Rent Nowhere in Africa (2001)

A historical film that is, really, about colonial Kenya, in the 1940s - Nowhere in Africa review by Philip in Paradiso

In 1938, a Jewish couple from Germany, Juliane Köhler as Jettel Redlich and her husband, Merab Ninidze as Walter Redlich, flee Nazi Germany and settle down in colonial Kenya, on a farm, together with their daughter, Lea Kurka as Regina (younger: another actress plays the part of Regina, when she is in her teens, later in the film). The Redlich family, in Germany, were assimilated Jews, who considered themselves to be German first and foremost; they were totally integrated into German society. They belonged to the well-to-do bourgeoisie. Walter was a lawyer. Before most, he understood that, with the Nazis in power, anti-Jewish persecutions could only get worse and the only option left was to emigrate.

In Kenya, Walter has secured a job to run a farm in the middle of the bush, for its British owner. Nearby, there is a village. They have a cook, Kenyan actor Sidede Onyulo as Owuor. Their living conditions are primitive, especially as compared to the high standard of living and privileged lifestyle they enjoyed in Germany. They are having to adapt to their diminished circumstances, which is not easy. Worrying news from Europe and the outbreak of war soon make the situation even more distressing and difficult for the couple.

Much of the film is about Jettel and Walter, and how their relationship is tested by the situation. The actors whose performance is most impressive are Regina, when she is a little girl, and Owuor: somehow, they totally dominate the story, in my opinion, and Owuor, more particularly, has remarkable and powerful screen presence. The movie, ultimately, is about Kenya in the 1940s. The German couple have many dealings with the local Africans: there is not at all the usual barrier between Blacks and Whites that one sees in films about colonial-era Africa, and Kenya more particularly. The real star of the film is the country and its rugged beauty: Kenya and African culture, and this is explored in an interesting, sensitive and realistic manner.

The film, however, lacks pace: it is quite slow, following a kind of demonstrative, conventional narrative. It feels a bit stilted and detached at times - notwithstanding exceptional acting on the part of Owuor and Regina - perhaps because it is in German (with subtitles), or perhaps because of the somewhat stiff, Germanic way that emotions are expressed. I found it difficult to get emotionally involved in the story and its characters, finding Jettel slightly annoying in her reactions, at times, in fact. Nevertheless, it is a good movie, and a beautiful as well as an interesting film, which I certainly recommend.

Interesting Kenya-Set German Film Based on an Autobiographical Novel - Nowhere in Africa review by PV

I enjoyed this. More that the famous weepy OUT OF AFRICA from memory, though that's from 1985, so...

It's a fascinating tale, how Britain let Jewish refugees escape Germany to go to its colonies. This happened with some going to Singapore and India too, as Tom Stoppard and his family did after they fled Czechoslovakia. Of course, Germans and Italians too had to be interned - we were at war, and alone (USSR was friends of Nazi Germany until May 1941 and the USA only entered WWII when bombed at Pearl Harbour December 1941. The UK only ended paying back the USA for its war loan in2006, so if you paid any tax before that, you helped repay it!)

The BIG plus with this film is that this all looks and feels authentic, perhaps because it's a fictionalised autobiographical novel from Stefanie Zweig (1932-2014), who grew up JUST like the girl here in Kenya. It's basically her life story.

What I did not like about this film was the very romantacised view of the native Kenyans - which sugar-coats what could be a brutal culture, and often with intra-tribal fighting. Some references here to polygamy and how they treat old, ill people. But... I always argue romanticising such people of colour is as bad as demonising them. Anyhow, the portrayal of white Brits is often negative here, though it was Brits who saved this family. I'm sure some farm owners were nasty brutal racists but no more than native landowners of those of other nationalities. Interestingly, Kenya now is very corrupt, with a hereditary elite in charge. Progress?

To watch a great film about how brutal African cultures can be, watch THE WOUND (2017) a South African film about native cultures.

Interestingly, there were 25000 black people in Nazi Germany even during WWII, compared to just 6000 in the UK in 1939 (8000 in 1945 due to GI babies...) Not a lot of people know that!

An interesting addition to films about Jews fleeing Nazi-ism before, during and after WWII.

4 stars

One of my all-time favourites - Nowhere in Africa review by DW

This is quite superb in every way. After a second or even third viewing the film still wholly absorbs one's attention from beginning to end. It tells the story of a German Jewish family in the 1930s who regard themselves as assimilated Berliners but who are driven from home to forge a new life in British colonial Kenya ("Nowhere" to a Berliner), their struggles to adapt to farming life in a remote region and in time, and through various trials, their growing maturity and acceptance of their situation and what might ultimately come from this experience. Every element of the film, cast, script, cinematography, soundtrack blends perfectly under Caroline Link's direction. It is a film in which warmth, tragedy, deep emotion and even humour blend somehow seamlessly throughout. Certainly, I wish it were better known.