target.

 

We run hot and cold on the films of Bob Rafelson, whose big accomplishments were as a producer. His best movies ( Five Easy Pieces,  The King of Marvin Gardens) were followed by uninspiring efforts like 1981’s The Postman Always Rings Twice. Rafelson’s style works once one gets accustomed to his minimal use of wide angles. We’re always looking at details, and not just in the action. His narrative jumps big stretches of time without a pause. One moment Burton and Speke have just sighted a possible rescue boat, and across a cut they’ve already been back in England for a week. We like the way the film cuts directly to the meat of scenes, passing over lame exposition… although we are sometimes curious how much time has elapsed.

Editor Thom Noble gives the show a fast pace, covering all the essentials and leaving room for interpersonal scenes that aren’t rushed. We do wonder if longer versions exist in rough cut. This is the kind of story that would be satisfactory at twice or three times its duration. Nowadays, we’ve become accustomed to long-form miniseries and streaming series.

Mountains of the Moon must have been a very personal project for Rafelson, something very different from his New Hollywood dramas and efforts with Jack Nicholson. It’s an epic without big-name stars, that doesn’t try to simplify history. The story is serious and its central relationship goes unresolved. The tragedy is that these two men couldn’t continue as faithful friends

Beyond having no movie stars to promote, the film’s subject matter and treatment must have been a hard sell to audiences of 1989, who preferred the nerve-jangling escapism of Die Hard. If they wanted a period picture, they’d choose Kevin Costner’s  Dances with Wolves, that pictured a West with ‘safe’ liberal values. This story of African explorers required an engagement troubling aspects of history.

To my memory the film was well-reviewed when new, despite being more or less ignored by the public. Was it given a decent promotion and we just missed it?  Distributors and exhibitors were probably not thrilled by a movie lacking feel-good climaxes. Without getting overly emotional or pandering to the cheap seats, Mountains of the Moon brings forth new thinking about adventurism and the English colonial spirit. Richard Burton’s ordeal is not Rocky in the Congo … it’s more like, ‘how do I cover 250 miles of rough ground when I I have a fever, and can’t stand because my legs are riddled with abcesses?’

 

History’s varied accounts differ on which explorer was more at fault. Hints in Rafelson’s telling suggest an unelaborated homosexual context. Oliphant is clearly interested in Speke, and in a moment of stress on Safari, Speke kisses Burton on the lips. In this context is the significance any different than it would be now?  We know Speke says all those lies about Burton because he’s been tricked by Oliphant, but is there a sexual component at work as well?

The finale has no exulting cry of conquest, and not even a clear payoff for the personal conflict of two great men. We lament that an amazing fellow like Richard Burton should feel the need to not defend himself in public. He’s committed to the belief that doing so would be dishonorable. Here in 2025 America we must have dozens of fine potential politicians that ought to become elected officials — but know too well that they’d just be slandered and marginalized.

We recommend the show, especially for people who want something more substantive than, say,  King Solomon’s Mines. We were very positively surprised.

 


 

The KL Studio Classics Blu-ray of Mountains of the Moon looks great; we avoided it on home video long ago. The VHS and laserdisc copies were oddly scanned; we couldn’t tell if we were missing a lot of horizontal information. The movie was formatted at 1:85, and some 70mm prints were apparently struck for its initial release.

It’s a beautiful show. Roger Deakins’s camerawork is as creative as his films for the Coen Brothers  (No Country for Old Men).  We can soak up the atmosphere and the costumes of a world that looks very lived-in. We become so accustomed to Deakins’ warm naturalistic tones, that we’re initially disoriented when Rafelson suddenly cuts to a rock setting that looks artificial. But it is — the story has jumped into a middle of a stage play extolling the heroism of John Speke.

 

The symphonic music score by Michael Small ( Klute,  Night Moves) is a standout as well. It’s a classic score but doesn’t push for too many grand effects. We really wish Mountains of the Moon were a miniseries, so we could see more of the story of Burton, Speke and Isabel. They are special people, and it’s tragic that their fortunes turned out the way they did.

Kino offers a commentary by Adrian Martin, an Australian film critic who has recorded tracks for at least a hundred features. He begins by calling Mountains of the Moon an odd film out for Bob Rafelson. He agrees that the exit of Speke is tied up in personal love issues and the shame of betrayal. He also doesn’t consider the film a success … what’s not to like about such fascinating people?

Also included is a brief making-of video piece. The ‘original theatrical trailer’ is actually a sales promo video, hastily assembled for a film market (remember those?). I have a feeling that this epic never made a dent, at least not in American theaters. The same fate awaited the excellent UK pictures  Zulu Dawn (1979) and  The Deceivers (1988).

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson


Mountains of the Moon
Blu-ray rates:
Movie: Excellent
Video: Excellent
Sound: Excellent 2.0 Stereo
Supplements:
Audiocommentary by Adrian Martin
Making-of featurette
Theatrical Trailer.
Deaf and Hearing-impaired Friendly? YES; Subtitles: English (feature only)
Packaging: One Blu-ray in Keep case
Reviewed:
January 12, 2025
(7259moon)

*  This isn’t made as clear as it might be; Burton seems to have been born in England and was only partly Irish.CINESAVANT

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Text © Copyright 2025 Glenn Erickson

About Glenn Erickson

Screen Shot 2015-08-24 at 6.51.08 PM

Glenn Erickson left a small town for UCLA film school, where his spooky student movie about a haunted window landed him a job on the CLOSE ENCOUNTERS effects crew. He’s a writer and a film editor experienced in features, TV commercials, Cannon movie trailers, special montages and disc docus. But he’s most proud of finding the lost ending for a famous film noir, that few people knew was missing. Glenn is grateful for Trailers From Hell’s generous offer of a guest reviewing haven for CineSavant.

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Jeanette A Minor

There was a tv miniseries of the story. Made back in 1970. Called The Search For the Nile. Kenneth Haigh played Burton. John Quentin played Speke. Barbara Leigh Hunt played Isabelle and Michael Gough was Livingstone. It was narrated by James Mason. Try to find it if you can. I have an English friendly DVD of it imported from Germany. But it might be on YouTube.

Trevor

This is a top ten favorite movie of mine. Bob Rafelson is a totally under appreciated director. I first saw this in 70mm at The Charles in Boston on release. I then read Burton’s autobiography. The laserdisc looked great on a smallish tube TV. The DVD was a laserdisc port, so no point. The only place to stream it in HD (StudioCanal) was Google Play. I can’t remember if I watched it on a plasma or OLED TV but it was visually disappointing. I believe it cost $6 to purchase, so no great loss. I believe KL is using the same SudioCanal HD transfer, hopefully they’ve tweaked it to improve it, we’ll see, cheers!

Victor Popov

I agree that this is one of the best ever adventure films along with “The Man Who Would Be King”. I have a copy of Harrison’s original novel, “Burton and Speke” and was glad to see that he was chosen to adapt the screenplay. It would interesting to know something about his collaboration with Rafelson. The movie has always been a hard sell to my friends and family mainly because of the graphic depiction of the perils our heroes endure; it certainly makes exploration seem much more dangerous than in other films. The performances are exceptional and I don’t think I have ever seen Patrick Bergin top this performance. How wonderful to finally see the film in a blu ray that does justice to the splendid images. Needless to say, the film rewards repeat viewings.

Jenny Agutter fan

Who would’ve guessed that the creator of The Monkees (and director of Five Easy Pieces) would make a historical epic?

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