Out of Africa

Sydney Pollack, 1985 (8.5*)
Best Picture (AA, GG)
Meryl Streep plays author Karen Blixen (who wrote as Isaak Dineson) in this true story, during the part of her life lived in Kenya, Africa, trying to run a coffee plantation. Her less than satisfactory husband, Oscar® nominee Klaus Maria Brandauer, is usually off hunting or fighting in the Boer War.

Basically out of loneliness and mutual respect, she eventually becomes close friends with hunter and pilot Robert Redford, who shows her the real Africa from the air, a wild and natural Africa as yet unspoiled by imperialists foreigners. This is a beautiful adventure and romance both, and Pollack never allows it to get sentimental. Pollack's best and most ambitious film, a true epic romance, worthy of its 7 Oscars®