Out of Africa (1985)

Of the 92 Academy Best Pictures I've seen, this was the one I remembered least -- mainly just that Meryl Streep's fake accent was so thick the DVD had subtitles on by default. You may take that as a reason not to rewatch it, along with its reputation as perhaps the weakest link in the weakest decade for Best Pictures. (Those who praise '80s cinema usually don't have award-winning dramas in mind.) But I wanted a refresher, especially now that I've visited the same area of Africa myself. This time, I forwent the subtitles, without trouble.

In 1913, Danish future writer Karen Dinesin (Streep) marries Swedish baron Bror Blixen (Klaus Maria Brandauer) for convenience, planning to start a dairy in the Nairobi region of British East Africa. Bror alters the deal to a coffee farm without consuling Karen, unaware of the difficulty of growing coffee at high altitude. This is one of many signs that they will never fully love or trust each other. As Bror is rarely home and Karen finds undeniable signs that he sleeps around, she herself strays to his fellow hunter, Denys Hatton (Robert Redford).

If it weren't based on a memoir, I'd question the wisdom in focusing so broadly and yet so narrowly, with little to report in 161 minutes. From what I gather, the few departures from reality are justifiable. The book takes a less linear approach and would be hard for anyone but Christopher Nolan to film faithfully in that regard. And as my above summary implies, despite the setting, no Black character has a large role. Just try that today.

Not that the depiction of the many minor Black characters is insulting or inaccurate to my knowledge. Nor is Karen racist, to any notable degree. She welcomes the Kikuyu to stay rent-free on what is nominally her land, and when it ceases to be hers, she begs the governor not to evict them. She recommends that they go to school and the hospital as needed. She never treats their adults like children. She even shows more respect to servants than her White acquaintances do.

Apart from an unusual amount of sex for a PG rating, there's not much to get excited about. Karen never gets seriously worked up about anything except the occasional lion. Redford's performance helps a bit, but the shaky romance is seldom intriguing, even if you don't mind positive takes on adultery. The rural landscape seems to carry a lot of the picture.

I don't dislike OoA, but I see why I had trouble retaining it. Ultimately, it's yet another example of Streep doing a good job in a merely OK vehicle. I'd sooner have given the Oscar to The Color Purple, problematic tho that may be.