Film Review: I Dreamed of Africa (2000)

12 months ago

(source: tmdb.org)

British director Hugh Hudson was extraordinarily successful early in his career because his feature debut Chariots of Fire won number of “Oscars”. The rest of his career was, predictably, quite disappointing in comparison. One of the his attempts to retrieve past Oscar glory was his 2000 biopic I Dreamed of Africa.

The film is based on the eponymous 1991 book of memoirs by Italian conservationist Kuki Gallman. She is protagonist and narrator of the film, played by Kim Basinger. Plot begins in early 1970s when Kuki is young socialite, increasingly displeased with her life following divorce that left her with young son Emanuele (played by Liam Aiken). She meets Paolo Gallman (played by Vincent Perez), young and attractive adventurer who marries her and proposes that all three go to Kenya and start new life on huge cattle ranch. Although Kuki’s mother Franca (played by Eva Marie Saint) begs her not to go, she accepts Paolo’s idea only to find that running the ranch would be much more challenging than she anticipated. The place is dilapidated, but Kuki bravely decides to improve it. She has to deal not only with dangerous wild animals, but also by loneliness, because Paolo spends all of his time going away on safaris and carousing with friends. Kuki nevertheless stays on ranch and her struggle to survive evolve in struggle for protection of local wildlife. Her dream of Africa will, however, be challenged with the series of tragic events.

On paper, I Dreamed of Africa looked like serious “Oscar” contender. Not only it was directed by someone already behind Oscar-triumphing film, but the main female role was played by Oscar winner and, even more importantly, its setting and story was very much like Out of Africa, another “Oscar”-winning film. And even without “Oscar” references, I Dreamed of Africa could have been exciting adventure, romantic melodrama with exotic setting or even serious exploration of important environmental or social issues. Scriptwriters Paula Milne and Susan Schilliday nevertheless managed to miss all those opportunities. It soon becomes apparent that the film lacks coherent plot and consists of largely unconnected and not particularly interesting vignettes. Hugh Hudson doesn’t help either with its conventional direction that reveals all of the script’s flaws. Casting also left much to be desired. While Kim Basinger can reasonably well play Italian woman, she completely lacks chemistry with Vincent Perez who doesn’t try to breathe life into underwritten character. Cinematography by Bernard Lutic provides some attractive African scenery, but this is not enough for most viewers to justify wasting nearly two hours of their time. I Dreamed of Africa ended with abysmal reviews and as a box office flop. Hudson, who recently passed away, would not have another feature film until 2016 and his last film Altamira.

RATING: 2/10 (-)