Nowhere in Africa might just be the most touching and most caring Western movie on an Africa-related theme I’ve seen in my life

If you were to leave the comfortable and safe environment of your upper class house, and move to a completely new place where the customs, morals, habits and the language you speak are no longer useful, what would you do? Nowhere in Africa presents the true story of a Jewish family that moves to Kenya in the late 1930s just before the beginning of the Second World War. The movie is centered on the daily life of Regina (played by Lea Kurka and Karoline Eckertz) and her parents Jettel (Juliane Köhler) and Walter (Merab Ninidze) who live in the company of the Pokot tribe somewhere in Kenya. As the mother and the daughter arrive to Kenya, where Walter was already settled in for some time (unspecified in the script) they are immediately confronted with the new more disturbing conditions in which they are supposed to live. Jettel has a very hard time in getting used to the new life (initially she thinks they will only spend a couple of months in Africa), while Regina almost instantly adapts to the new lifestyle.

While the action is set before and during the Second World War, the movie focuses more on the characters than the war, in this way avoiding ending up as just another war movie. And truth to be told, the lives of three Muzungu people who live on an isolated farm away from what they perceive as civilization is certainly not a bargain. While cherishing the fact that they are alive, the two adult main characters are almost always fighting over not only domestic but also ideological issues.

This movie is not only about the lives of Walter, Jattel and Regina but also their evolution over time. While Walter remains the same practical idealist over the time, both Jettel and Regina experience groundbreaking transformations throughout the duration of the movie. When Jettel is being introduced to us she nothing but a spoiled, snobby, potentially racist woman who wants nothing to do with the life and the people of Kenya. Two hours and eight years later she is revitalized as an independent culturally sensitive and aware character. Regina shifts from a shy, scared and timid child to a caring, passionate and bold young lady.

This movie has style. To preserve the authenticity of the plot and the book that inspired this movie, the script is written and performed in the three languages that bridge the three different worlds together: Germany, England (or strictly speaking the extensions of the British colonial empire) and Kenya. Consequently, the three languages spoken in the movie are English, German and Swahili.

I’m not a movie critic but I can say this much. I loved the movie for the fact that unlike most western films dealing with Africa related themes this one shows the connections, the relations and the friendships are go beyond gender, religious, cultural or even racial tensions. Jettel starts by treating Owuor, the family’s African cook like a servant but ends up seeing him as one of the essential pillars in her life in Kenya. Regina is at first ridiculed and laughed at by other African kids but then forms close friendships with many of them. By the end of the movie all the characters working on the farm land come together in a touching moment in which they all fight a locust infestation. This scene also serves as a keystone moment for the family’s decision to return to Germany.

One of the clear shortcomings of the movie is not dedicating more attention to the character of Owuor. I think he could have offered much more to the substance and the power of the movie as a whole. Owuor gets a very simplistic, superficial portrayal and I believe this somewhat hurts the quality of the movie as a whole. Nonetheless, all the touching scenes in the movie seem to involve this character. He becomes more than a friend to all the main characters and the scene when he leaves them forever is heartbreaking in a very subtle way.

Stephen Holden writing for New York Times makes an interesting comment on Nowhere in Africa insofar as how Africans are depicted in the movie. He says:

The native Kenyans, especially the saintly Owuor (Sidede Onyulo), who becomes the loyal family cook, fit a little too snugly into a stock National Geographic stereotype of gentle, noble tribespeople living harmoniously with nature and viewing the European arrivals with an affectionate amusement. Kenya was a British colony until 1963, but the movie conveys not the tiniest hint of resistance to European colonialism.

Why watch the movie?

It’s a beautiful, consistent and progressive story that is very different from what you are normally used to seeing when talking about Africa. There’s no explicit violence, no ethnic conflicts, none of the regular themes occurring in Western movies focusing on Africa. The movie deals with many of the cultural shocks that a Westerner will face when going to Kenya or elsewhere in Africa, even for a short time, which is why Nowhere in Africa can serve as an astute introduction. This movie is about difference – of opinion, style, customs or preferences. By watching movies like this one we can all become a little more sensitive, more aware and more respectful of others’ differences.

Movie trailer

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