3.5 stars out of 4
Added 5/25/2009
The Bottom Line:
An immensely interesting and enjoyable film about a Jewish family which escapes the Holocaust by moving to Africa (without actually knowing anything about how to survive in the bush), Nowhere in Africa was the deserved winner of 2002's Best Foreign Language Film Oscar and deserves to be seen by you.
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Extraordinary movie
Added 5/24/2009
Nowhere in Africa might just be the most touching and most caring Western movie on an Africa-related theme I've seen in my life
If you were to leave the comfortable and safe environment of your upper class house, and move to a completely new place where the customs, morals, habits and the language you speak are no longer useful, what would you do? Nowhere in Africa presents the true story of a Jewish family that moves to Kenya in the late 1930s just before the beginning of the Second World War. The movie is centered on the daily life of Regina (played by Lea Kurka and Karoline Eckertz) and her parents Jettel (Juliane Köhler) and Walter (Merab Ninidze) who live in the company of the Pokot tribe somewhere in Kenya. As the mother and the daughter arrive to Kenya, where Walter was already settled in for some time (unspecified in the script) they are immediately confronted with the new more disturbing conditions in which they are supposed to live. Jettel has a very hard time in getting used to the new life (initially she thinks they will only spend a couple of months in Africa), while Regina almost instantly adapts to the new lifestyle.
Full review available at:
http://codrinarsene.com/2009/05/nowhere-in-africa/
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In German
Added 4/10/2009
I'm practicing my German and this movie helped although I wish there was a choice for German subtitles.
Another good German movie for those learning the language is Mostly Martha
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Lyrical and poignant drama about displaced people
Added 2/9/2009
I can't believe it has taken me so long to discover this gem of a movie! 'Nowhere in Africa" is an absolutely beautiful movie about people making a life for themselves in a far-off country when their own rejects them and they deal with the complexities that arise as a result.
Based on Stefanie Zweig's autobiographical novel, the film tells the true life story of a young Jewish girl and her mother who leave Germany right before the outbreak of WW II. Regina and her mother, Jettel join her father Walter in Kenya to escape Nazi persecution [at a time when expatriation was still possible in Germany]. Jettel has been used to a life of luxury [as Walter used to work as a successful lawyer before the Nazis came to power] and is shocked and dismayed at the simple living conditions in Kenya. Walter has no status in Kenyan society, he is treated as an outsider, and earns a living managing farms for other foreign nationals. Jettel looks down upon the native Kenyans, and this infuriates her husband who likens her attitude to that of the Nazis.
It is only with the passage of time that Jettel comes to adapt to her life in Kenya, living among the natives and even appreciating their down-to-earth manner. Regina is the one who is most at ease amongst the wilds of Kenya - she gets along famously with the natives, forming a close bond with their Kenyan cook, Owour, and even though she gets sent off to boarding school, she still maintains a close affection for the natives and keeps local friendships going when she returns on holidays.
Ironically, it is Walter who turns out to be the least immersed - he enlists in the war on the side of the Allies, and upon war's end, decides to return to Frankfurt to work as a judge. Jettel and Regina are against this and the family needs to figure out what's best for them.
The human relationships in this well-crafted drama are effectively and credibly portrayed - Jettel and Walter embody a couple who seem incompatible when forced into harsh circumstances - Jettel rails against Walter for letting her down [due to his diminished earning capacity], whilst Walter yearns for a wife who is 'more mature' and empathetic. It takes the passage of years [throughout the war] for them to come to terms with each other, shedding their preconceived notions and prejudices along the way. Regina too 'grows' - from a precocious young child with an idealistic picture of her parents to a compassionate and mature adolescent who comes to accept the joys and pitfalls of human relationships.
All the actors portray their roles with conviction and credibility. The cinematography is simply stunning - be it the wilds of Kenya, the tribes dancing during a feast, or even an old lady who is peacefully awaiting death, each scene 'speaks' to the soul and leaves an indelible mark upon the viewer.Highly recommended!
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Refugees Become Enemy Aliens
Added 8/1/2008
Some Jews in order to escape from Hitler's persecution and genocide in the late 1930's fled to parched Kenya in Africa where they found the life primitive and faced new kinds of hostility. This movie zeroes in on a family from Breslau. A mother and her daughter take flight to Kenya to join the husband who is a tenant farmer struggling to eke out a living. Regina, the daughter, accepts the blacks and their culture while the mother shows her initial prejudices. Her husband owes a debt to his Kenyan male cook because the servant saved him from a severe attack of malaria. The cook befriends Regina.
The British, colonial rulers of Kenya, interred many Jews and made their exiled life harder even though England was at war with Nazi Germany. The family's status changed from refugees to enemy aliens.
This German (best foreign film Oscar winner for 2002) movie has vivid scenes of the life in Africa. Great scenes of old 30's vintage vehicles traveling around the arid landscape. The movie deals with the complex world of the three main characters. Both the husband and wife are struggling with their own demons while the daughter accepts her new African home but struggles to understand the strange adult world around her.
The director is willing to take chances and present a multi-layered view of the lives of these refugees. The actors are outstanding, and the film has great cinematography. An adult film for viewers who want more than Hollywood treacle.
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