Product: Nowhere in Africa (2003)
Rating: 4.0
CAPTIVATING CHRONICLE OF ESCAPE IN VISUALLY GORGEOUS KENYA
Most World War movies veer around the gritty theme of the Holocaust and how many people perished under the heinous regime. Some movies such as "Sophie's Choice" or "Nowhere in Africa" bring out the other aspect -" people who escaped one horror, but underwent prejudiced treatment or disintegration after immigration to other countries.This film chronicles a German family that sought refuge in the idyllic arms of Kenya. Unlike the eulogistic "Pianist" it actively ventures into the wilds to struggle with the growing awareness of the Holocaust's terrible toll around the world. Locusts, sacrificial lambs, etc lend the film its uncompromisingly graphic metaphors for the exacting beauty and danger of Africa.Apart from the breathtaking vistas of grassland Kenya, the best thing about the movie is that like a good John Irving novel, it's not made up of heroes and villains. It is an unfolding narrative of human beings who face hardships and evolve through them. This requires a feat of casting that the film manages to accomplish rather convincingly (e.g., the daughter in the family is an 8-year old for a part of the movie, then an adoloscent in the latter half.)Quick editing cuts and a swift development of a multi-faceted story, laced with a riveting score of African music, demands the audience's attention from the first frame and holds it right until the credits.Some anti-Semitic words of the headmaster at the daughter's boarding school, or some pithy dialog such as "We are Jews even if that doesn't mean much to you", dent the script's eloquent but believable language.Yet, overall, "Nowhere in Africa" is a subtle tale of love and belonging couched in the times of war -- that state of humanity that continues to fascinate yet horrify us.A highly recommended gem of film.