Pros: It was the best foreign language film of 2002 according to Academy.
Cons: Mostly flawless.
The Bottom Line: Don't confine yourself to Hollywood offerings. Get out and see what the rest of the world has to offer. Nowhere In Africa should be your first stop.
Considering the sheer number of quality films produced outside the English-speaking world, it’s quite an accomplishment to win the Best Foreign Language Film award at the Oscars. Galloping home to win this year’s trophy was Germany’s Nowhere In Africa (Nirgendwo In Afrika).
Based on Stefanie Zweig’s famous autobiographical novel, the film charts the trials and tribulations of a small Jewish family that escapes Hitler’s clutches by fleeing to the wilds of Kenya. In the mould of Schindler’s List and The English Patient, the subtitled Nowhere In Africa taps the rich vein of moving personal stories that occurred within the Second World War.
Walter Redlich (Merab Ninidze), an affluent German lawyer, correctly interprets the emerging Nazi Party as trouble of the worst kind for Jews like himself. Whilst his family and friends consider the growing menace temporary, Walter, a practical man, begins searching for a foreign sanctuary where he and his family can weather the coming storm free from persecution. In a world that contains few open doors for Jewish refugees, Walter’s forced to accept shelter in the form of sunbaked Kenya.
After acquiring a tentative job as a caretaker cattle farmer, Walter quickly sends word back to his extended family in Europe, hastening them to flee the Third Reich while they still can, and to join him in remote Kenya. His words are lent urgency by an alarming increase in anti-Semitism in Germany. Jews are no longer allowed to work, and the Nazis are systematically stripping them of their rights and their possessions. However, with a mix of fatalism and misplaced optimism, most of Walter’s family choose to remain in their homeland. It’s only his wife, Jettel (Juliane Köhler), and their young daughter, Regina (Lea Kurka and Karoline Eckertz), that follow Walter to Africa.
As war erupts in Europe, the trio find themselves in a struggle of their own in Kenya. As they flounder with the harsh demands of life in the rugged backwater, they find themselves in increasing conflict over what direction their future should take. Walter, the patriarch, nurtures dreams of a bright professional future back in Germany when the war is over. However, he’s wrongly assumed that his wife and daughter share his ambitions, and his ability to consider Kenya a temporary abode.
Regina, with the enthusiasm of youth, quickly embraces the local customs and life as a Kenyan. She feels no affiliation with a Germany that she vaguely remembers as cold and grey, and cheerfully considers her future to be in Africa. For the aging Jettel, there appears to be no future at all. Urged on by a haze of depression and a neglectful husband, she begins to consider the temporary solace to be found in an extramarital affair. Disaster threatens the Redlichs in Kenya as surely as it did in Europe, and over the space of a decade they struggle to hold on to the love they once shared.
The Academy Award is a fitting reward for director and screenwriter Caroline Link’s skill and daring. Rather than taking the easy route and making Nowhere In Africa yet another coming-of-age tale with the young Regina at its centre, Link has decided upon the more difficult, but ultimately more fulfilling, option of balancing the film’s focus between the three main characters. Lesser directors may not have, but Link has succeeded in making a unique film that’s an interesting study of human nature as well as an entertaining story. With the addition of a superb cast, Nowhere In Africa is almost flawless.
Nowhere In Africa fully embraces the audience and makes its duration of over two hours seem much less. An outstanding film with universal appeal, it brings to life an amazing personal story in a refreshing manner. Four and a half stars for Nowhere In Africa.
Drama - general DVD - Winner of an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, among a host of other awards and nominations, Caroline Link's underst...More at Barnes and Noble
Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times hails this film as being laced with poignancy and conflict, urgency and compassion. I loved this film! raves Ro...More at Buy.com
Fleeing Nazi Germany many Jewish families found that a new life was as difficult as any hardship they had previously known. This German drama based on...More at Family Video
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