I DREAMED OF AFRICA
Rated PG-13 - Running Time: 1:54 - Released 5/5/00
I can't help but think of I Dreamed Of Africa as a low-rent
remake of Out Of Africa, which, itself, was not a terribly
noteworthy film, but which at least had a leading actress who
could handle the part. While Meryl Streep and beautiful scenery
were the two saving graces of that film, this one just has the
scenery. I understand that it's a true story (in fact, it's based
on the book by the main character, Kuki Gallmann), and the story
is adventurous and epic in nature, but the screenplay, by Paula
Milne and Susan Shilliday, is disjointed and choppy, a series
of five-minute episodes that travel, businesslike, from one hardship
to another. The direction by Hugh Hudson does nothing to counteract
this; on the contrary, it emphasizes it, serving up the
storyline in small vignettes, never taking time to develop character
or relationship beyond what is needed to set up the the next scene.
As if this weren't enough, the leading performance by Kim Bassinger
is so stilted and conspicuously unbelievable it's almost difficult
to watch. She delivers her lines like she can't wait to be rid
of them, barely registering any real emotion or character, just
pat mannerisms and trite, methodic expression.
After an auto accident that is included apparently for the
sole reason of establishing her as a tragic heroine, Kuki (Bassinger)
and her husband Paolo (Vincent Pérez), decide to leave
their home in Venice and move to his ranch in Africa. Packing
up her young son Emanuele, nicknamed "Emma" (Liam Aiken),
she moves her life to Kenya and quickly learns that "life
has a different rhythm" there. At least, she is told this
by numerous people, as if they all agreed to utter this pretentious
phrase to her when she arrived. After we consult our watches and
discover that it's already been a half hour and nothing's happened,
some minor conflicts do arrive. They have car trouble. They have
wind trouble. They have snake trouble, lion trouble, and mother-in-law
trouble. Most of all, they have marital trouble because Paolo
insists on leaving for weeks at a time with his friends to go
hunting. And all these troubles are presented separately and sequentially,
like episodes on a TV show. Eventually Emma grows into a teenager
and is played by Garrett Strommen, and he has his own troubles.
And ever throughout the story is Basinger's irritating voice-over
narration, explaining things to us that a better film (and a better
actress) would be able to show without words. I won't give away
the ending, but the final half hour contains two emotional events
so similar as to be redundant, as if we need more tragedy than
the first such scene can provide.
As I mentioned in my opening paragraph, the scenery is what
saves this film. The fact that it was shot on location in Kenya
and South Africa doesn't hurt, and the cinematography by Bernard
Lutic is breathtaking, featuring spectacular panoramas with herds
of every kind of wild animal you can think of roaming about. Maurice
Jarre's original music should be mentioned, too; it is more emotionally
provocative than anything else in the picture, and is nicely complemented
by African folk songs sung by native tribal groups.
A production like this deserves better scriptwriters and a better leading player. What a shame Gallmann's truly adventurous story must fall into the clumsy hands of such inept storytellers. **½