Out Of Africa


2h 42m 1985
Out Of Africa

Brief Synopsis

True life story of Karen Blixen, a woman trapped in a loveless marriage, who finds happiness with an adventurer.

Film Details

Also Known As
Mitt Afrika, Out of Africa - Souvenirs d'Afrique
MPAA Rating
Genre
Romance
Biography
Drama
Period
Release Date
1985
Distribution Company
Universal Pictures
Location
Kenya

Technical Specs

Duration
2h 42m

Synopsis

A Danish woman marries a baron whom she doesn't love and moves with him to his Kenyan coffee plantation. After enduring his womanizing behavior, she eventually kicks him out and then meets a British adventurer with whom she falls in love. Upon her return to Denmark, she becomes a famous novelist and writes about her romantic adventure.

Crew

Margaret Adams

Production Coordinator

Gary Alexander

Sound

Peter Allwork

Photography

John Barry

Music

Jack Brymer

Other

Roy Button

Assistant Director

Milena Canonero

Costume Designer

Anna Cataldi

Associate Producer

Nelson Chege

Technical Advisor

Terence Clegg

Coproducer

Freddie Cooper

Camera Operator

Stephen Cornish

Wardrobe

Kenny Crouch

Wardrobe

Claudio Cutry

Associate Editor

Isak Dinesen

Other

Syd Dutton

Special Effects

Andres Fernandez

Wardrobe

Robin Forman

Post-Production Supervisor

Dave Garrett

Costume Department

Colin Grimes

Art Director

Stephen Grimes

Production Designer

Rodrigo Gutierrez

Director Of Photography

Rodrigo Gutierrez

Dp/Cinematographer

Peter Handford

Sound

David Harris

Special Effects Supervisor

Jenny Hawkins

Wardrobe

J. Roy Helland

Makeup

Pembroke J. Herring

Editor

Norma Hill-patton

Makeup

Mary Hillman

Makeup

David Hilton

Production Assistant

Allan James

Location Manager

Chris Jenkins

Sound

Kim Jorgensen

Executive Producer

Sheldon Kahn

Editor

Patrick Kinney

Assistant Director

Clif Kohlweck

Music Editor

Gerry Levy

Production Manager

Gary Liddiard

Makeup

Kurt Luedtke

Screenplay

Josie Macavin

Set Decorator

William Manger

Adr Editor

Neville Marriner

Music

Tom Mccarthy

Sound Editor

Pat Mcewan

Wardrobe

George Menoe

Assistant Director

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Music

Meja Mwangi

Assistant Director

Tom Mwangi

Assistant Director

Phill Norman

Titles

Grania O'shannon

Location Manager

Sydney Pollack

Producer

Cliff Robinson

Art Director

Monty Ruben

Production Consultant

Elizabeth Ryrie

Wardrobe

Mary Selway

Casting

George W Senoga-zake

Music

Stephen Shingles

Music

Alan Smyth

Music

Stephen St John

Steadicam Operator

Frederic Steinkamp

Editor

William Steinkamp

Editor

Larry Stensvold

Sound

John Sutton

Consultant

Bill Taylor

Special Effects

Thomas Thanangadan

Production Assistant

Judith Thurman

Book As Source Material

Judith Thurman

Associate Producer

David Tomblin

Assistant Director

Errol Trzebinski

Book As Source Material

Dan Wallin

Sound Editor

David Watkin

Director Of Photography

David Watkin

Dp/Cinematographer

Hubert Wells

Animal Trainer

Herbert Westbrook

Art Director

Film Details

Also Known As
Mitt Afrika, Out of Africa - Souvenirs d'Afrique
MPAA Rating
Genre
Romance
Biography
Drama
Period
Release Date
1985
Distribution Company
Universal Pictures
Location
Kenya

Technical Specs

Duration
2h 42m

Award Wins

Best Adapted Screenplay

1985

Best Art Direction

1985
Stephen Grimes

Best Cinematography

1985

Best Director

1985
Sydney Pollack

Best Picture

1985

Best Score

1985

Best Sound

1985

Award Nominations

Best Actress

1985
Meryl Streep

Best Costume Design

1985
Milena Canonero

Best Editing

1985
Sheldon Kahn

Best Supporting Actor

1985
Klaus Maria Brandauer

Articles

Out of Africa


Out of Africa (1985), starring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford, is based on the 1937 book by Danish writer Isak Dinesen. The film tells the autobiographical tale of Baroness Karen Blixen (Dinesen's true name), portrayed by Streep, and her time spent on a coffee plantation in East Africa in the early twentieth century. Blixen, in the film, marries Baron Bror Blixen-Finecke (Klaus Maria Brandauer) and moves with him to Africa. The marriage is most unsatisfactory as he is a womanizer who eventually leaves her to take care of the plantation on her own. The Baroness meets a hunter named Denys (Redford), and the two begin an idyllic love affair.

The idea of adapting the Dinesen's memoirs to the screen had been thrown around for decades before the project was finally picked up by Universal Studios. Orson Welles and David Lean had both considered making the film, and Nicholas Roeg thought about making the film with Julie Christie starring as Karen. Sydney Pollack was the one to produce the film in the 1980s, along with directing it. Out of Africa was shot on location in Africa; the city of Nairobi was recreated by local workers as it had appeared in the early 1900s. The production was not without its share of problems. The country was in the middle of a drought during filming, and the crew had to consider moving to a different location; the rains came just as they were attempting to decide where to relocate. Many crew members contracted malaria, and filming animals in the bush posed its own special problems. It is illegal to touch or maneuver wild animals, so the crew had to camp out for hours while they waited for the animals to come into just the right spot for each shot. Despite the difficulties encountered, many would say it was well worth it, because the film was nominated for a total of eleven Academy Awards, winning seven of them.

The Oscars Out of Africa was nominated for but did not win are: Best Actress (Streep), Best Supporting Actor (Brandauer), Best Film Editing, and Best Costume Design. The categories in which the film took home the statues are Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Sound, and Best Original Score. Streep's nomination for Best Actress marked her sixth nomination, and though she did not win (the Oscar went to Geraldine Page for The Trip to Bountiful), her role in this film is still considered to be one of her best.

Producer/Director: Sydney Pollack
Screenplay: Isak Dinesen (memoirs), Kurt Luedtke
Production Design: Stephen Grimes
Cinematography: David Watkin
Costume Design: Milena Canonero
Film Editing: Pembroke Herring, Sheldon Kahn, Fredric Steinkamp, William Steinkamp
Original Music: John Barry
Principal Cast: Meryl Streep (Karen), Robert Redford (Denys), Klaus Maria Brandauer (Bror), Michael Kitchen (Berkeley), Joseph Thiaka (Kamante), Michael Gough (Delamere), Stephen Kinyanjui (Kinanjui), Suzanna Hamilton (Felicity).
C-161m. Letterboxed. Closed captioning.

by Sarah Heiman
Out Of Africa

Out of Africa

Out of Africa (1985), starring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford, is based on the 1937 book by Danish writer Isak Dinesen. The film tells the autobiographical tale of Baroness Karen Blixen (Dinesen's true name), portrayed by Streep, and her time spent on a coffee plantation in East Africa in the early twentieth century. Blixen, in the film, marries Baron Bror Blixen-Finecke (Klaus Maria Brandauer) and moves with him to Africa. The marriage is most unsatisfactory as he is a womanizer who eventually leaves her to take care of the plantation on her own. The Baroness meets a hunter named Denys (Redford), and the two begin an idyllic love affair. The idea of adapting the Dinesen's memoirs to the screen had been thrown around for decades before the project was finally picked up by Universal Studios. Orson Welles and David Lean had both considered making the film, and Nicholas Roeg thought about making the film with Julie Christie starring as Karen. Sydney Pollack was the one to produce the film in the 1980s, along with directing it. Out of Africa was shot on location in Africa; the city of Nairobi was recreated by local workers as it had appeared in the early 1900s. The production was not without its share of problems. The country was in the middle of a drought during filming, and the crew had to consider moving to a different location; the rains came just as they were attempting to decide where to relocate. Many crew members contracted malaria, and filming animals in the bush posed its own special problems. It is illegal to touch or maneuver wild animals, so the crew had to camp out for hours while they waited for the animals to come into just the right spot for each shot. Despite the difficulties encountered, many would say it was well worth it, because the film was nominated for a total of eleven Academy Awards, winning seven of them. The Oscars Out of Africa was nominated for but did not win are: Best Actress (Streep), Best Supporting Actor (Brandauer), Best Film Editing, and Best Costume Design. The categories in which the film took home the statues are Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Sound, and Best Original Score. Streep's nomination for Best Actress marked her sixth nomination, and though she did not win (the Oscar went to Geraldine Page for The Trip to Bountiful), her role in this film is still considered to be one of her best. Producer/Director: Sydney Pollack Screenplay: Isak Dinesen (memoirs), Kurt Luedtke Production Design: Stephen Grimes Cinematography: David Watkin Costume Design: Milena Canonero Film Editing: Pembroke Herring, Sheldon Kahn, Fredric Steinkamp, William Steinkamp Original Music: John Barry Principal Cast: Meryl Streep (Karen), Robert Redford (Denys), Klaus Maria Brandauer (Bror), Michael Kitchen (Berkeley), Joseph Thiaka (Kamante), Michael Gough (Delamere), Stephen Kinyanjui (Kinanjui), Suzanna Hamilton (Felicity). C-161m. Letterboxed. Closed captioning. by Sarah Heiman

Rachel Kempson, 1910-2003


Rachel Kempson, the matriarch of the Redgrave acting dynasty, and a notable performer of the stage and screen in her own right, died on May 24 of natural causes at the home of her granddaughter, the actress Natasha Richardson in Millbrook, New York. She was 92. Her family of performers included Kempson's late husband, Sir Michael Redgrave, children Vanessa, Lynn and Corin Redgrave, and granddaughters Natasha and Joely Richardson.

Born on May 28, 1910, in Dartmouth, England, Kempson longed for a career in acting. She trained as an actress at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London and made her professional stage debut in 1932 at the legendary Stratford-on-Avon Theater in the lead of Romeo and Juliet. She went on to perform with such distinguished theatrical companies including the Royal Shakespeare Company, the English Stage Company and the Old Vic. In 1935 she was asked to star in the Liverpool Repertory production of Flowers of the Forest. Her leading man was Michael Redgrave, one of the top actors of his generation. Within a few weeks they fell in love and were married on July 18, 1935.

Kempson took a break for the next few years, to give birth to her three children: Vanessa, Corin and Lynn, but by the mid '40s, she came back to pursue her career in both stage and screen. She began to appear in some films with her husband: Basil Dearden's The Captive Heart (1946); and Lewis Gilbert's tough war drama The Sea Shall Not Have Them (1954). She hit her stride as a character actress in the '60s with a string of good films: Tony Richardson's (at the time her son-in-law) hilarious, award-winning Tom Jones (1963); Silvio Narizzano's classic comedy Georgy Girl (1966) starring her daughter, Lynn; and John Dexter's underrated anti-war film The Virgin Soldiers (1969), again with Lynn. In the '80s Kempson had two strong roles: Lady Manners in the epic British television series The Jewel in the Crown (1984); and as Lady Belfield in Sydney Pollack's hit Out of Africa (1985), starring Robert Redford and Meryl Streep.

Kempson had been in semi-retirement after the death of her husband, Sir Michael in 1985. She made her last film appearance in Henry Jaglom's romantic Deja vu (1998) poignantly playing the mother to her real life daughter Vanessa. Kempson is survived by her three children and 10 grandchildren.

by Michael T. Toole

Rachel Kempson, 1910-2003

Rachel Kempson, the matriarch of the Redgrave acting dynasty, and a notable performer of the stage and screen in her own right, died on May 24 of natural causes at the home of her granddaughter, the actress Natasha Richardson in Millbrook, New York. She was 92. Her family of performers included Kempson's late husband, Sir Michael Redgrave, children Vanessa, Lynn and Corin Redgrave, and granddaughters Natasha and Joely Richardson. Born on May 28, 1910, in Dartmouth, England, Kempson longed for a career in acting. She trained as an actress at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London and made her professional stage debut in 1932 at the legendary Stratford-on-Avon Theater in the lead of Romeo and Juliet. She went on to perform with such distinguished theatrical companies including the Royal Shakespeare Company, the English Stage Company and the Old Vic. In 1935 she was asked to star in the Liverpool Repertory production of Flowers of the Forest. Her leading man was Michael Redgrave, one of the top actors of his generation. Within a few weeks they fell in love and were married on July 18, 1935. Kempson took a break for the next few years, to give birth to her three children: Vanessa, Corin and Lynn, but by the mid '40s, she came back to pursue her career in both stage and screen. She began to appear in some films with her husband: Basil Dearden's The Captive Heart (1946); and Lewis Gilbert's tough war drama The Sea Shall Not Have Them (1954). She hit her stride as a character actress in the '60s with a string of good films: Tony Richardson's (at the time her son-in-law) hilarious, award-winning Tom Jones (1963); Silvio Narizzano's classic comedy Georgy Girl (1966) starring her daughter, Lynn; and John Dexter's underrated anti-war film The Virgin Soldiers (1969), again with Lynn. In the '80s Kempson had two strong roles: Lady Manners in the epic British television series The Jewel in the Crown (1984); and as Lady Belfield in Sydney Pollack's hit Out of Africa (1985), starring Robert Redford and Meryl Streep. Kempson had been in semi-retirement after the death of her husband, Sir Michael in 1985. She made her last film appearance in Henry Jaglom's romantic Deja vu (1998) poignantly playing the mother to her real life daughter Vanessa. Kempson is survived by her three children and 10 grandchildren. by Michael T. Toole

Quotes

Trivia

Miscellaneous Notes

Voted Best Supporting Actor (Brandauer) and Best Cinematography by the 1985 New York Film Critics Circle.

Voted Best Supporting Actor (Brandauer) and One of the Year's Ten Best Films by the 1985 National Board of Review.

Released in United States Winter December 13, 1985

Released in United States on Video April 7, 1988

Based on the true life experiences of Karin Blixen who eventually became more commonly known as Isak Dinesen.

Technovision

Released in USA on laserdisc December 1988.

Released in United States Winter December 13, 1985

Released in United States on Video April 7, 1988

Voted Best Actress (Streep) and Best Cinematography by the 1985 Los Angeles Film Critics.