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This is one of those foreign films that men roll their eyes at seeing, and that everyone assumes is the cinematic equivalent of what Mark Twain called a classic - a book that everyone praises and nobody reads. It’s about historical events, it’s slow, it focuses on emotional drama, and it even has subtitles. But if you didn’t see this year’s Oscar winner for Best Foreign Film, then let me tell you, you’ve missed out. Nowhere in Africa tells the story of a German-Jewish family who flees Hitler’s Germany in the 1930s to live in Kenya, Africa - a place about as different from home as they can possibly imagine. Against this unique setting, the family struggles to survive, to adapt, and to stick together during hardships and strife. At first, it is Walter Riedlich, the father, who recognizes the danger that he has managed to escape in his native Germany. The educated lawyer is determined to make the most of his new life in Africa, and he makes an honest effort to learn about his new culture, language, and job as a farmer. His wife Jettel, however, is unwilling to accept that things are so bad back home. She thinks - as many German Jews did - that the situation will all blow over soon and that they will go back home. Insisting on speaking only German, rather than trying to learn Swahili, and separating herself from the local population, she clings to the life that she was reluctant to leave behind in Germany, and grows to resent Walter for bringing her to Kenya. Gradually, however, Jettel adapts to their new life on the farm, even when Walter longs to go back to Germany. Regina is the couple’s daughter. Only five years old when she left Germany, she quickly adapts to her new life in Kenya to the point where her former life is but a distant, vague memory. She wants to make friends with the local children but her mother resists. She forms a fast and deep bond with Owuar, the family’s cook, bodyguard, and ultimately, loyal and trusted friend. To Regina, Owuar is like a god to be worshipped. The strains of learning to live a whole new kind of life take their toll on the relationship between Walter and Jettel. In the meantime, Regina comes of age in a place where she never quite feels like she belongs - not among the native African children, and not among the expatriate children at her boarding school. We see her first romance, her disillusionment with her parents as she realizes that they are not perfect, and her struggle to fit in while retaining her independance. Ultimately, she emerges stronger for it. A prevailant theme is that of the outsider. The Reidlichs are outsiders in Kenya because they’re white, European, and dress and act differently. They’re outsiders among other Germans because they are Jews. And they are outsiders among the expatriate community because they are Germans. Interred as enemy aliens by the British, who view them as German and not as German Jewish, they must come to terms with this outsider status. Each family member does so in a different way. What I like about this movie is that it’s not pretentious. It doesn’t invent an implausibly perfect or an unnecessarily tragic ending to satisfy a Hollywood audience. Instead, it tells a story with raw honesty and emotion, and gives us a glimpse into a story that was begging to be told. All in all, I don’t get the feeling at the end that things will work out “happily ever after” for this family. They’ve been through too much, and real life isn’t a fairytale. It’s something much more interesting.
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