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Our Columnists Reflect on Oscar's Best Films |
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Engelhardt |
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'OUT OF AFRICA" |
 Joanne stands on the carcass of a buffalo she didn't actually slay herself in Africa. She's watching the horizon for Robert Redford. |
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what better film to watch?
By JOANNE ENGELHARDT
of TheColumnists.com
Late last year, I embarked on a 22-hour-plus flight to Africa (not counting the seven-hour stopover in London). I’m one of those rare birds who LOVES long airline flights because I get to catch up on all the movies I’ve never seen.
Settling down into my comfy British Airways coach window seat, I started perusing the movie list of recent releases, classics, humor, drama, action, television mini-series and more. Oh, boy! I knew I’d at least be up on a lot of films by the time I landed….even if I never slept a wink (and I didn’t).
Scanning the list of classics, I was dumbfounded to find “Out of Africa” as one of my choices. Here I was traveling to Africa and I’m offered the opportunity to watch a film I had never, ever seen and always wanted to see. Is that kismet or what?
OK, call me stunted or something for never having seen this wonderful film. What can I say? I was about 45 before I ever saw “Casablanca!” (I always used to say that life kept getting in the way of my going to the movies.)
Needless to say, I was transfixed….and not just because the incredibly handsome and charismatic Robert Redford was even sexier in this than he was in “The Way We Were.”
Based on the renowned autobiobraphical novel by Isak Dinesen, the pen name of Karen Blixen, "Out of Africa" is the story of Blixen, who married a man she really didn't love, left her native Denmark and moved to Nairobi in Africa, where she engaged in a colorful romance with a dashing British adventurer while living the life of a colonial coffee plantation owner on the African veldt.
The film was nominated for 11 Academy Awards in 1986 - and won seven including best picture, original score, director, art direction, writing and cinematography. I mean who doesn’t remember the sweeping scenes of Kenyan farmlands, the natural scenic beauty and incredible sunsets?
Meryl Streep didn’t win for best actress, although she was a magnificent Karen Blixen. What I loved about her portrayal was that she was fiercely independent, strong-willed, determined to make a success of her coffee plantation--against tremendous odds--and live a very unconventional life. In short, in the early 1900s she was a feminist who was far ahead of her time.
Her one downfall, if you can call it that,
was that she was pure putty whenever game hunter and adventurer
Denys Finch Hatton (Redford) came into view. Well, duh! Who wouldn’t
melt like butter if they gazed into those bottomless blue eyes
of his?
This film was arguably director Sydney Pollack’s best. Pollack,
who died last May, once said that “Out of Africa” was
when “everything gelled. It had an enormous canvas, an epic
scope, a glorious score, luscious cinematography and two superstars.”
Streep sheepishly tells the story that
she wanted the role very badly but had heard that Pollack didn’t
think she was sexy enough. She recalls, "I went (to the
audition), pathetically, in a very low-cut blouse with a push-up
bra." It saddens me to think that an amazing actress like
Streep had to resort to such lengths to get a role, but then….that’s
Hollywood, isn’t it?
As for me, I got off the plane in Johannesburg, full of excitement
and expectations of similar adventures. Who knows? Maybe I’d
even meet my Robert Redford somewhere in the bush.
Four wilderness camps later (two in Botswana, one in Namibia
and one in Zimbabwe), I had eaten termites, stood atop the withering
carcass of a water buffalo, been surrounded by gigantic elephants,
watched two lions devour a kill, taken several night safari rides--and
was almost electrocuted when my group was drenched in an aluminum
boat by a sudden, raging thunder and lightning storm.
So I certainly had my share of adventure. As for finding my “Redford,”
actually my guy called me from California to tell me he missed
me. I’ll settle for that any day.
On my flight back I decided to watch “Out of Africa”
once more. It meant a lot more to me by then, particularly the
part where Streep enlists the services of a local tribe to work
on her farm. Eventually much of the tribe works for her and lives
on her land. She becomes their benefactress, building a school
and hiring a teacher to educate the children of her workers.
About a century later, there are still far too many African children
who lack a decent education. While there, I visited several villages
and two schools. The ones in Zimbabwe are barely surviving. It’s
a cause I intend to keep championing.
Come to think of it, I guess Karen Blixen was ahead of her time in that respect as well.
©2009 by Joanne Engelhardt. The poster for "Out of Africa" is courtesy of Universal Pictures. The photo of Joanne in Africa is from the author's collection. All rights reserved. This column first posted Feb. 16, 2009.
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