Whatever qualms one might have about Out of Africa—and there are qualms to be had—they might wash away with a single shot: that of Meryl Streep’s upturned face as Robert Redford rinses her hair alongside a Kenyan stream, the soapy water running along the ground in the background of the frame. It’s exotic, erotic, and possibly in bad taste, which you could also say of the movie.
Out of Africa is based on Danish author Karen Blixen’s memoir of her years living in East Africa (she published her stories, including the also screen-adapted Babette’s Feast, as Isak Dinesen). As filmed by director Sidney Pollack, Kenya of the 1910s—when the region was under British control—registers as a playground for safari chic. It’s no coincidence that the movie came out in 1985, two years after clothing retailer The Gap bought Banana Republic and expanded its footprint.
As big-game hunter Denys Finch Hatton, Redford makes for a striking clothing model (Pollack introduces him in silhouette against a savanna sunset). But he’s no match for Streep as the Blixen stand-in. In every scene, you sense her thinking beyond the moment at hand and into the rest of this woman’s complex, tumultuous life. Meanwhile, he barely bothers to adjust his iconic charm to the period or make any effort to adapt an accent for a character based on a Brit. (Streep, meanwhile, delivers one of her trademark accented turns.)
If Redford is one qualm, the movie’s inherent colonialism is another. True, the movie is aware of Karen’s paternalistic tendencies, but it’s also partly about how she grows out of them to be a “good” employer of her African staff (none of whom are given an inner life independent of her needs). Similarly, Denys at one point admonishes her that “We’re not owners here. We’re just passing through.” But neither he nor the movie understand that “passing through” comes with its own colonialist costs.
And yet Out of Africa makes you swoon, largely due to its stunning cinematography—from the languid landscape shots to the nearly impressionistic aerial footage to the majestic framing of a group of Masai emerging from a shimmering plain. Cinematographer David Watkin took home one of the film’s seven Oscars. Out of Africa also won Best Sound, Best Art Direction/Set Decoration, Best Original Score (John Barry), Best Adapted Screenplay (Kurt Luedtke), Best Director, and Best Picture. Surprisingly, The Gap—I mean, Milena Canonero—was nominated but didn’t win for Costume Design.
(10/13/2025)
