Nowhere in Africa
Cast
Juliane K�hler .... Jettel Redlich
Merab Ninidze .... Walter Redlich
Sidede Onyulo .... Owuor
Matthias Habich .... S��kind
Lea Kurka .... Regina
Directed by
Caroline Link
Rater #2 has description and review.
Rater #1
Has Not Seen Movie.
Rater #2
9/10. When a movie that you want to win an Oscar but doesn't, you don't
feel that bad. However, when a film that deserves to win an Oscar,
but isn't even nominated, that's just wrong. Germany's Nowhere in
Africa won Best Foreign Language film, but it didn't get nominated
for the acting it deserved. I haven't seen The Hours, and I'm sure
Nicole Kidman did a great job, but how did Juliane K�hler get passed
over? Adrien Brody was fine in The Pianist, but not even Oscar
worthy, and yet he won over Merab Ninidze?
It's films like this that makes being an American suck. We get movies
like 2 Fast 2 Furious at the top of the box office while we have
beautiful films that should be seen by all in out-of-the-way theater
and the median age for people seeing it is 72. If more people would
see Nowhere in Africa, then they would have a better understanding of
not only history, but how it relates to today. It's one of those WWII
movies that doesn't deal with Jews in ghettos or concentration camps
but how some people survived.
Like ogres, this movie is like an onion: it has layers. On the
surface it looks like an ordinary movie about survival against the
Nazis, but it turns out to be about relationships and adaptation.
Nowhere in Africa deals with the relationship between Walter
(Ninidze) and Jettel (K�hler), a happily married couple in Germany
who flee because of the Nazis. They sail down to Africa. Also, their
daughter Regina (Lea Kurka and Karoline Eckertz, played by different
kids in different ages) deals with her new lifestyle in Africa, and
with their amicable cook Owuor (Sidede Onyulo), with whom she gets
along great. Tensions arise between Walter and Jettel in many ways.
Also, Jettel has a tough time adapting to her blue-collar work in
Kenya. She can't even carry two jugs of water, and is mocked by all
of the natives. On the other hand, Regina soon makes friends with all
of them. It shows the different levels of maturity those two members
of the same family have. The younger one can change more than the
older one, and to me that's very potent. Age doesn't matter in
everything.
Nowhere in Africa won five Lolas (German film awards), including best
Picture, Director, and Cinematographer. The cinematography was
beautiful; it showed the vast landscape and nothingness of Africa. It
helped showed the complete change that the three main characters had
to go through. As I mentioned earlier, the acting was just
incredible. It's hard to put into words. How it got overlooked, I
don't know. Roberto Benigni won for Life is Beautiful, so why can't a
foreign film win acting awards? If you're in the mood for a good,
great, amazing film, then Nowhere in Africa is your best move now.
Rater #3
Has Not Seen Movie.
Rater #4
Has Not Seen Movie.
Not Rated (sexuality, nudity, adult themes).
Running time: 141 minutes
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