MovieChat Forums > Full Circle with Michael Palin (1997) Discussion > What happened to him towards the end?

What happened to him towards the end?


Michael seems not just exhausted, but ill towards the end of the series. You notice a real difference after Colombia. At least in Cartagena he is still quite cheerful. But after that the trip seems like torture for him. He has stopped enjoying it and the filming appears rushed. The treatment of North America is skimpy compared to other regions, and then he just gives up on getting back to the starting point, even though coming full circle was the whole point.

Does anyone know what exactly happened to him? Maybe someone has read some background on the filming. Was it Montezuma's revenge, or an animal bite, or something specific like that? Or was it just the fatigue of the trip catching up with him as others have suggested on this Board?


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May have been because of his wife's illness.

He interupted the trip before Australia because she had to have emergency surgery. Although she was making a full recovery, he would understandably have wanted to get home asap.

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Thanks, Superfan,

Although I thought that the problem was with his own health or well-being, worries about his wife's condition could be the reason the mood and pace change so much in the last quarter or so of filming.

I can't wait to get the DVD—it is not available at all on Region 1, so I am going to splurge for Region 2 at amazon.uk and have it converted.

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I agree, and was disapointed, he went from Colombia to Mexico and then the USA very quickly, I was especially surprised he did not visit any Central America countries.
Mexico would have been a place were he could have spend more time and visited many interesting places, Oaxaca or the Baja California peninsula would have been great.

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I was disappointed by the fact that he jumped straight from San Francisco to Seattle, contributing to the popular mis-perception that there is nothing worthwhile in between.

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