From a Woman Who Couldn't Be Owned, To the Spirit of a Man Who Couldn't Be Tamed - Out of Africa

'I had a farm in Africa at the foot of the Ngong Hills. If I know a song of Africa, of the giraffe and the African new moon lying on her back, of the plows in the fields and the sweaty faces of the coffee pickers, does Africa know a song of me? Will the air over the plain quiver with a color that I have had on, or the children invent a game in which my name is, or the full moon throw a shadow over the gravel of the drive that was like me, or will the eagles of the Ngong Hills look out for me?' Karen Blixen - Out of Africa.

Baroness Karen Blixen (Meryl Streep)  is a woman who changed history. Starting out as a woman with a coffee farm and a wayward husband she built a community; she offered a home for those who needed shelter, she offered her love for those who needed a mother and she gave her heart to a man who was lost without it. Karen created a school for the children working on her farm, she never stopped giving to the people she loved, even her gold-digging husband she still offered financial support too. Although she was a woman who gave everything to everyone and asked for little in return, she did ask for a mans love which she found in hunter Denys (Robert Redford.)



Blixen was a Danish plantation owner and with her husband of convenience moved to Kenya to begin a coffee farm. However as life moved on she fell in love with lonely hunter Denys who could never commit to being with her all the time. Instead preferred to come and go as he pleased. He liked to be free and always gave her the choice of freedom rather than commitment. Although the film does mention in but Karen actually miscarried Denys' child, something which could have been an extremely raw time for her seeing as she had contracted a VD from her husband preventing her from having children - a desire of hers which was never fulfilled. So she began a school for the natives working on her farm, she taught and played and loved - a woman of many talents, a strong and passionate woman who deserved so much to live a happy life. However by the end of the film she leaves Africa, bankrupt and alone, never returning to the place where she had spent her happiest memories.

Meryl Streep has always been my favourite actress and her intensity as Karen Blixen is beautifully portrayed, she was the only woman to this day to ever been invited into the men's drinking lounge - a sure sign of her courage and prosperity. A district in Nairobi has been named after her and rightfully so; she was a woman who deserved so much more than what she received, however she believes she lived to the fullest of her capability and that is what makes this film so sad. The chemistry between Streep and Redford is addictive and not only an enchanting love story but also an adventure, through the Safari and the many encounters with lions, Streep and Redford maintain that sense of true love we all wish for.
Sydney Pollock (director) has done wonders with this picture, magically shot and presented it is a film to watch with a strong heart and an open mind. Some parts are extremely upsetting however that would not put me off from watching it again and again.

 

'I had a farm in Africa.'