Out Of Africa (1985)

Average rating

(71%)

Starring:	Meryl Streep \| Robert Redford \| Klaus Maria Brandauer \| Michael Kitchen
Director:	Sydney Pollack
Studio:	UNIVERSAL PICTURES UK
Run time:	154 mins
Genres:	Drama
Languages:	English
Subtitles:	English
Released:	July 21, 2003

Adapted from Isak Dinesen's novel, OUT OF AFRICA, this film plaintively tells the story of two troubled adults who meet and fall in love in the African wilderness. Karen Blixen-Flecke (Meryl Streep) is a modern woman, caught in the shortcomings of a practical marriage. Finch Hatton (Robert Redford) is a gallant British hunter, lonely, but unable to commit. As they two meet and begin a torrid affair, they set out on an epic adventure in the badlands of Africa--an adventure that real-life Karen Blixen-Flecke would later WRITE under the pen name Isak Dinesen. Sydney Pollack's opus, OUT OF AFRICA, is a full, visually compelling film. Its storyline evokes a plethora of emotions, ranging from fear and loathing to hope and the elation of love. Robert Redford and Meryl Streep are electric as the two damaged infidels in love. A key American film, OUT OF AFRICA is not to be missed.

Screenshots

Rating of 4 stars out of 5

Or “Afreeka” as Meryl Streep would have it, with a bizarre Danish accent that manages to overshadow her entire performance as awkward, free-spirited writer and Kenyan farmer Karen Blixen. This is a beautifully filmed movie, with director Sydney Pollack propelling the camera across lush, wide-angled country teeming with all manner of exotic beasts. The other exotic beasts — Streep, Klaus Maria Brandauer as her husband and Robert Redford as her adventurer lover — overact on a level to match the magnificence of the backdrop, but with this cast it is still eminently watchable stuff. What the movie loses in emotional realism it gains in sheer epic audacity.

Rating of 2 stars out of 5
Halliwell's Film Guide

Heavy going but critically lauded transcription of a semi-classic which ambles along for an extremely long time without really getting anywhere.

Highest rated reviews

7 out of 11 people found the following review helpful:

Rated 4 stars
Not the worst Best Pitcure Winner

McClennan from , 7th January, 2005

Reminded me a bit of The Motorcyle Diaries in that the film was more about Kenya and colonialism than the story that was driving the film. In the end that wasn't such a bad thing as it did allow some simply stunning cinematography and although I don't see this a Best Picture classic the shots alone were good enough to put it in award contention. A lack of real chemistry between Redford and Streep weakened the story which was a shame because the ending was quite good and just served to highlight that the spark was missing somewhat in the film. Worth a watch just for the cinematography alone

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