1985--Out of Africa, Sydney Pollack

 

1985--Out of Africa, Sydney Pollack

Nominated: The Color Purple, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Prizzi's Honor, Witness

Should have won: Witness

Be sure to see: Back to the Future, Demons, The Goonies, The Re-animator

“When the gods want to punish you they answer your prayers.”--Karen Blixen

     Out of Africa might be the only movie where every part was great except the movie itself. The acting was great, the cinematography was beautiful (especially in the opening credits, looking down on a train), the score is lovely, and the plot is interesting. But good Lord is this movie a snooze-fest!

     Karen Blixen goes to Kenya to marry Baron Bror Blixen-Finecke and start a coffee plantation. World War I breaks out and Bror joins the army leaving Karen to run the plantation solo. She meets Denys Hatton and has an affair. She wants to settle down but he isn't ready to give up the wildness of Africa.

     Thinking back, I can come up with a few scenes that stand out like Karen pleading on her knees to the British governor for the Africans to have the land so they have a place to live, and the best scene is when the lion attacks from the opposite side they (and we) were expecting. I also like the second time we see Denys. Karen comes upon a lion and her horse (along with her gun) runs off. Denys shows up and saves her, but not in the way one might expect.

     This movie had a number of good scenes, but I didn't really care much for most of the plot, which is not a good sign. The back story of Karen's father's suicide brushed by so fast I wasn't sure if I heard correctly. I hate for this writeup to steer anyone away from the movie. I found it boring, true, but there really is a lot of great stuff going on in it. The visuals and score alone are enough to keep your interest. Plus it has my favorite pickup line I've ever heard. “See here now. I know how you feel about me and you know how I feel about you. We understand each other so let's lay down and get on with it.” Ah, if it were only that simple.