Thursday, April 16, 2020

Out of Africa (1985)

directed by: Sydney Pollack
written by: Kurt Luedtke, based on the books by Karen Blixen,
Judith Thurman and Errol Trzebinski
photographed by: David Watkin
music by: John Barry
edited by: Pembroke J. Herring, Sheldon Kahn, Fredric Steinkamp and William Steinkamp
stars: Meryl Streep, Robert Redford, Klaus Maria Brandauer
imdb




The subtitle for this movie should be 'They don't make Movies like this anymore', because it has never been so true like with Out of Africa. A romantic (in every sense) tale about a Danish baroness who leads a farm in Kenya.

The story is based on the memories by Karen Blixen, who was nominated several times for the Nobel prize of literature. It is essentially a drama, but located in the impressive African landscape. You would expect the photography of the African landscapes to become the main attractive of the movie, but is is not. Even John Barry's memorable melody can be belittled by Meryl Streep's outstanding interpretation, or both Streep and Redford's charisma.


But it would be unfair not to mention Sydney Pollack's classic direction. Pollack, responsible for classics from the 70s and early 80s like They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969), Jeremiah Johnson (1972), The Yakuza (1974) or Tootsie (1982). In opposition to "modern" directors, who tend to think they have to leave their "signature" in their films, Pollack knows that the best he can do is to let things flowing.




Many attempts have been made to copy Out of Africa: I Dreamed of Africa (2000) with Kim Basinger, Queen of the Desert (2015) with Nicole Kidman, but as we said 'They don't make Movies like this anymore'.


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