Customer Reviews

Nirgendwo in Afrika

5 star:		(55)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a wonderful German film, which deservedly won an Academy Award in 2002 for being the Best Foreign Language Film. Based upon an autobiographical book by Stefanie Zweig, the film is beautifully acted by a stellar cast and deftly directed by Caroline Link. It is a film that will stay in one's consciousness long after the credits have rolled by. It is also a film that touches upon a number of universal themes.

The film focuses on an upper class, privileged family of secular German Jews. The husband, Walter Redlich (Merab Ninidze), seeing the way things are going in Germany in the 1930s with the advent of Hitler, leaves his law practice and emigrates to Africa, where he finds himself managing a ranch for an Englishman in an arid location in rural Kenya, while setting the stage for his family's emigration from Germany. In 1938, he then sends for his beautiful, haughty wife, Jettel (Juliane Kohler), and young daughter, Regina (Lea Gurka as a young child and Karoline Eckertz as an adolescent), to join him.

When they arrive, the wife goes into culture shock and is in total denial as to their new circumstances. Her reaction to their precarious situation is different from that of her husband, as well as from that of her child. Her husband, a realist about the situation in Germany and a survivor at heart, knows that they cannot return while Hitler is in power and is willing to make the best of the hand that they have been dealt. Jettel, however, still fails to understand just how precarious their situation in Germany was.

Once removed from a familiar environment, Walter and Jettel seem to have very little in common. Now that her husband is no longer a practicing lawyer, Jettel acts as if he has been diminished in her eyes. She also initially disdains her new, hardscrabble life and hates all things African, even the natives, treating them like dirt, until her husband insinuates that she is starting to remind him of the Nazis.

Their household is made complete by a very pleasant and affable Kenyan named Owour (Sidele Onyulo), who had saved Walter's life during a bout with malaria and who acts as the family cook. He helps them in enumerable ways, teaching them the language and customs of his people. Regina immediately bonds with Owour and adapts quickly to her new life and customs. She befriends the native children, learns their language, and prefers Kenya over Germany as her country of choice, notwithstanding its hardships and privations. In her nine years in Kenya, Regina, despite attending a British school, becomes as African in her ways as a native.

The conflicts of war soon make themselves manifest in Kenya, which is under English rule. The threads of Walter's and Jettel's marriage start to fray and unravel, as their hopes and dreams come into conflict. They are, however, always unified in terms of their love of Regina, an extraordinarily perceptive and intelligent child. Still, Walter and Jettel must endure and weather some pretty serious marital storms, as the self-absorbed Jettel slowly undergoes a metamorphosis, which throws her strained marriage into a tailspin for a time.

As Jettel learns to adapt to her changing circumstances and accept some of the changes in her life, the marriage begins to stabilize despite its continual strains and cracks. Upon discovering the fate of their respective families, who had refused to emigrate despite Walter's early entreaties, Jettel now realizes what her fate might have been had her husband not had the foresight to seek an alternative solution. It is then that reality finally sets in. Consequently, when the war is over, she initially refuses to have anything to do with a post-war Germany, while her husband hankers to return so as to be a part of its re-building. What ultimately happens, however, will be the true test of their love.

This is a fully character driven film, played against the largely unseen backdrop of the holocaust. Merab Ninidze is brilliant as the beleaguered Walter. Handsome, sensitive, and intelligent, he is an absolute dream in the role, bringing an astuteness and underlying strength to the role that makes him stand out from the crowd. He walks a fine line but manages to avoid being pitied for the way his wife treats him. The beautiful Juliane Kohler is excellent as the selfish Jettel, managing to interject, at the last, a certain vulnerability into what is essentially a nearly unlikable character. Sidele Onyulo is wonderful as the warm and always helpful Owour, infusing the role with an infectious charm. Lea Gurka and Karoline Eckertz are both ingratiating as the younger and older manifestations of Regina, the child through whose eyes most of the events in the film are seen.

Beautifully rendered, from its casting, to the acting, to its sensitive direction, and last, but certainly not least, its exquisite cinematography, it is a must see, engrossing film that will keep the viewer riveted to the screen. Bravo!

"Nowhere in Africa" is a complex but satisfying drama about a Jewish German family that escaped the Nazi Holocaust by moving to Kenya. It is a true story. This beautifully told and photographed movie suffers only slightly by running a bit too long.

The small family is comprised of the father, Walter Redlich [Merab Ninidze], the mother, Jettel [Juliane Kohler], and a young daughter, Regina [Lea Kurka]. They are well established, middle-class Jews who are content to call Germany home. They are not particularly orthodox in their religious belief and consider themselves `normal' German citizens. After the Nazis come to power and begin their repressive programs, Walter, a man more farsighted than most, begins to see the real dangers this regime poses. In 1938 he takes his wife and daughter to live in Kenya where he works on a vast farm that is almost literally in the middle of nowhere. Regina quickly adapts to her new home, but Jettel, unable to accept the horrible reality of what is happening back home, is miserable. Several years later, the war ends, and the Nazis are no more. Then, however, it is Jettel who has come to love Africa and Walter who yearns to return home. Essentially, this is a love story about two very different people who learn that acceptance and compromise are necessary parts of any strong relationship.

There is a dynamic subtext to this movie: A family which is considered alien by most of the population in its native Germany is thrown into an environment where the population is even more alien to them. By learning to accept - and eventually to love - the Kenyans and their exotic ways, the family becomes stronger and more universal.

"Nowhere is Africa" is a mature film for a mature audience. The movie is in German with English subtitles.

NOWHERE IN AFRICA shed light, for me, on a chapter of the Holocaust of which I was unaware. At the beginning of the Nazis' oppression of the Jews, some German Jewish families migrated to Kenya, abandoning their lives, jobs and livelihoods to live off the land - despite their lack of knowledge about the land or any farming skills.

Narrated by a young girl, the film stars the beautiful, talented Juliane Kohler as the girl's mother, Jettel. Her character's transformation from spoiled young society wife in Germany into a resourceful, passionate and mature woman willing to protect her husband and family through any means is amazing. With Jettel's story firmly at the heart of the film, the beauty of the cinematography and other stories of this family's struggle prove compelling.

I highly recommend this.

What a delightful movie. I was in awe of the beauty, the cinematography is a triumph of the camera. The music was a mix of African beats both dark and joyful with a mix of the classics.

All the actors were great and very natural and the mood of the film reminded me of the "Trees Of Theikla," and a little of 'Out OF Africa."

The movie centers on a family in Germany pre WW2. The husband, Walter, sees the Nazis' are not going to leave the Jews alone and he strikes out for Kenya, Africa to work on a cattle farm. He was a lawyer in Germany but his credentials were taken away from him. He sends for his wife and five year old daughter. The period of adjustment does not come quickly to the wife, Jettel, but, Regina has already taken the wide eyed acceptance of the young. She makes fast friends with the Masai cook Owour and he looks out for her. And teaches Regina the native languages.

Soon war breaks out in Europe and the Brits round up all the German immigrants and bring them in to their compounds. Which for the women and children is like staying at the Grand Hotel.

Walter has been fired from his job on the cattle ranch as the owner does not want a German working for him. Jettle, has a contact and is able to get Walter another job on a farm this time. Jettle is coming around to wanting to stay in Africa. But, Walter is growing impatient and wants to do something for the war effort. He joins the British army. There is much tension between Walter and Jettle, she stays on the farm and he lives in the compound and visits. The war ends and Walter wants to go back to Germany. I won't go into the particulars of the last scenes, but I will say that this movie is worth seeing.
Not playing at your average theater, even though it won awards. Caroline Link breathed life into this story based on a true story, "Out of Europe, Into Africa."

ciao yaaah69 I give this flick 41/2 OF 5

Nothing in the previews prepared me for the power of this film. The story is relatively straightforward - a Jewish family moves to Africa to avoid the coming war. What isn't straigtforward is the complexity of the characters and their growth in spirit as they adapt to the changes in their lives.

The husband/father is compasionate and caring, not just to his family but to the Africans and others who help him. The wife/mother begins as a very spoiled, elitist who is forced to re-evaluate herself, her relationship with her husband, the people and country of Africa. The daughter grows in both body and spirit, adjusting almost too well to the new situation. Of the 3, she is the most grounded in reality and is wise beyond her years.

The focus of the film is not the war itself but it's impact on this family. There are moments of joy, more of tears and many of deepness but this is not a depressing film. Just the opposite. I left with more respect for what these people did and how they adjusted to the changes in their lives, as well as a greater appreciation for the fact that I have never had to face some of the issues that the characters do.

This is not a war movie, nor a movie about Judaism. It is a glimpse into the lives of people forced to make drastic changes in their lives and how they learn about each other and themselves.

This is definitely "Best Picture" material!

"Nowhere in Africa" succeeds on a number of levels: the story of an immigrant family adapting to a new home, a respectful and non-judgemental portrayal of traditional African rural life, a young woman's coming of age story, a love story involving a married couple and the Holocaust, viewed by people who escaped Germany but left family behind. Exceptional in each of these areas, and well-acted, this is a story well worth telling about our differences and our common ground, and told very very well. One of the best films I've seen in the last ten years. Don't miss it.

Nowhere in Africa won best foreign picture 2002 which it deserved. This is as close to a perfect movie as I've ever seen. I'm hoping that word of mouth will spread and that more people will get to enjoy this film on the big screen where it must be seen to enjoy the breath-taking scenery of Africa. The story is compelling and as the viewer you will be immediately drawn. A young lawyer in prewar Nazi Germany sees the writing on the wall and gets himself out of Germany into Kenya. He arranges for his wife and five year old daughter to join him but gives his wife strict instructions to tell no one of the plan. He also instructs his wife to leave home the good dishes and instead bring a refrigerator which they will desperately need. She ignores his instructions, brings the good dishes and to add insult to injury brings an evening gown which she will not have any use. The little girl takes to Africa immediately and adjusts as only children can in an absolutely alien environment. She befriends and is in-turn befriended by the village children. The wife does not adjust so easily making life a misery for her husband. We are also struck at how insensitive she is with the cook who is their righthand man, looking out for them at every turn. She treats him like a servant and that's putting it kindly, when this hurts him deeply as he sees himself as a professional. There are problems in the marriage and stuggles which move the story along. Not until word from home reaches them about the full magnitude of the war and what is becoming of their friends and family does the wife begin to understand how very lucky she is. At every point we are drawn to the story and the characters and want to know what will happen next. The acting is seamless. The little girl is played by two actresses, one when she is little and one when she is more grown and these two girls couldn't be more perfect in their roles. This movie is beautifully cast and beautifully acted. There isn't a false note in it. Viewers will also enjoy the amazing soundtrack. One more thing, even though this movie is in English subtitles, you will hardly be aware that you are reading. At a certain point you will almost feel as if you understand German. This movie should not be missed by anyone who loves film and has a love for interesting story lines. In a word: Incredible.

Brenda Pizzo
Boston

Great cinema. German movie of uncommon intelligence. Wonderful script -- engaging and coherent. Acting is natural and effervescent. Cinema photography is beautiful. Must see!

This film is a truly epic experience, the type of film that one doesn't see too much of anymore these days. Based on an autobiographical novel by Stefanie Zweig, it concerns the Redlich family, one of the lucky few families to leave Nazi Germany before it was too late. Walter, the father, saw the writing on the wall and left for Kenya in 1937, sending for his wife Jettel and daughter Regina six months later, in 1938. Normally one doesn't think of refugees from the Nazis as escaping to anyplace in Africa, particularly not Kenya, although there was actually a fairly substantial Jewish community in Nairobi by the time WWII broke out, along with other refugees, such as the Redlichs, living in more isolated and less-developed areas of the nation. Jettel is a bit of a Jewish German Princess at the beginning of the film, and has a very hard time adjusting to life in Kenya. She believes living on the farm in Rongai will be temporary, and was so unaware of the reality waiting for her that she brought her fine china and bought an evening gown instead of something more practical like a refrigerator before she left home. Her character proves to be the most interesting, the one who goes through the most development, becoming a very different person by the end of the film. Walter, in contrast, has a sea change in attitude in the opposite direction, and wants to return to Germany after the war instead of staying in Kenya, which has become like a home to his family and saved their lives. They also have to deal with their troubled marriage; they'd apparently begun having some problems before they left Germany, but their marriage is really put to the test in Kenya, particularly while Walter is away in the British Army for four years and Jettel is left to tend the farm. Young Regina is also a fascinating character; being so young, she adjusts quickly to life in Kenya, although, like her parents, doesn't ever really fully come to think of it as home. She has a number of different cultures to deal with--the German culture she left behind and the one she has a connection to via her parents, the native Kenyan culture and the Swahili language, and the British culture at the colonial school she attends. (Though most of this film shows us Kenya through the eyes of people living far away from so-called civilisation, this was still a time when most of Africa was under colonial rule, a much different Africa than it is today.) Her relationship with Owuor, the native who acts as a servant to her family, is incredibly moving and touching, one of the finest aspects of this film. Unlike her mother, she never has any hesitation about or resistance to befriending the natives. She doesn't care that their skin is dark and hers is light; they're just other children she has fun with and who like being with her, the same way that she instantly takes to Owuor, seeing him as a kind man who warmly welcomes her to Kenya. On the surface this is a historical film, but the true themes are about the nature of home, alienation, self-discovery, finding oneself, loss, and how sometimes the least likely place can become a refuge and come to feel almost like home over time. What is the meaning of the word home, does a refugee or immigrant ever really completely feel at home in a foreign land, and will these people ever really feel at home anywhere again, whether they remain in Kenya, return to Germany, or start a new life in an entirely new place? It's also a nice change of pace to see a WWII-era film set in Africa, to see how the war affected the native peoples, the dominating British colonialists, and the refugees like the Redlichs. The soundtrack is also incredibly gorgeous, as is the natural scenery.

There are also a wealth of bonus features. The audio commentary is top-notch, revealing such interesting facts as how Walter's voice was actually done by the popular actor Herbert Knaup but for two undubbed scenes (one of which is conducted entirely in English), because it was felt that Merab Ninidze, the true actor, had too strong of a Georgian accent, and that Silas Kereti, who plays Regina's friend Jogona as a young adult, was initially very hesitant about performing in one of the tribal ceremonies in the film because it was being done by another tribe, and he thought that taking part would mean that he were becoming a member of this other tribe. Other extras are deleted scenes (with optional commentary); a making-of featurette; interviews with Merab Ninidze, Juliane Köhler (Jettel), Matthias Habich (Walter Süsskind, a character who immigrated to Kenya before the Redlichs), Sidide Onyulu (Owuor), and Caroline Link (the director), Peter Herrmann (the producer), and Stefanie Zweig; score selections; a storyboard comparison for the locust scene; trailers; and a photo montage with commentary.

At almost two and a half hours long (and three hours long originally), this is a truly epic picture, a real emotional powerhouse. All of the characters are developed so well and acted so masterfully that one grows to feel as though one actually knows them, has gone on this powerful life-changing journey along with them. It's also not "just another WWII movie," since the setting and themes are so very different from the usual ones. Far from just another movie, this one makes the viewer think and feel instead of just being entertaining or delivering a lot of high-tech special effects. It's a shame more films in Hollywood aren't as masterfully crafted as this wonderful highly-recommended German film.

Other reviews give you synopsis. This review is more about the effect of the film on me, and why I think I was so moved by it.

This is a love story, first, as the director and actors state in the special features. It is that. The story of a married couple who find that they have little really in common with one another, once taken out of their normal environment. It is the struggle to be oneself, yet be a couple, when all is said and done. However, it is the daughter and the Kenyan cook who create a magic that I haven't seen written in reviews. The daughter quickly adapts to the strange and different life in Kenya, as well as the English schooling. She lives in three worlds, easily. The cook is a wise man, who brings all of the characters together, as if he is the quiet sounding board for all.

The interview, in Special Features, with the gentleman who plays the cook is fascinating, as he describes the difference between working with American crews and the German crew for this film, and it helped me to understand why I reacted so deeply to the script and the actors. It was how the Germans built the film around the environment and people rather than changing it to suit their own notions.

Based on a true story, by the daughter, of her family's survival and re-invention through intense change and pain. This is not a depressing movie. This is an uplifting one.

This is a story about relationships. About diversity. About change and how people adapt. About love for human beings, as well as environment. One of the best films I've ever seen.