I once had a farm in Africa...
This film directed by Sydney Pollack and is one of the most convincing epic love stories I have ever seen. It is based on the tale written by Baroness Karen Blixen, whose nom de plume was Isak Dinesen. It stars Meryl Streep (Karen) and Robert Redford (Denys) who have an easy, charming chemistry and much of what is said between them is without words, and the ones uttered are flawless.... which is one of the most beautiful aspects of the film.
Streep, complete with her Dutch accent narrates throughout the movie as she faces the travails of Africa, her love of a free-spirit, syphillus and lions. What is most intriguing about this film are these adventure-loving characters whose zeal for life and beauty is so consuming, and the fact that they are lucky enough to live in a time when it is there for the taking. Karen is shrewd, strong-willed, perservering and generous... Denys Finch Hatton, her lover is bold, eccentric in a straight-forward, uncomplicated way, solitary and passionate.
Dutch aristocrat Baron Bror Blixen (Klaus Maria Brandauer) marries Karen in something of a friendly arrangement, she having the money, he having the title. They start a plantation in Kenya and the impetuous Baron and proper Karen start having differences right away in terms of their lifestyles. While the Baron is off hunting big game and girls, Karen is left to run the farm on her own. Karen battles nature and socially acceptable norms as she builds the farm and arranges for a school for the Kikuyu which work it. She meets Denys on the train and later at a local social club and their interest is immediate, yet slow-burning. Along with Barkeley Cole they cultivate a friendship, which centers around Karen's storytelling abilities... Later Denys takes Karen out on safari, which he does professionally. Denys is a pilot and guide and charms Karen as he shows her the wilds of Africa and takes along a phonograph so they can listen to Mozart on the high plateau...
One of the most stunning exchanges in the film has to do with lions... I won't give it away, but watch for it. Karen proves her mettle and Denys exhibits his deep sense of knowing and understanding the wild which fascinates him so. These two characters are a match steel to steel.
The score is phenomenal, the costuming is exquisite and the cinematography is breathtaking. I adore this movie for several reasons... Of special note is that for me, these years around WWI are one of my favorite eras. This aspect of intense love and its struggle against personal freedom in independant lovers is poignant and all too relevant. She wants him to be with her, he wants to be with her and Africa... yet in the end, she ruins it for him... and in a way part of what she loves in him is diminished. One of the truly fabulous moments that this movie has, is, in my opinion the most sexually charged scene I've ever seen in film, and no... it's not what you think... he washes her hair.
Don't move...
But I want to move...
Winner of 7 Academy Awards, including best picture in 1985.
Running time: 2 hrs. 41 min.
Rating: PG
Score: John Barry
Director: Sydney Pollack