Out of Africa, based on the work of Karen Blixen - 10 out of 10

Out of Africa, based on the work of Karen Blixen
10 out of 10


Arguably, this is the Hollywood mega production, the blockbuster at its best...as it used to be.

Evidently, ultra liberals and future, perhaps contemporaneous generations, would dismiss the winner of seven Academy Awards, including for Best Picture and Director, and condemn the stereotype of the white man or woman, who dominates the natives in Africa and the exaggerated concern of the narrative with the same white characters, when if it is About or Out of
Africa, it should be about Africans.
For another angle on this, you can find a note on Out of Africa, but also in adaptation mode, for the BBC, in theatrical form, at realini.blogspot.com

Meryl Streep is outstanding, as always, in the role of Karen, the heroine of the film, albeit her choice or the director's of accent might have cost her an Oscar...she has three and deserves more.
Klaus Maria Brandauer, an actor with astonishing performances in Mephisto and Colonel, two memorable, exceptional movies, plays with a talent recognized with an Oscar nomination, the husband, Bror.

Robert Redford has a sacred name today, but if we read about his earlier career, we find some disturbing facts and in this feature, he is not at ease, hence he has not even been nominated, in a film that has had a nomination for almost every category possible...there is no relevant Supporting Role in it, thus there is no nod there.

The turmoil, adventure, love story, exploits of the Danish baroness as she settles in Africa to become a plantation owner are mesmerizing...again, for older audiences, the young ones might simply reject it all, especially if they embrace the new rigid, strict politically correct codes which impose on past eras, the norms of today.
Also, we need to emphasize that the baroness is a heroic figure, transplanted from Northern Europe to a very different environment where she has to cope with traumas, disease, the prospect of ruin, perhaps even financial failure in fact, not just as a possibility, the shenanigans of her spouse, who infects her with a terrible venereal disease and more.

She is kind, valiant, gritty, generous, delicate, but also strong, determined, in short, a Wonder Woman.

'Das Ewig Weibliche'

The plantation owner is so wonderful and caring with the Natives who work for her that she gains not only their respect, but their affection.
To put this from the angle of the new rebels...she should have been all these things, but not benefit from the privileged status of the white race, the supremacy they enjoyed, the colonial background.

Nonetheless, if we do not take an exaggerated view on the matter of whites in Africa, no elsewhere for the purpose, this film is a masterpieces