- Awards And Honors:
- Academy Award (1986)
- Golden Globe Award (1986)
Out of Africa
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What is the film 'Out of Africa' about?
Out of Africa, the 1985 film directed by Sydney Pollack, is based on the life of Karen Blixen-Finecke, who wrote under the name Isak Dinesen. The movie begins in Denmark where Karen proposes to marry Baron Bror Blixen-Finecke and they travel to British East Africa to run a dairy farm. Bror decides to operate a coffee farm and leaves Karen to manage the venture. She meets Denys Finch Hatton, a big-game hunter, and they begin a romance. Afterward, she builds a school for the Kikuyu people. Hatton dies in a plane crash, and Karen decides to return to Denmark. The film won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
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Who directed 'Out of Africa' and when was it released?
Out of Africa, an American-British film, was released in 1985 and directed by Sydney Pollack. The movie is based on the life of Karen Blixen-Finecke, who wrote under the name Isak Dinesen. Starring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford, the film is known for its cinematography and won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
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Who are the main characters in the movie and which actors played them?
Out of Africa, released in 1985, tells the story of Karen Blixen-Finecke, based on her real-life experiences in British East Africa between 1913 and 1931.
The main characters and the actors who played them are:
* Karen Blixen-Finecke, played by Meryl Streep
* Baron Bror Blixen-Finecke, played by Klaus Maria Brandauer
* Denys Finch Hatton, played by Robert Redford
* Berkeley, played by Michael Kitchen
* Farah, played by Malick BowensThe film portrays Karen's marriage of convenience to Bror, their move to Africa to start a coffee farm, and her subsequent relationships and challenges, including a romance with Denys Finch Hatton.
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Where is the story set and during which time period does it take place?
Out of Africa is set primarily in British East Africa (now Kenya). The story begins in Denmark, but the main events occur near Nairobi, specifically on and around Karen Blixen's coffee farm near the Ngong Hills. The film spans the years 1913 to 1931, capturing the pre-World War I colonial period through the post-war years.
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What is the main theme of the film?
Out of Africa is a film about Karen Blixen-Finecke's life in British East Africa (now Kenya) from 1913 to 1931. The film depicts Karen's profound connection to the land, her affection for the fading culture of colonial Africa, her complex relationships, and the eventual failure of her coffee farm. It explores themes of love, loss, independence, and the clash between cultures in colonial Africa.
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Why is 'Out of Africa' considered an important and award-winning film?
Out of Africa, the 1985 American-British film directed by Sydney Pollack, is considered important and award-winning due to its beautiful cinematography and its basis on the life of Karen Blixen-Finecke, who wrote under the name Isak Dinesen. The film, starring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford, garnered critical acclaim, winning seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
The movie portrays events between 1913 and 1931, starting with Karen's marriage of convenience and her move to British East Africa to manage a coffee farm. As Karen explores the area, she meets the big-game hunter Denys Finch Hatton, and they begin a romance. Out of Africa was shot on location in Kenya, near the Ngong Hills outside Nairobi.
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Out of Africa, American-British film, released in 1985, that was based on events in the life of Karen Blixen-Finecke, who wrote under the name Isak Dinesen. It starred Meryl Streep and Robert Redford and was known for its beautiful cinematography. The movie won seven Academy Awards, including that for best picture.
The events of the movie take place between 1913 and 1931. It begins in Denmark, where Karen (played by Streep) proposes a marriage of convenience to her friend (and cousin) Baron Bror Blixen-Finecke (Klaus Maria Brandauer). Planning to run a dairy farm in Africa, they travel to British East Africa and subsequently marry. The couple later goes to the farm, which is near Nairobi, and Bror informs her that he has decided to operate a coffee farm. More interested in hunting, he largely leaves Karen to manage the venture on her own. As she explores the area, she comes face-to-face with a lioness, but the big-game hunter Denys Finch Hatton (Redford) and his friend Berkeley (Michael Kitchen) arrive in time to save her. Later, on the farm, she attends to the medical needs of the Kikuyu people who live in the area.
World War I breaks out, and Bror is sent to the front. When an army messenger tells Karen that she is to send supplies to the front, she decides to bring the items herself. She encounters Denys and Berkeley on her journey, and Denys gives her a compass. She braves many hazards but succeeds in getting the supply train to the front, where she reunites with Bror. Upon her return to the farm, however, Karen discovers that she has contracted syphilis from the philandering Bror. After receiving treatment in Denmark, Karen returns to the farm and ends her relationship with Bror. During this time she also builds a school for the Kikuyu. One day Denys takes her on a safari, during which they begin a romance, and he eventually moves into Karen’s home. All is not idyllic, however, as Berkeley dies from a form of malaria, and Karen struggles to keep the coffee farm financially afloat. Denys’s inability to fully commit to Karen leads her to break off the relationship. Shortly thereafter, her barn burns down, and Karen decides to return to Denmark. She sells off her possessions and begs the colonial authority to allow the Kikuyu workers to continue to live on the farm. She and Denys have a final dinner together, but Denys later crashes his biplane and is killed. Before leaving for home, Karen gives Denys’s compass to her foreman, Farah (Malick Bowens).
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Most of Out of Africa was shot on location in Kenya, near the Ngong Hills outside Nairobi. Orson Welles, David Lean, and Nicolas Roeg considered turning Dinesen’s book Out of Africa (1937) into a film before director Sydney Pollack succeeded, using a screenplay by Karl Luedtke that drew on more recent biographies of both Dinesen and Finch Hatton as well as on Dinesen’s writings.
Production notes and credits
- Studios: Mirage Enterprises and Universal Pictures
- Director: Sydney Pollack
- Writer: Karl Luedtke (screenplay)
- Music: John Barry
- Cinematography: David Watkin
Cast
- Meryl Streep (Karen Blixen)
- Klaus Maria Brandauer (Bror Blixen)
- Robert Redford (Denys Finch Hatton)
- Michael Kitchen (Berkeley)
- Malick Bowens (Farah)
Academy Award nominations (* denotes win)
- Picture*
- Lead actress (Meryl Streep)
- Supporting actor (Klaus Maria Brandauer)
- Art direction*
- Cinematography*
- Costume design
- Direction*
- Editing
- Music*
- Sound*
- Writing*