Out of Africa
Directed by Sydney Pollack
- history
- romance
- drama
The story
Tells the life story of Danish author Karen Blixen, who at the beginning of the 20th century moved to Africa to build a new life for herself. The film is based on her 1937 autobiographical novel.
What it’s like
Golden, sun-saturated light pours across the Kenyan highlands in this 1985 film: wide, unhurried landscape shots of grass plains, acacia silhouettes, and dusk over the Ngong hills, paired with warm interior scenes lit by lamps and windows. Director Sydney Pollack lets camera movements drift slowly, often aerial or panning across open country, and John Barry's sweeping orchestral score swells with strings and horns over the vastness. The sensory world is dusty, heated, and rich: coffee plantation fields, safari camps at dawn, the bustle of colonial Nairobi. Its vibe is lush melancholy, a romantic epic with a reflective, elegiac pulse that suits a slow weekend afternoon or a long, quiet evening. Pacing is leisurely, and the emotional arc follows a proud, independent woman learning to love on her own terms amid loss and an uncertain marriage. Intensity is low: there is some infidelity and sadness, brief wildlife danger, and no gore, though the mood is wistful rather than light. Best for viewers who enjoy sweeping period romance, lush scenery, and bittersweet, grown-up love stories.
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