One of the problems I have with the movie industry stems from the fact that men wearing the smartest business suits are the ones who get to decide for us, the movie-going population, what it is we will and will not enjoy seeing in the theaters. Now, don’t get me wrong, I fully understand the necessity of the business side of show business. And I’m not one of those people who boycotts every mass-market release in favor of viewing only independent movies. On the contrary, I think the guys making the decisions get it right many times, and I often find myself thoroughly enjoying a big-budget extravaganza. There! I said it.
But have you ever gone to a movie you thought you would love, and come out saying something like, “Man, that was nothing like the previews?” That’s because these suits, in order to market a movie into making the most amount of money, are driven to create trailers and TV spots that classify every movie into a very specific genre, even if they ultimately shouldn’t be considered that type of film. The people in marketing watch a movie, decide it can make the greatest amount of money if promoted as a comedy, and then pull out every scene from the movie that says to fans of comedies, “Hey! This is a comedy! You are going to love it!” and splice them all together into a two and half minute preview.
Sadly, there are many times when the guys who pull the purse strings can’t decide what to classify a movie, simply can’t figure out how to promote it, and that is when really terrific movies disappear into anonymity after a minor one hundred theater release, or, worse, experience the dreaded direct-to-video treatment. But some do get lucky. In 2008, a very small-budgeted film from India, in Hindi with English subtitles, and no major film stars, was scheduled for a late year, direct-to-video release. Suddenly, and very last second, a single, risk-taking producer saw the film, believed in the quality of its terrific story, believed that we were a much smarter and open-minded movie-going population than every other producer who had previously passed it over for release did, bought the film and sent it out into the mass-market. We now all know it as Academy Award winner, Slumdog Millionaire.
My point is this. In 2001, a movie called Freddy Got Fingered saw a lucrative, across America, mass-market release, and the winner of the Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award for that same year exists in relative obscurity. If my blog does nothing more than unearth some undiscovered gems, and promote them to you, my readers, I will consider this venture a success.
Nowhere in Africa is a beautiful film that deserves to be seen again and again. This is the story of a Jewish family that flees Nazi Germany mere months before Kristallnacht, and lives out the remainder of the war in Kenya. A wealthy family, existing deep in the upper echelon of society before the war, the Redlichs live as poor tenant farmers in Africa, and must learn to cope with the vast differences between their old and new lives.
The daughter, Regina, immediately takes to the wondrous, new world she finds herself in at such a young age. The father, Walter, a successful lawyer in Germany, struggles with his new existence as farmer and foreigner, and with the possibility that his wife may have been more attracted to the lawyer than the man. Jettel, the wife and mother, is the character with the biggest story arc; the one who changes the most over the course of the years in which the story takes place. The journey she takes from beginning to end is a wonderfully drawn look at a woman who slowly learns to understand a strange world at the same time she is becoming a part of it. Her story is one of acceptance and growth through the appreciation of the different and unusual.
This movie takes its time in telling its story, and does not rush through plot points in any effort to quicken its pace. The story and characters are the richer for this. It is far from boring, but don’t go in expecting an edge-of-your-seat escape from the Nazis. Just trust me. The acting is excellent. Caroline Link, the film’s director, is confident and sure in her approach to the storytelling. The cinematography is breathtaking. You will be rewarded for the time you put into watching Nowhere in Africa. I am already looking forward to the next time I get to.
Until next week, here’s my hope that we all find our Shangri-La. Goodnight.
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