I DREAMED OF AFRICA A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 2000 Steve Rhodes RATING (0 TO ****): * 1/2
In I DREAMED OF AFRICA, based on Kuki Gallmann's autobiography of her life in Africa, we learn that the Dark Continent is a beautiful and dangerous place. Of course, we already know that. The film, nevertheless, wants to teach what we already know and do it like a kid's Golden Book.
As directed by Hugh Hudson and scripted by Paula Milne and Susan Shilliday, the episodes in Kuki's life fly by at channel-surfing speed. In an early scene, Kuki, played without much convincing drama by an immaculate Kim Basinger, tells her 7-year-old boy, Emanuele (Liam Aiken), that she's marrying her boyfriend, Paolo (Vincent Pérez), who is taking them from Venice to live on a remote farm in Africa. Although this means giving up his friends and his grandparents with whom they live, the boy's reaction is a quick surprise followed a second later by complete acceptance. Sure.
The tragedies are numerous (storms, car wrecks, poisonous snakes, wild animals, poachers, robbers, etc.), and, rather than choosing a few to develop properly, the screenwriters try to shoehorn them all in. The result is that episodes run by with the speed of cheetahs, and the director rarely takes time to set up any of them properly.
Got poachers? Let's organize a local army. Okay, done with that idea. What, you may ask, happened next? Did the army do any good, or did they end up getting themselves shot? We're never told. Storms blow in without warning and then are over with and forgotten before you can get interested. Go to the restroom, and you'll miss a minimum of two disasters.
The script reeks with clichés. "What kind of people do this?" Kuki asks when, almost as soon as they touch down on African soil, they look in horror at the result of poachers. "We think we run this place," she says later in the story. "We don't. It runs us."
The men in the story like to do lots of guy things, like disappearing into the bush to hunt and drink for a week or two. Paolo, in particular, isn't happy unless he is risking his life on a daily basis, and Kuki's son exhibits this same foolhardy behavior.
One thing can unequivocally be said about the movie, Bernard Lutic's cinematography is stunning. But think about the material with which he had to work. From the ocean to the savanna, Africa is a photographer's dream assignment. Then again, some movies (FOOLS RUSH IN, for example) can make even the Grand Canyon look ugly, so Lutic could have blown it.
My friend with me reminded me of a similar and much better show, "The Flame Trees of Thika," which played two decades ago on Masterpiece Theater. The problem with I DREAMED OF AFRICA is that it tells a story that we've heard many times before and usually with a much stronger emotional impact. Perhaps if the film were recut with fewer incidents and more development of the ones left, it might have worked. But, as released, it only works as a travelogue.
I DREAMED OF AFRICA runs 1:52. It is rated PG-13 for a scene of nudity/sensuality and some violent/traumatic episodes and would be acceptable for teenagers. Kids under 13 run the risk of being significantly frightened by the blood and the violence.
Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com Web: http://www.InternetReviews.com
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