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I Dreamed of Africa
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Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review
Based on the memoirs of party-girl-turned-conservationist Kuki Gallman, I Dreamed of Africa never comes close to living up to its title; the mood is more prosaic travelogue than oneiric wonderment. After a car accident warns Kuki of her mortality, she resolves to grow up, a process that mysteriously involves marrying a man she barely knows and moving with him and her young son to the wilds of South Africa. There she learns new beau Paolo is less reliable than she thought, but also that the sun-baked plains and roaming beasts of Africa speak to her in a way the nightlife of Italy did not. (We learn of her blossoming humanity because she introduces herself to the servants; a probing study of interpersonal relationships this isn't.) Kim Basinger obviously feels connected to the role--she can stride across a room with a majestic self-righteousness that the film should have drawn upon more--but she's defeated by a script composed of repetitive vignettes that have no cumulative effect and a director (Hugh Hudson) who keeps the film's emotional impact curiously flat and diffuse except for the crass, manipulative moments every 20 minutes or so. Sure the photography's lovely, but really, how hard is it to get a nice shot of flamingoes at dawn? --Bruce Reid, Amazon.com
The good, the controversial and the beautiful.
Review date: 2007-12-05 Rating: 8 out of 10
Let's start with the beautiful: magnificent use of the African landscape, an enchanting musical score, the touching relationship depicted by Vicent Perez and Liam Aiken.
The controversial: based on the true story of a European woman remaining in Africa despite various tragedies, it raises many important questions about the confrontation of personal project vs family that are not sufficiently approached - extremely interesting food for thought and a wonderful trigger for post-movie discussion.
The good: brilliant performances by all actors, with my special preference going to Eve Saint (remember her with Marlon Brando way back?), Liam Aiken and Daniel Craig (in a small but highly accomplished role, as usual). Perez and Basinger are good at the lead, and I must say I was very surprised: not being a Basinger-fan, I was captivated by her portrait of Kiki.
All in all, recommended!
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Reviews
AN INSIPID CINEMATIC EXPERIENCE...
Review date: 2001-09-20 Rating: 6 out of 10
This is a somewhat insipid film, based upon a true story. It tells the tale of Kuki Gallman (Kim Basinger), a somewhat immature woman in Italy who marries a man, Paolo (Vincent Perez), of whom she knows little. She and he, together with her young son, move to Africa, where they buy a large, run down ranch in Kenya.
Having moved there to make a new life, she finds that her new husband has wanderlust in his soul, as well as a lust for danger and excitement, and is not much of a homebody. She is pretty much left to run the ranch and the household herself, while worrying whether her husband will return home safely from his hunting excursions with his friends. As they adjust to their new life, however, they form a deep love for Africa. Over the years, a series of mishaps and personal tragedies befall her, none of which make her lose her abiding love for Africa, where she chose to remain, despite entreaties from her mother to return home to Italy.
Kim Basinger and Vincent Perez give competent performances, as does the supporting cast, given the material with which they have to work. The cinematography is wonderful. What is wrong with the picture is that it is shallow. One never really seems to care about the characters. Nothing is ever fully explored or fleshed out. The director touches on a number of significant themes, but all are passed over, as if deemed unimportant. Consequently, the movie just aimlessly meanders along, a pleasant, though unimportant, cinematic experience.
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Kim Basinger
Eva Marie Saint
Garrett Strommen
Vincent Perez
Liam Aiken
Creators:
Kim Basinger (Primary Contributor)
Vincent Perez (Primary Contributor)
Bernard Lutic (Cinematographer)
Allyn Stewart (Producer)
John D. Schofield (Producer)
Stanley R. Jaffe (Producer)
Kuki Gallmann (Writer)
Paula Milne (Writer)
Susan Shilliday (Writer)
Director(s):
EAN: 4011039280406
Binding: VHS Tape
Running time: 114 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2000-05-05
Language: German (Original Language)