Nowhere in Africa (German with English Subtitles)

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Both epic and heartbreakingly intimate, Nowhere in Africa begins with a Jewish woman named Jettel Redlich fleeing Nazi Germany with her daughter Regina, to join her husband, Walter, on a farm in Kenya. At first, Jettel refuses to adjust to her new circumstances (she brought with her a set of china dishes and an evening gown), while Regina adapts readily to this new world, forming a strong bond with her father's cook, an African named Owuor. But this is only the beginning of a series of uprootings, and as the surface of their lives is torn away, Walter and Jettel find they have little in common, and must--under tumultuous circumstances--build their marriage anew. With incredible skill and passion, Nowhere in Africa manages to bring you fully into every change in this family's life; it richly deserves the Academy Award® it received in 2002. A powerful, deeply moving film. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews:

Nowhere in Africa.......2007-07-23

Winner of the 2002 Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, "Nowhere in Africa" is a vivid, powerful drama with elements of adventure, suspense, and romance. Narrated by the youngest of the clan, Regina (played by Lea Kurka and Karoline Eckertz), this is an heroic tale about one family's painful displacement and subsequent perseverance in adapting to a primitive but beautiful land. Maintaining an epic sweep without ever losing its rich emotional flavor, "Nowhere" is a stunning achievement.

Great Information on WW2.......2007-05-12

This movie was very moving. It tells the story alot more realist then most history books. It was long, but worth the 3 hours.

Spectacular film, beautiful cinematography.......2007-04-06

This film is AMAZING. Its now on my top ten list of the best films ever made.
Great character development, and full of irony.

It makes viewers realize how trivial and unimportant "things" are. It also makes me sick of American culture, because simplicity is not an acceptable part of life here. I gained a greater appreciation of what I have and that I don't need more. I love movies that make me think!

Loved it.......2006-12-15

I very much enjoyed this movie. Unlike some others, I didn't think it was too long, or the English subtitles mysterious, or the Africans shallow. I particularly liked that for once an African character is central to the story, and more than just decoration. Sure, he was "just" the cook, but the extent to which the family came to respect, rely, and TRUST him made him part of them.

I won't describe the plot, as that has already been done by many reviewers.

Having lived in Kenya, I have to say that the European actors did a fine job with the Swahili, considering they were just memorized lines. Their delivery was natural, with the obvious caveat of the heavy accents. But even so, they all spoke like they understood what they were saying.

I also thought this was a most unusual Holocaust movie and, while ever present, the Holocaust is not bashed over the viewer's head. It was a good balance.

Furthermore, the characters were all pretty complex; the director could easily have fallen into superficial cliche, but did not. The love between husband and wife is frequently complex and conflicted, and this was illustrated artfully.

If you like films about Africa, or complex, real-life type of love stories, or are interested in a virtually unknown aspect of the Haolocaust and WWII, this is your film.

An emotional powerhouse.......2006-12-12

This film is a truly epic experience, the type of film that one doesn't see too much of anymore these days. Based on an autobiographical novel by Stefanie Zweig, it concerns the Redlich family, one of the lucky few families to leave Nazi Germany before it was too late. Walter, the father, saw the writing on the wall and left for Kenya in 1937, sending for his wife Jettel and daughter Regina six months later, in 1938. Normally one doesn't think of refugees from the Nazis as escaping to anyplace in Africa, particularly not Kenya, although there was actually a fairly substantial Jewish community in Nairobi by the time WWII broke out, along with other refugees, such as the Redlichs, living in more isolated and less-developed areas of the nation. Jettel is a bit of a Jewish German Princess at the beginning of the film, and has a very hard time adjusting to life in Kenya. She believes living on the farm in Rongai will be temporary, and was so unaware of the reality waiting for her that she brought her fine china and bought an evening gown instead of something more practical like a refrigerator before she left home. Her character proves to be the most interesting, the one who goes through the most development, becoming a very different person by the end of the film. Walter, in contrast, has a sea change in attitude in the opposite direction, and wants to return to Germany after the war instead of staying in Kenya, which has become like a home to his family and saved their lives. They also have to deal with their troubled marriage; they'd apparently begun having some problems before they left Germany, but their marriage is really put to the test in Kenya, particularly while Walter is away in the British Army for four years and Jettel is left to tend the farm. Young Regina is also a fascinating character; being so young, she adjusts quickly to life in Kenya, although, like her parents, doesn't ever really fully come to think of it as home. She has a number of different cultures to deal with--the German culture she left behind and the one she has a connection to via her parents, the native Kenyan culture and the Swahili language, and the British culture at the colonial school she attends. (Though most of this film shows us Kenya through the eyes of people living far away from so-called civilisation, this was still a time when most of Africa was under colonial rule, a much different Africa than it is today.) Her relationship with Owuor, the native who acts as a servant to her family, is incredibly moving and touching, one of the finest aspects of this film. Unlike her mother, she never has any hesitation about or resistance to befriending the natives. She doesn't care that their skin is dark and hers is light; they're just other children she has fun with and who like being with her, the same way that she instantly takes to Owuor, seeing him as a kind man who warmly welcomes her to Kenya. On the surface this is a historical film, but the true themes are about the nature of home, alienation, self-discovery, finding oneself, loss, and how sometimes the least likely place can become a refuge and come to feel almost like home over time. What is the meaning of the word home, does a refugee or immigrant ever really completely feel at home in a foreign land, and will these people ever really feel at home anywhere again, whether they remain in Kenya, return to Germany, or start a new life in an entirely new place? It's also a nice change of pace to see a WWII-era film set in Africa, to see how the war affected the native peoples, the dominating British colonialists, and the refugees like the Redlichs. The soundtrack is also incredibly gorgeous, as is the natural scenery.

There are also a wealth of bonus features. The audio commentary is top-notch, revealing such interesting facts as how Walter's voice was actually done by the popular actor Herbert Knaup but for two undubbed scenes (one of which is conducted entirely in English), because it was felt that Merab Ninidze, the true actor, had too strong of a Georgian accent, and that Silas Kereti, who plays Regina's friend Jogona as a young adult, was initially very hesitant about performing in one of the tribal ceremonies in the film because it was being done by another tribe, and he thought that taking part would mean that he were becoming a member of this other tribe. Other extras are deleted scenes (with optional commentary); a making-of featurette; interviews with Merab Ninidze, Juliane Köhler (Jettel), Matthias Habich (Walter Süsskind, a character who immigrated to Kenya before the Redlichs), Sidide Onyulu (Owuor), and Caroline Link (the director), Peter Herrmann (the producer), and Stefanie Zweig; score selections; a storyboard comparison for the locust scene; trailers; and a photo montage with commentary.

At almost two and a half hours long (and three hours long originally), this is a truly epic picture, a real emotional powerhouse. All of the characters are developed so well and acted so masterfully that one grows to feel as though one actually knows them, has gone on this powerful life-changing journey along with them. It's also not "just another WWII movie," since the setting and themes are so very different from the usual ones. Far from just another movie, this one makes the viewer think and feel instead of just being entertaining or delivering a lot of high-tech special effects. It's a shame more films in Hollywood aren't as masterfully crafted as this wonderful highly-recommended German film.

Nowhere in Africa; Special Edition (2- disc)

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ACADEMY AWARD WINNER 2002 BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM...
Excellent
Touching Teutonic Drama

Nowhere in Africa; Special Edition (2- disc)

Manufacturer: Columbia Tristar
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0008ELY1C

Product Description

2002 Academy Award Winner for best foreign language film. Nowhere in Africa is a story about love, about family, about leaving one home to create another. Spanning two continents, it's the true tale of a Jewish attorney and his family who flee the Nazi regime in 1938 for a remote farm in Kenya. As the war rages on the other side of the world, his relationships with his wife and daughter become increasingly complicated; they struggle between resisting and embracing their new life, while reaching out to each other.

Customer Reviews:

ACADEMY AWARD WINNER 2002 BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM... .......2006-06-06

This is a wonderful German film, which deservedly won an Academy Award in 2002 for being the Best Foreign Language Film. Based upon an autobiographical book by Stefanie Zweig, the film is beautifully acted by a stellar cast and deftly directed by Caroline Link. It is a film that will stay in one's consciousness long after the credits have rolled by. It is also a film that touches upon a number of universal themes.

The film focuses on an upper class, privileged family of secular German Jews. The husband, Walter Redlich (Merab Ninidze), seeing the way things are going in Germany in the 1930s with the advent of Hitler, leaves his law practice and emigrates to Africa, where he finds himself managing a ranch for an Englishman in an arid location in rural Kenya, while setting the stage for his family's emigration from Germany. In 1938, he then sends for his beautiful, haughty wife, Jettel (Juliane Kohler), and young daughter, Regina (Lea Gurka as a young child and Karoline Eckertz as an adolescent), to join him.

When they arrive, the wife goes into culture shock and is in total denial as to their new circumstances. Her reaction to their precarious situation is different from that of her husband, as well as from that of her child. Her husband, a realist about the situation in Germany and a survivor at heart, knows that they cannot return while Hitler is in power and is willing to make the best of the hand that they have been dealt. Jettel, however, still fails to understand just how precarious their situation in Germany was.

Once removed from a familiar environment, Walter and Jettel seem to have very little in common. Now that her husband is no longer a practicing lawyer, Jettel acts as if he has been diminished in her eyes. She also initially disdains her new, hardscrabble life and hates all things African, even the natives, treating them like dirt, until her husband insinuates that she is starting to remind him of the Nazis.

Their household is made complete by a very pleasant and affable Kenyan named Owour (Sidele Onyulo), who had saved Walter's life during a bout with malaria and who acts as the family cook. He helps them in enumerable ways, teaching them the language and customs of his people. Regina immediately bonds with Owour and adapts quickly to her new life and customs. She befriends the native children, learns their language, and prefers Kenya over Germany as her country of choice, notwithstanding its hardships and privations. In her nine years in Kenya, Regina, despite attending a British school, becomes as African in her ways as a native.

The conflicts of war soon make themselves manifest in Kenya, which is under English rule. The threads of Walter's and Jettel's marriage start to fray and unravel, as their hopes and dreams come into conflict. They are, however, always unified in terms of their love of Regina, an extraordinarily perceptive and intelligent child. Still, Walter and Jettel must endure and weather some pretty serious marital storms, as the self-absorbed Jettel slowly undergoes a metamorphosis, which throws her strained marriage into a tailspin for a time.

As Jettel learns to adapt to her changing circumstances and accept some of the changes in her life, the marriage begins to stabilize despite its continual strains and cracks. Upon discovering the fate of their respective families, who had refused to emigrate despite Walter's early entreaties, Jettel now realizes what her fate might have been had her husband not had the foresight to seek an alternative solution. It is then that reality finally sets in. Consequently, when the war is over, she initially refuses to have anything to do with a post-war Germany, while her husband hankers to return so as to be a part of its re-building. What ultimately happens, however, will be the true test of their love.

This is a fully character driven film, played against the largely unseen backdrop of the holocaust. Merab Ninidze is brilliant as the beleaguered Walter. Handsome, sensitive, and intelligent, he is an absolute dream in the role, bringing an astuteness and underlying strength to the role that makes him stand out from the crowd. He walks a fine line but manages to avoid being pitied for the way his wife treats him. The beautiful Juliane Kohler is excellent as the selfish Jettel, managing to interject, at the last, a certain vulnerability into what is essentially a nearly unlikable character. Sidele Onyulo is wonderful as the warm and always helpful Owour, infusing the role with an infectious charm. Lea Gurka and Karoline Eckertz are both ingratiating as the younger and older manifestations of Regina, the child through whose eyes most of the events in the film are seen.

Beautifully rendered, from its casting, to the acting, to its sensitive direction, and last, but certainly not least, its exquisite cinematography, it is a must see, engrossing film that will keep the viewer riveted to the screen. Bravo!

Excellent.......2005-07-07

The service was excellent, prompt and as promised. Item was better than described. Slightly used looked new.

Thanks.

Touching Teutonic Drama.......2005-07-01

Once again, European acting proves that its subtlety is more effective than American sledgehammer histrionics could ever be. Juliane Köhler shines as a complex spoiled-princess mother character. Despite my general distaste for child actors, I couldn't help falling for the little girl in this film: she is charming and real and wise, and irresistable. How the movie manages to carry metaphors and sagacity through a cute blond girl in braids without ever tickling the gag reflex deserves praise. I am about to buy this movie after having rented it yesterday: I could endlessly watch the little "memsaab" interact with her family's Nigerian cook. There is a warmth to their relationship that tugs at heartstrings, but not at all in a patronizing manner-a unique balance of evocative emotion and respect for the audience's intelligence that I find quite lacking in American cinema. This human warmth is what drives the film, as Köhler's character descends from her high horse and the family dynamics shift. Reminiscent of _Wild Strawberries_(Bergmann) in its depiction of understated human relations.

Color plays a beautiful, though not primary, role in this movie. It does not take center stage as it does in other lovely movies like _Hero_(Yimou) and _Blue_(Kieslowski), but the washed-out beiges juxtaposed with rusty oranges of Nigerian dress are striking.

Historically fascinating, marvellously acted, and with interesting African drum music alongside...worth repeated viewings.

En Algun Lugar De Africa (Nowhere In Africa) aka (Nirgendwo in Afrika) [NTSC/REGION 1 & 4 DVD. Import-Latin America]

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En Algun Lugar De Africa (Nowhere In Africa) aka (Nirgendwo in Afrika) [NTSC/REGION 1 & 4 DVD. Import-Latin America]
Director: Caroline Link
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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