Last fall, Mom and me visited the Scandinavian countries of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. While in Denmark, the female tour guide on the bus pointed out the house of Isak Dinesen or Karen Blixen as she was previously known as. She mentioned this movie to remind us who it was about. So nearly a year later, I felt the need to check this out from the library so I can find out about this woman with Mom viewing it with me. We both were enchanted by the African landscapes depicted throughout the narrative. Meryl Streep gives another fine performance as Blixen with a perfect Danish accent. If director Sydney Pollack hadn't insisted his friend and frequent collaborator Robert Redford ditch his attempt at a British accent, it would have possibly been a perfect performance from him as well. As it is, the audience wouldn't at least be too distracted by that accent as Pollack was reportedly concerned about. Both Ms. Streep and Klaus Maria Brandauer got deserved Oscar noms and it was nice for Pollack to get his two wins for both direction and picture as well as John Barry for his sweepingly touching score. It's possible some passages made the movie a little meandering resulting in a pretty long movie. Still, Out of Africa was quite an enjoyable and touching ride.
Review of Out of Africa
