Mountains of the Moon: A Re-inscription of the Colonial Master Narrative :: Movie Film Essays

Mountains of the Moon A Re-inscription of the Colonial Master Narrative If Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke were alive in 1989 to see the release of Bob Rafelsons Mountains of the Moon, what would their response to the depiction be? Would they agree with the way Rafelsons withdraw depicts their remarkable journey into Africa to find the source of the Nile River? Would they agree with the way the film dramatizes their relationship with each otherwise? The answers to these questions would help a great deal in determining whether Rafelsons film about Burton and Spekes expedition was accurate, or whether his film was an attempt to sensationalize their business relationship to increase its reception. Unfortunately, Burton and Speke are not around to answer these questions, which makes an analysis of these issues difficult. Therefore, rather than analyzing this film from a historical perspective, this critique is concerned with what story Rafelsons film tells. How does Rafelsons movie shape audiences opinions about Burton and Speke as characters? Does his story, through visual rhetoric, retell or reinterpret Burton and Spekes story? What routine does Africa play in Rafelsons film? The answers to these questions should help determine whether Rafelsons film is a re-inscription of the colonial master narrative, or whether it is a post-colonial critique of European colonization. Mountains of the Moon sets out to recreate the adventures of Richard Burton (Patrick Bergin) and John Hanning Speke (Iain Glen). The plot of the film focuses on Burton and Spekes relationship, and their journey to discover the source of the Nile River. One interesting characteristic that separates Rafelsons Mountains of the Moon from previous attempts to describe Burton and Spekes expedition is that Rafelsons film introduces a human element into Burton and Spekes relationship an element that remains the central point throughout the entire movie (Campbell, www.theparamount.org). As a result, Rafelson shifts the focus of the movie away from the business aspect of the story, and compels audiences to focus more on the friendship that develops between Burton and Speke. Sidney pollacks Out of Africa shifts in the same way. In Pollacks 1985 film, audiences find themselves more concerned with the films have it away story, than with the Baronesss coffee plantation in Africa. This shift occurs not by accident, but rather as a deliberate attempt by Pollack to tell a particular story. Therefore, Rafelsons film deliberately shifts to allow him to tell his story a story about Two strangers made friends by a savage land.