I had a farm in Africa...- Page 2

[NYadgal]

Posted: 7/17/06 at 8:45pm

Did you know that the role was originally offered to Audrey Hepburn?

She turned it down.

Even I, adoring Audrey fan that I am, must admit that nobody could have played it the way Meryl did. She was perfection.

[NYadgal]

Posted: 7/17/06 at 8:46pm

More trivia:

There's a scene in the movie where Meryl Streep's character, Karen Blixen, is traveling across dangerous terrain in Kenya to bring supply wagons to her husband's regiment. During the night, a lion attacks one of the oxen and Karen tries to fight it off with a whip. Streep was assured that the lion actor would be tethered by one of his back legs so he couldn't get too close. But when they actually shot the scene, the lion had no restraint. The camera captured genuine fear on Streep's face when the lion got closer than she anticipated.

[DG]

Posted: 7/17/06 at 8:59pm

And the fact that she DIDN'T go over immediately and smack Mr. Nichols across the face is a true sign of her ladiness

Mr. Spielberg did kind of the same thing to Mr. Dreyfuss in JAWS - no warning about the head falling out of the hole in the boat. Except HE was underwater. Perhaps that's a sign of his ladiness.

[vbplayer]

Posted: 7/17/06 at 9:08pm

Every frame is like a post card. Brilliant cinematography, especially "flying over Africa".

[broadway86]

Posted: 7/17/06 at 9:17pm

I saw this movie three years ago, and I thought it was beautiful. Need to see it again.

Along with The English Patient, Around the World in 80 Days, Tom Jones, and several other favorites of mine, it's regarded as one of the worst BP winners. I don't agree with that at all.

What was that line at Karen said, about taming Africa and the man who lived there? Something like that... Updated On: 7/17/06 at 09:17 PM

[NYadgal]

Posted: 7/17/06 at 9:25pm

Karen Blixen's Movie Monologues

The filmmakers structured the movie in six distinct segments, separated by seven voice-over monologues, beautifully spoken by Meryl Streep. Together they tell the story of Karen Blixen's time in Africa.


1. I Had A Farm in Africa

"He even took the gramaphone on safari. Three rifles, supplies for a month and Mozart. We began our friendship with a gift. And later, not long before Samburu, he gave me another. An incredible gift. A glimpse of the world through God's eye. And I thought, yes, I see. This is the way it was intended. I've written about all of the others. Not because I love them less but because they were clearer ... easier. He was waiting for me there. But I've gone ahead of my story. Denys would have hated that. Denys loved to hear a story told well. You see, I had a farm in Africa at the foot of the Ngong Hills. But it began before that. It really began in Denmark. There I knew two brothers, one was my lover and one was my friend."


2. Farewells

"It's an odd feeling, farewell. There is some envy in it. Men go off to be tested for courage. And if we're tested at all it's for patience. For doing without. Perhaps for how well we can endure lonliness. But I'd always known that. It didn't require a war. I said goodbye to Bror. Denys left without a word, which was quite proper."


3. A Compass to Steer By

"I had a compass from Denys. To steer by he said. But later it came to me that we navigated differently. Perhpas he knew, as I did not, that the earth was made round so that we would not see too far down the road."


4. The Colors of Africa

"Later that day I left for Mombasa and the voyage home to Denmark. It was a longer journey this time. The War went on. I fought my own war. Arsenic was my ally against an enemy I never saw. I stayed in the room where I was born in Rungstedland and tried to remember the colors of Africa. There was only the medicine and walks with my mother along a deserted stretch of beach. And this room in my mother's house. Denmark had become a stranger to me. And I to her. But my mother's house I came to know again. I knew I would come back to it. Sick or well. Sane or mad. Someday. And so I did. After Samburu."


5. Until it Ended

"In the days and hours that Denys was at home we spoke of nothing ordinary. Not of my troubles with the farm, my notes due and my failing crop. Or of his with his work and what he knew was happening with Africa. Or of anything at all that was small and real. We lived disconnected and apart from things. I had been making up stories while he was away. In the evenings he made himself comfortable, spreading cushions like a couch in front of the fire and with me sitting cross legged like Shaharazaud herself, he would listen, clear-eyed, to a long tale from when it began until it ended."


6. A Song of Africa

"If I know a song of Africa, of the giraffe and the African new moon lying on her back, of the plows in the fields and the sweaty faces of the coffee pickers, does Africa know a song of me? Will the air over the plain quiver with a color that I have had on, or the children invent a game in which my name is, or the full moon throw a shadow over the gravel of the drive that was like me, or will the eagles of the Ngong Hills look out for me?"


7. Denys Would Have Liked That

"Mail has come today and a friend writes this to me. 'The Maasai have reported to the district commissioner at Ngong that many times at sunrise and sunset they have seen lions on Finch Hatton's grave. A lion and lioness have gone there and stood or lain on the grave for a long time. After you went away the ground round the grave was leveled out into a sort of terrace. I suppose that the level place makes a good site for the lions. From there they have a view over the plane and the cattle and the game on it.' Denys will like that. I must remember to tell him."

Updated On: 7/17/06 at 09:25 PM

[Glebb]

Posted: 7/17/06 at 9:26pm

I love it!

[NYadgal]

Posted: 7/17/06 at 9:28pm

It really adds to the appreciation of the film when you see how it is structured...

And, when you read those words, can't you just hear Meryl speaking the lines?

Perfect.

[DG]

Posted: 7/17/06 at 9:34pm

Thank you SO MUCH for that - how wonderful!

[NYadgal]

Posted: 7/17/06 at 9:35pm

I think I just might have to watch this again tonight. Or tomorrow.

In the meantime, the soundtrack is on...

[NYadgal]

Posted: 7/17/06 at 9:39pm

More info:

Baroness Karen Blixen was a real person. After she left Africa she went back to Denmark and wrote novels under the name Isak Dinesen.

Out of Africa was based on Isak Dinesen's autobiography called Out of Africa as well as a biography of Isak Dinesen written by Judith Thurman.

The song that Denys and Karen play for the monkey while they are on safari is Mozart's Clarinet Concerto.


(I'll bet you have figured out that I'm a pretty big fan of this movie!)

[Glebb]

Posted: 7/17/06 at 9:40pm

I suspected as much. :)

[DG]

Posted: 7/17/06 at 9:55pm

I must admit I had that knowledge already, Addy - but it's nice to see you 'out of the closet' with it

[NYadgal]

Posted: 7/17/06 at 9:56pm

Now others are free to join!

Pattifan will be delighted when he sees this in the morning.

[redhotinnyc2]

Posted: 7/18/06 at 8:00am

One of my favorite soundtracks - I listened to it repeatedly when it was first released, such beautiful, soaring themes.
The movie is a masterpiece of craftsmanship and storytelling, certainly. Talk about an "owner" (what my partner and I call movies that we feel we may want to watch again and again in a lifetime.)!

[Glebb]

Posted: 7/18/06 at 11:17am

A smooch for Karen/Addy.

[beacon1]

Posted: 7/18/06 at 1:03pm

This was such a grand film to view on the large screen of a darkened movie theater. The scenery was just breathtaking. The flight over the terrain was just magical.

And, the actors...oh my. The actors. I already loved Robert Redford...but this made me truly adore Meryl Streep. I can even her accented voice now saying the lines "I had a farm in Africa".

I love this film.

[pattifan2]

Posted: 7/18/06 at 3:35pm

A gift for Addy..



And another - a glimpse of the world through God's eyes...

[NYadgal]

Posted: 7/18/06 at 3:36pm

Your gift is much too precious.

Such beautiful pictures, pattifan! Thank you.

[pattifan2]

Posted: 7/18/06 at 3:40pm

'But my stories are free - and your present is much to dear'

'Write them down sometime'...

(You're welcome, Addy)

[NYadgal]

Posted: 7/18/06 at 4:36pm

Another favorite exchange:

Bror: You could have asked, Denys.
Denys: I did. She said yes.

[pattifan2]

Posted: 7/18/06 at 4:41pm

Ah, yes, that's a great one, Addy. Another one I love is...

'We're out of coffee, but I can give you tea.'



And, 'You changed your hair.'

[NYadgal]

Posted: 7/18/06 at 4:44pm

I love the pictures you've found to post!

Honestly, there's not a line out of place in this film!

I love when she's talking to Felicity at her house, and in response to Felicity's questions says "I think you ought to call me Karen".

[pattifan2]

Posted: 7/18/06 at 5:02pm

Felicity is a lovely character. Karen is a wonderful friend and mentor to her. One of the loveliest characters is Berkeley Cole. Michael Kitchen is sublime. I love when Karen tells Denys, 'When you leave me I shall marry Berkeley Cole.' And that beautiful scene at the wedding where he catches Karen snooping around Denys's books and talks about the girl he took to the dances at Oxford and says he thinks she's wearing his perfume. 'Ah, no - it's very nice but it's not the same.'



(Another Addie pressie)

[NYadgal]

Posted: 7/18/06 at 5:11pm

That's such a beautiful meeting!

When Denys and Berkeley come to visit, ask to stay to dinner and borrow dinner jackets... such tradition!

And such a special friendship the three of them have!