Mountains of the Moon (1990)

The story of Captain Richard Francis Burton's and Lt. John Hanning Speke's expedition to find the source of the Nile river in the name of Queen Victoria's British Empire. The film tells the... See full summary »

Director:

Bob Rafelson

Writers:

William Harrison (novel), William Harrison (screenplay),

Stars:

Patrick Bergin, Iain Glen, Richard E. Grant

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Patrick Bergin	...	Richard Francis Burton
Iain Glen	...	John Hanning Speke
Richard E. Grant	...	Larry Oliphant
Fiona Shaw	...	Isabel Arundell (Mrs Burton as from 1861)
John Savident	...	Lord Murchison
James Villiers	...	Lord Oliphant
Adrian Rawlins	...	Edward
Peter Vaughan	...	Lord Houghton
Delroy Lindo	...	Mabruki
Bernard Hill	...	Dr. David Livingstone
Matthew Marsh	...	William
Richard Caldicot	...	Lord Russell
Christopher Fulford	...	Herne
Garry Cooper	...	Stroyan
Roshan Seth	...	Ben Amir

Storyline

The story of Captain Richard Francis Burton's and Lt. John Hanning Speke's expedition to find the source of the Nile river in the name of Queen Victoria's British Empire. The film tells the story of their meeting, their friendship emerging amidst hardship, and then dissolving after their journey.

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Plot Keywords:

expedition | british | friendship | richard francis burton | queen victoria | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | History | Mystery

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 February 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

Aux sources du Nil

Filming Locations:

Africa

Box Office

Gross:

$4,011,793 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Carolco Pictures, IndieProd Company Productions, Zephyr Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

136 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color (Rankcolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the end titles, Rod Woodruff is credited with playing a fencer but his role is missing from the end film.

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Goofs

Although Larry Oliphant is portrayed as a homosexual, by all accounts he was in real life heterosexual: the filmmakers changed his sexual orientation to create a more dramatic reason for Speke's betrayal of Burton after all they had gone through together.

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Quotes

Arab chief in Cairo: In this wilderness you will find only Allah's terrible whimsy.

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Connections

Referenced in Serial Mom (1994)

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Soundtracks

"Wagogo Soothing Song"
Recorded by David Fanshawe
From the album "Africa - Ceremonial & Folk Music"

User Reviews

This is the 19th century story of two Bristish explorers efforts to discover the source of the Nile River which has baffled geographers since Ptolomey.

I love this film though it is not at all historically accurate. Still, it is a wonderful adventure story. In 19th century Britan, geographers knew very little about Africa least of all the source of the Nile River that flowed through Egypt. Sir Richard Burton and Albert Speke undertook two expeditions to find the source of the river, risking life and limb as they combat hostile tribesmen, disease, depression, and a fierce climate. Eventually their friendship comes to an end. The scene of the escaped slave being mercy-killed by Burton never occurred; that is Hollywood. Burton also did not translate the ASrabian Knights or the Karma Sutra till many years later after his career as an African explorer ended. The film also does not delve very much into why British society was so opposed to Burton. His marriage to Isabel was a Catholic marriage--she was from a prominent Catholic family and there had been anti Catholic riots at the time of this movie--in fact they did not meet in England. Her family had fled because of the riots. I only wish Burtons real story would someday make it into film.