Out of Africa

Rating:
Summary: Somewhat overrated star vehicle --- I just don't get it
Review: I assumed that any film that rampaged through the Oscars the way this one did would be rewarding on so many levels. I must be missing something. What I saw was a beautifully filmed but rather ponderous vehicle to two mega-stars who circle around each other like glittering birds that do not want to muss their magnificent plumages. Emotionally, I have rarely found a "romantic" film to be so totally bereft of passion or emotion.

I feel this is largely due to Robert Redford playing Robert Redford pretending to be Finch-Hatton. He just seems to so totally out of place in this film, and I really could care less about his accent. He just never seems to be anything other than Robert Redford. In any case, his character, supposedly a free thinker who is more in touch with the Higher Truths that Nature offers, comes off as as a self-absorbed character who never met an emotion he couldn't throw a wall around. The relationship between Finch-Hatton & Blixen comes off as being so frigid & lifeless that I simply could not relate to it on any level.

Meanwhile, the film lumbers along through the Great War (with the producers assuming that viewers are all well acquainted with WWI in East Africa), treating us to great scenic shots. Yes indeed, the cinematography is great in this film. All the Brits saddle up, presumably to do battle with von Lettow-Vorbeck, and off they go. Then they saddle up, and off they go to someplace else. They spend a great deal of time going off to some distant spot or another. Eventually some people die, as they are wont to do, and then some more people die. One of them ends up being Robert Redford, which proves most inconvenient for the story line, and so the movie lumbers towards its end shortly thereafter.

This is not a terrible film by any means. I find the performance of Michael Kitchen (a fine actor who deserves more notice) as Berkeley Cole to be most noteworthy. Also, the cinematography is quite breath-taking and goes a long ways towards redeeming the movie as a whole. I also derived great amusement (not intended by the producers) of watching the not exactly diminutive Michael Gough play the (in real life) itty-bitty Hugh Cholmondeley, Lord Delamere. I laughed every time Delamere was in a scene.

Is it a good film? I suppose so. Is it a great film? I don't see how one can really say that. Is it the most overrated film to win a slew of Oscars? Hardly --- let's not forget "Titanic" and "Around the World in 80 Days," just to name a few. It is an OK film. I guess I was just disappointed because I went into it with higher expectations.

Rating:
Summary: A song of Africa; and: What price freedom?
Review: He often tries to distill his movies' themes into a single word, Sydney Pollack explains on "Out of Africa"'s DVD. Here, that word is "Possession:" The possessiveness of the colonialists trying to make Africa theirs; to rule her with their law, settle on the local tribes' land, dress their African servants in European outfits (complete with a house boy's white gloves), import prized belongings like crystal to maintain the comforts of European civilization, and teach African children to read, to remove their "ignorance." And the possessiveness of human relationships; the claim of exclusivity arising from a wedding license, the encroachment on personal freedom resulting if such a claim is raised by even one partner - regardless whether based on a legal document - and the implications of desire, jealousy, want and need.

As such, the movie's story of Danish writer Karen Blixen's (Isak Dinesen's) experience in Kenya is inextricably intertwined with her love for free-spirited hunter/adventurer Denys Finch Hatton. Just as she spends years trying to wrangle coffee beans from ground patently unfit for their plantation and create a dam where water that, her servants tell her, "lives in Mombassa" needs to flow freely, only to see her efforts fail at last, so also her romance with Finch Hatton blossoms only as long as she is still (pro forma) married, and thus cannot fully claim him. As soon as the basis of their relationship changes, Finch Hatton withdraws - and is killed in a plane crash shortly thereafter, his death thus cementing a development already underway with terrible finality. In her eulogy Karen asks God to take back his soul with its freedom intact: "He was not ours - he was not mine." Yet, both Kenya and Finch Hatton leave such a mark on her that, forced to return to Denmark, she literally writes them back into her life; again becoming the "mental traveler" she had been before first setting foot on African soil, using her exceptional storytelling powers to resurrect the world and the man she lost, and be united with them in spirit where a more tenable union is no longer possible.

While "Out of Africa" is an adaptation of Blixen's like-named ode to Kenya, several of her other works also informed the screenplay; as did Judith Thurman's Blixen biography. And it's this combination which in screenwriter Carl Luedtke' and director Sydney Pollack's hands turns into gold where prior attempts have failed; because Blixen's book is primarily, as Pollack explains, "a pastorale, a beautifully formed memoir [relying] on her prose style, her sense of poetry and her ability to discover large truths in very small ... details" but lacking "much narrative drive" and thus, "difficult to translate to film." In addition, Blixen was largely silent about her relationship with Finch Hatton, which however was an essential element of the story, thus dooming any attempt to produce a movie without extensive prior research into this area.

Meryl Streep was not Sydney Pollack's first choice for the role of Karen, for which luminaries including Greta Garbo and Audrey Hepburn had previously been considered. Looking back in the DVD's documentary, Streep and Pollack recount how his change of mind came about (and ladies, I just know her version will make you laugh out loud). But while unfortunately neither her Oscar- nor her Golden-Globe-nomination turned into one of the movie's multiple awards (on Oscar night alone, Best Movie, Best Director and Best Cinematography, Art Direction, Music and Sound), she was indeed the perfect choice. Few contemporary actresses have her range of talent and sensitivity; and listening to tapes of Blixen reading her own works allowed her not only to develop a Danish accent but to become the story's narrative voice in the completest sense, from Blixen's persona to her perceptions and penmanship.

Much has been made of the fact that as Finch Hatton no British actor was cast but Robert Redford, with whom Pollack had previously collaborated in five successful movies, including the mid-1970s' "The Way We Were" and "Three Days of the Condor." But as Pollack points out, Finch Hatton, although a real enough person in Karen Blixen's life, in the movie's context stands for the universal type of the charming, ever-unpossessable, mysterious male; and there simply is no living actor whose image matches that type as closely as Redford's. Indeed, in this respect his character in "Out of Africa" epitomizes his "Redfordness" more intensely than *any* of his other roles. Moreover, all references to Finch Hatton's nationality are deleted here; so this isn't Robert Redford trying to portray a member of the English upper class, this is Redford portraying Redford (or at least, his public image) - and therefore, it is only proper that he didn't adopt a British accent, either.

Praise for this movie wouldn't be complete without mentioning the splendid, Golden-Globe-winning performance of Klaus-Maria Brandauer, one of today's best German-speaking actors, in the role of Karen's philandering husband Bror. (And if you think he's duplicitous here, rent such gems as "Mephisto" and "Hanussen" - or, for that matter, "James Bond: Never Say Never Again" - and you'll see what creepy and demonic really is when it's grown up). And of course, "Out of Africa" wouldn't be what it is without its superb African cast members; particularly Malick Bowens as Karen's faithful major domus Farah and Joseph Thiaka in his only known screen appearance as Kamante, Karen's indomitable cook. Several fine British actors complete the cast, providing enough British colonial feel even for those quibbling with Redford's casting; to name but a few, Michael Kitchen as Finch Hatton's friend Berkeley Cole, Michael Gough as Lord "Dee" Delamere and Suzanna Hamilton as Felicity (whose character is based on Blixen's friend and rival for Finch Hatton's attentions, Beryl Markham).

In all, "Out of Africa" is a grand, lavishly produced tribute to Africa, nature, freedom, adventure and love: Karen Blixen's "Song of Africa" brought to the big screen - and one of the profoundest love stories ever written by life itself.

Rating:
Summary: Greatness undoubted, but something critical needs to be said
Review: First off, so many persons, Amazon.com included, moan about Redford's accentless--exactly which accent was he supposed to use: Highbury? Manchester, Bristol? The Counties (one hour north of London)? .... But then he would fit the bill since the Counties are known for their lack of an accent! Then again he should have said somehting like "bloody gut(good)." Enough trivialities, my major qualm with this film is its portrayal of Women and Empire. Its portrayal of women as participants is misconcieved, portraying Blixen (Streep) as the sole active female in the colony, which is absurd. Nevertheless, the film does touch on a number of historically relevant issues, ranging from single-female migration to the colonies, to the archaic belief that women nurses executed their duty in the name of reason contrasted to Africa's superstitions. Keep in mind that this is her story, with all of her biases intact. (If the subject intrigues you an entire literature has bloomed in the last fifteen years.) Furthermore, Blixens return to Denmark is marked by a distinct severing of ties with Africa. She may have Africa in her heart but Kenya's absebce is what draws out her story. One question: what about the massive Afro-Carribean and Indian population of London today? How did it get there?

Rating:
Summary: The Story of a Life
Review: This is a movie like "The English Patient" that successfully mingles sweeping vistas and larger-than-life events with the small and human things that we can relate to personally. If we find ourselves in a sympathetic vibration with a character in a story, we can be thrilled by feeling closer to the bigger events which might not otherwise rock our personal worlds. These epic events also give a story a yardstick, something by which to measure the mettle of the characters.

Everyone knows something of love, of the joys and difficulties of marriage and the discovery--good and bad--of another person with whom we are intimately involved. This is our entry into the world of this movie. But how many of us have had the chance to, or have succeeded in, living life on our own terms and without compromise as Karen Blixen does? That she is a woman at the turn of the century is only icing on a cake of universal appeal.

This story (I will not detail the plot which others have already eloquently done) lets us watch an extraordinary person being placed in a fantastic, sometimes awkward but ultimately rewarding series of events and trials, and we are able to watch her rise to these occasions and meet life with the bit between her teeth. The backdrop is an entire continent, a setting so sweeping and vast that we can observe whole food chains or witness entire weather systems plying their trade. Karen Blixen is a character that appeals to something in all of us, and she does us proud as a representative of the human race in the continent's dramas.

I have always found Robert Redford thoughtful and engaging, and he does an excellent job here playing maybe the one person who truly understands our heroine and can meet her on her own terms and not be intimidated by her. But the real performance is Karen Blixen herself, played with such perfection, with such a wizard's breath of true life by Meryl Streep. I have never seen an actress more completely inhabit a character than Streep does here, and her virtuosity is breathtaking to watch.

I finish this movie each time feeling a bit worn out. After the roller coaster of exultation and abject loss, of intense love and apopleptic rage, of a woman young and naive grown old and frail, I am able to sleep soundly feeling I have not failed to glimpse ALL of life's secrets.

Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: A Good Intro
Review: If you know little about Isak Dinesen's story, this movie will enthrall you, and give you a good introduction to it. The actors, especially Meryl Streep, do a great job, and the vistas in the background are everything you'd expect in an ode to Africa: plains with buffalo, elephants, giraffe, and the mountains in the background.
However, if you've read anything about this, the movie may be a bit jarring. Specifically, Robert Redford is jarring. I'm sure he's a great actor, but he's just not playing the part of Denys Finch-Hatton. He portrays a Great White Hunter of the British Empire as a Great White Conservationist with a strong American accent. Words are put in Finch-Hatton's mouth that make little sense. Don't give up on the movie however, just concentrate on Streep.

Rating:
Summary: An Epic with blemishes
Review: This is indeed a beautiful movie. I saw it for the first time last night and its comparable to 'The English Patient' in more ways than one. Undeniably, it is Meryl Streep who holds the film together, as the supporting cast does her no favors. The direction is superb and the background score is very captivating. Universals' DVD presentation of the film is commendable, complete with an hour long documentary called 'The Song of Africa' which documents the crews' travails in the dark continent and also gives one some insights on how the film made it from page to screen.

However, Robert Redford ruins most of the film with his dull uninspired take as a British expatriate living and trekking in South Africa. I have never particularly liked any of this mans' performances, and his role here only serves to reiterate that he is one of the most overrated American actors of all time. I can even imagine Tim Curry or Danny DeVito doing a better job here than he does. His character is supposed to be British. Why on earth does he then sound as if he just stepped off a trailer in Mobile, Alabama? Did Mr. Redford do no research on this part? This is truly unpardonable and one of the reasons why I have to ultimately give this film only three stars. And they all belong to Meryl.

Mildly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Takes My Breath Away....
Review: This review refers to the Universal Widescreen "Collector's Edition" DVD of "Out Of Africa".....

"Out Of Africa" not only takes my breath away, but for 2 hours and 40 minutes I am transported to another time and place. A beautiful story in a wonderous setting will have you mesmerized as well. No matter how many times I view this film, I never tire of the gorgeous cinematography,the lulling music, the compelling story and of course the superb acting all brought together by the wonderful direction of Sydney Pollack.

Based on a true story, it depicts the life of Karen Blixen(who wrote under the name of Isak Dinesen) She marries a philandering Baron, and gains a title but discovers he has squandered her money on a coffee plantation in Kenya. Left to run it on her own, she befriends the local residents "The Kikuyu", offers them education and medical help, survives on her own strong willed nature and falls in love with the country, the people and local hunter Denis Finch Hatton.

The story is told in narrative by Karen, as she is now an old woman, thinking back to this time of love, passion, adventure and loss. Meryl Streep, Robert Redford and Klaus Maria Brandauer are masters of their craft as they bring these characters to life. The film was honored with several academy awards including Best Picture(1985),a well deserved Best Director for Pollack, Best Screenplay by Kurt Luedtke, Orginal Score for the genuis of John Barry, and one for the gorgeous Cinematography among others. I loved the music so much, which includes many works by Mozart, I just ordered the soundtrack!

The DVD transfer by Universal is outstanding. All the colors and sounds of Africa, seem to come alive right there in your living room. The growl of a lion, the texture of the landscape, the music all magnificent. The picture is presented in anamorphic widescreen(1.85:1), and the dolby digital 4.1 surround sound is perfect!. The extras include commentary with Sydney

Pollack production notes, cast bios,captioning, and a not to be missed documentary "Song of Africa" where you will find interviews with Pollack, Streep, and John Barry discussing the film and the music. This a great DVD buy at a great price.

Enjoy this very romantic film over and over again.....Laurie

Rating:
Summary: The Romance of Africa
Review: This Sydney Pollack film is a work of sumptuous beauty, the colors of the vast land that is Africa a backdrop to an equally gorgeous romance that itself is tied to a continent. This is Karen Blixen's true story of her time in Kenya and her romance with a mecurial hunter who lives with Africa, rather than in it. Karen would leave her spirit and her soul on the wide open plains of this beautiful land, which is the real star of this lush and most romantic of films. Robert Redford and Meryl Streep are both marvelous in this elegant banquet of love and beauty.

Karen embarks on a journey to Africa after a marriage of convenience to an old friend, which will turn sour shortly after their arrival to their coffee plantation, payed for with her money. His unfaithfulness will bring about an illness that will force her to return home for treatment, or go insane. She has met Dennis already, however, and fallen in love with a land and its people, and knows she must come back.

The romance of Karen and the enigmatic Dennis is languid, like the plains, and their differences vast, like the orange evening skyline. She starts a school to teach the tribal children english and feels ties to her coffee farm, but he has been in Africa a long time, and knows all those there are just passing through. He roams the plains and knows no ownership, at least not the kind Karen needs.

A flight over Kenya set to John Barry's beautiful Oscar winning score is one of those magical moments in film never to be forgotten. Karen, who would later write of these things under the name, Isak Dinesen, would describe it as "A glimpse of the World from God's eye." This majestic offering has a breathtaking scope only a handful of films can compare to. It is a visual feast for the eyes, and the answer for the hearts of all those wondering where romance has gone.

Rating:
Summary: Gorgeous and stirring.
Review: This film is just plain lovely to look at. Streep does a star turn and Redford is affable if totally unbelievable as a Brit.

Rating:
Summary: Praise for Out of Africa
Review: As with most of the reviews, I have to agree that this movie is perhaps one of the best of all time, mainly due to the credit of Meryl Streep and her outstanding talent, and to the spectacular setting in Africa. I have been looking through all the internet sites for Out of Africa, trying to find a copy of the "directors, uncut version" of the movie that had been on TV several years ago. It was mentioned in a review on this site from a person with the sign on of "usamom" from Wichita Falls, TX. Thanks so much!