Mountains of the Moon (film)
Encyclopedia
Mountains of the Moon is a 1990
theatrical film depicting the 1857-58 journey of Richard Francis Burton
and John Hanning Speke
in their expedition to central Africa
— the project that culminated in Speke's discovery of the source of the Nile River. The expedition led to a bitter rivalry between the two men. The film stars Patrick Bergin
as Burton and Iain Glen
as Speke.
The film was directed by Bob Rafelson
, for whom this was something of a dream project. It was based on the novel Burton and Speke by William Harrison. The narrative concentrates on the relationship between the two very different men.
, who incorporated genuine traditional African music into a traditional orchestral palette. The soundtrack album was released on Polydor Records
, but is long out of print. There are two major themes, one for Burton and the other for Africa. There is also a love theme for Burton's relationship to his wife Isabel Burton
(portrayed in the movie by Fiona Shaw
).
VHS
edition from a widescreen
laserdisc
and is currently available as both a pan and scan
and widescreen
DVD.
.
1990 in film
The year 1990 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* CGI technique is expanded with motion capture for CGI characters, used in Total Recall .* The first digitally-manipulated matte painting is used, in Die Hard 2....
theatrical film depicting the 1857-58 journey of Richard Francis Burton
Richard Francis Burton
Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton KCMG FRGS was a British geographer, explorer, translator, writer, soldier, orientalist, cartographer, ethnologist, spy, linguist, poet, fencer and diplomat. He was known for his travels and explorations within Asia, Africa and the Americas as well as his...
and John Hanning Speke
John Hanning Speke
John Hanning Speke was an officer in the British Indian Army who made three exploratory expeditions to Africa and who is most associated with the search for the source of the Nile.-Life:...
in their expedition to central Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
— the project that culminated in Speke's discovery of the source of the Nile River. The expedition led to a bitter rivalry between the two men. The film stars Patrick Bergin
Patrick Bergin
Patrick Connolly Bergin is an Irish actor and singer. He may be best-known internationally for playing the menacing husband of Julia Roberts' character in the thriller Sleeping with the Enemy and is also known for his role as Irish terrorist Kevin O'Donnell in the film adaption of Patriot Games....
as Burton and Iain Glen
Iain Glen
Iain Glen is a Scottish film and stage actor.Iain Glen was born in Edinburgh, Scotland and trained at RADA where he won the Bancroft Gold Medal. He was married to Susannah Harker from 1993 to 2004; they have one son, Finlay...
as Speke.
The film was directed by Bob Rafelson
Bob Rafelson
Robert "Bob" Rafelson is an Emmy Award winning American film director, writer and producer. He was an early member of the New Hollywood movement in the 1970s and is most famous for directing and co-writing the film Five Easy Pieces, starring Jack Nicholson, as well as being one of the creators of...
, for whom this was something of a dream project. It was based on the novel Burton and Speke by William Harrison. The narrative concentrates on the relationship between the two very different men.
Music
The original music was composed by Michael SmallMichael Small
Michael Small was an American film score composer best known for his scores to thriller movies such as The Parallax View, Marathon Man, and The Star Chamber. Relatively few of his scores are available on compact disc...
, who incorporated genuine traditional African music into a traditional orchestral palette. The soundtrack album was released on Polydor Records
Polydor Records
Polydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom.-Beginnings:Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone...
, but is long out of print. There are two major themes, one for Burton and the other for Africa. There is also a love theme for Burton's relationship to his wife Isabel Burton
Isabel Burton
Isabel Burton was the wife and partner of explorer, adventurer, and writer Sir Richard Francis Burton....
(portrayed in the movie by Fiona Shaw
Fiona Shaw
Fiona Shaw, CBE is an Irish actress and theatre director. Although to international audiences she is probably most familiar for her minor role as Petunia Dursley in the Harry Potter films, she is an accomplished classical actress...
).
Availability
The film was released in a pan and scanPan and scan
Pan and scan is a method of adjusting widescreen film images so that they can be shown within the proportions of a standard definition 4:3 aspect ratio television screen, often cropping off the sides of the original widescreen image to focus on the composition's most important aspects...
VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
edition from a widescreen
Widescreen
Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....
laserdisc
Laserdisc
LaserDisc was a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Initially licensed, sold, and marketed as MCA DiscoVision in North America in 1978, the technology was previously referred to interally as Optical Videodisc System, Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Optical...
and is currently available as both a pan and scan
Pan and scan
Pan and scan is a method of adjusting widescreen film images so that they can be shown within the proportions of a standard definition 4:3 aspect ratio television screen, often cropping off the sides of the original widescreen image to focus on the composition's most important aspects...
and widescreen
Widescreen
Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....
DVD.
Inaccuracies
Even though conveying the basic issues correctly, the film displays several inaccuracies. For example, the film portrays Speke as initially wanting to wait for Burton's return before presenting their findings in front of the Royal Geographic Society. Yet, available evidence suggests that Speke rushed back to England with the explicit intention to present their findings without Burton and taking credit for it. Moreover, the epilogues claims that Burton and Isabel were not separated for the next 30 years. This is incorrect. On his first consular appointment (which was on Fernando Po off the coast of West Africa and not in Brazil, as the film also claims incorrectly) he lived apart from Isabel who stayed behind in England. Lastly, the film claims in the epilogue that Speke was correct in his assessment of Lake Victoria being the source of the Nile. However, Lake Victoria provides only one of several feeder rivers into the NileNile
The Nile is a major north-flowing river in North Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. It is long. It runs through the ten countries of Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Egypt.The Nile has two major...
.