The Lost City of Z.

When I was 10 years old, my father sat me down to watch The Godfather (1972). I didn’t understand most of it, but I was old enough to grasp dad’s intention in showing it to me, which was the emphasis on family. What I’ve discovered since then is that the importance of family is uniquely subjective, and therefore debatable.

Take Percy Fawcett (Charlie Hunnam) in The Lost City of Z. He’s “unfortunate in his choice of ancestors,” a British aristocrat tells us, yet Percy is steadfast in trying to resurrect his family’s besmirched name.

It’s the early 1900s in Great Britain, and Percy’s goal of advancement through military ranks has been rebuffed. He soon finds another path to redemption with the Royal Geographic Society, but there’s a catch: He must be away for years as he creates maps in South America.

By this time, Percy already has a wife, Nina (Sienna Miller), and son, Jack. He leaves them behind, but has a pregnant Nina’s blessing. This first voyage, accompanied by aide-de-camp Henry Costin (Robert Pattinson), is a complete success. Percy gets the respect he craves. He charts the map along the Rio Verde River with aplomb. He returns a hero.

But it’s not enough for Percy. While in the Amazon he saw signs of an ancient civilization and is determined to return to explore further. The hell with his family. Be damned the dangers of the jungle, disease and savage locals. This is about legacy!

This is also where the central debate of the film comes into play. On multiple occasions Percy is gone for years at a time, all the while insisting that he’s doing it for his family. But how does it help his sons and daughter to grow up with an absentee father? Or his wife to essentially raise the children on her own? He’s a role model for ambition and determination, but he’s missing out on his children growing up.

It’s a credit to writer/director James Gray (We Own The Night) that oldest son Jack (Tom Holland) calls Percy out for being a void in his life. Perhaps surprisingly, Percy has the temerity to be offended by his teenage son’s bluntness. In his mind, Percy is doing right by his family. It’s all subjective, remember, and don’t forget the story takes place in a different time with different cultural values.

Hunnam is strong as Percy, a man with integrity who is brutally honest, except perhaps with himself. Miller tries to give Nina an inherent strength and understanding, and succeeds as much as the script allows Nina to have it. And Pattinson – much like Kristen Stewart – is nicely putting the Twilight films behind him in yet another challenging role with this movie.

Familial drama aside, this is a true story based on the best-selling book by David Grann which describes Fawcett’s – and other accompanying explorers’ – accounts of the “green hell” where they searched for the ancient civilization that Fawcett, in real life, had dubbed “City of Z.” (The quest for Z continues to this day, with new – and more technologically advanced – teams attempting to retrace Fawcett’s route.)

Gray’s dialog isn’t always strong, at times sinking to feebly foreboding statements such as Percy being told, “Ain’t nobody comes back from there – ever,” as he’s about to travel the river for the first time. The line would have merit if the dangers of the journey weren’t already well established – by the time it comes we don’t need a reminder.

But that’s a small gripe in an otherwise intriguing, epic-scale story (which spans about 20 years in total) with strong performances and quality costume and production designs.

The Lost City of Z is a film you will admire, question and debate long after it’s over, and any movie that lingers with you like this one does has to be doing something right.

THE LOST CITY OF Z (3) Directed by James Gray •Starring Charlie Hunnam, Robert Pattinson, Sienna Miller • Rated PG-13 •141 min. •At Century Cinemas Del Monte