Product: Nowhere in Africa (2003)
Rating: 4.0
A well-acted drama that leaps over its shortcomings
Most movies about the Holocaust, however specifically or obstensibly, usually take place in Germany and have much shouting in German and moping in Yiddish. It was a nice change, then, to see a movie about 'the ones that got away,' German Jews who actually escaped the hand of the Nazis and lived and worked far away. Nowhere in Africa, a recent winner for Best Foreign Film, is the story of the Redlich family, who raise their young girl on the plains of Africa while WWII blasts away in their homeland. For most of the movie, it's an enjoyable little slice-of-life about clashing cultures and that underlying theme of the family's tragedies overseas. Link's nimble camera captures the country's harsh beauty, and narration from the young daughter (in her older years) is warm and subtle. The drama within the family (unfaithfulness and the like) wears a little thin after a while, and the movie could have used a little more work in the editing room. Nowhere in Africa doesn't exactly escape the trappings of its genre, but it provides some nice scenery chewing and some moments of stark beauty that make it worth a rental. GRADE: B