Nirgendwo in Afrika (2001)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Caroline Link

Writers:

Caroline Link (writer)
Stefanie Zweig (novel)

Release Date:

27 December 2001 (Germany)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Tagline:

Sometimes home is where you least expect it

Plot:

A German Jewish refugee family moves to and adjusts to a farm life in 1930's Kenya.

Plot Keywords:

Kenya | Farm | Corn | Tree Climbing | Shower

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 17 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Juliane Köhler	...	Jettel Redlich
Merab Ninidze	...	Walter Redlich
Sidede Onyulo	...	Owuor
Matthias Habich	...	Walter Süßkind
Lea Kurka	...	Regina Redlich (younger)
Karoline Eckertz	...	Regina Redlich - Older
Gerd Heinz	...	Max
Hildegard Schmahl	...	Ina
Maritta Horwarth	...	Liesel
Regine Zimmermann	...	Käthe
Gabrielle Odinis	...	Dienstmädchen Klara
Bettina Redlich	...	Mrs. Sadler
Julia Leidl	...	Inge
Mechthild Grossmann	...	Elsa Konrad
Joel Wajsberg	...	Hubert

Also Known As:

Nowhere in Africa (International: English title)

MPAA:

Rated R for some sexual content.

Runtime:

141 min

Country:

Germany

Language:

English | Swahili | German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:L | Malaysia:18SX (uncut version) | Malaysia:U (cut) | South Korea:15 | Philippines:R-18 | Argentina:13 | Australia:MA | Brazil:12 | Chile:14 | Finland:K-7 | Germany:6 (bw) | Hong Kong:IIB | Netherlands:AL | Singapore:M18 (re-rating) | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Africa

Company:

BKM

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: After giving the radio to Walter, Susskind wishes him good luck with the well; as he drives away, the reflection of the camera truck can be seen on the door of his truck, and the tire tracks from the camera truck are visible as the camera backs up.

Quotes:

Jettel Redlich: Do you love me?
Walter Redlich: If you let me.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 79th Annual Academy Awards (2007) (TV)

A different view of racism

When it comes to films about the Nazi racism, Nowhere in Africa is in a class by itself. Unlike Schindler's List and a plethora of screenplays on the subject, all of which confine the drama to the morality of good and evil, some with didactic overtones, others with pure shock value, or both, this movie illuminates, both with a spotlight, and a microscope, the social origins of racism. Here's the problem: The very institutions that teach right from wrong, that inculcate tribal loyalty, patriotism, and social identity, that teach us to pledge allegiance and follow the golden rule, have also quietly inferred, or noisily demanded, that the `other,' the `alien amongst us' in Biblical terms, is both different, and inferior. Every culture, Herodotus observed, thinks its own system of values superior to the values of others. If this is true (and I think it is), the subtext is clear: `others' are inferior. Which leads one to ask: Is it possible to have a moral, socialized populace without racism, or, at least, ethnocentrism?

Set in Kenya during World War II, the drama devolves around the struggles of an expatriate family of German Jews. Culturally, intellectually, and socially, they are Germans, not Jews, which is both fascinating, and historically accurate. Like many other Jews of their generation, the expatriate family viewed their Jewish heritage with both skepticism, and as a sentimental indulgence. Unable to come to grips with the events in Europe, reeling from and their new social status of being nobodies in the middle of nowhere, they struggle as social nomads, stuck between their privileged position as white overlords of the native Blacks, and their fallen, uncertain status as guests without rights. We watch the internal dynamics of a Jewish expatriate family through the prism of its own internalized assumptions, both as highly cultured Germans, and increasingly as Jews. And what they discover about their own hidden assumptions, their ethnocentrism and European sense of privilege and superiority, becomes as shocking to them as Hitler's Germany.

Like every other archetypal hero, being nobody in the middle of nowhere is the crucible that produces the Hero's special character, where he or she eventually returns home, in the end, bearing gifts, wisdom, and a healing balm. In the end, they emerge with real gem of a prize: they understand, both intellectually and emotionally, the comparative advantage of other cultures and societies.

What I especially loved about this film is its emotional tone. It's an emotionally evocative film, though not with the mawkish, childish paroxysms of a Disney flick. We watch adults dealing with culturally layered adult emotions, unwrapping and examining each layer as one peels an onion. Their collective emotional journey is as rich and textured and subtly presented as any I've seen.