"Perhaps he knew, as I did not, that the Earth was made round so that we could not see too far down the road." -- Karen, reflecting on what Denys had taught her.
Karen (Meryl Streep) is a rich Danish woman. She wants to be married. She leaves Denmark and goes to Africa to get married and start a farm.The year is 1913, and European colonialization is a fact. If this is an autobiographical account of an upper-class Danish writer, then it should reflect her experiences and point of view.
The beginning of the film suggests that Karen has had many lovers, and she's written about them all. Denys (Robert Redford), however, might be the most important one, and the one that's she's saved writing about for last. The setting, then, may be Africa, but this is not a story about Africans. It's about what she learned about herself, love and romance, and perhaps, life; and maybe she was only able to learn about it in Africa, because this is the only place that a man like Denys and her could meet and interact.
I'm totally okay with the premise. Others may be immediately put off by the fact that she's rich or that she's using Africa as a setting but not focusing on the real Africans, other than how they serve the interests of their European bosses. Why should she pretend not to be rich, or not to view life through the lens that she saw it? Why do we want her to be "woke" when she was living in 1913?
The difference between her first impression of African and Denys' working with the natives tells us something. She cannot communicate with them and she's them as a threat to her belongings. He speaks Swahili, works with them on hunts, and has a better understanding of Africa and its people. Keep in mind, the idea of the movie is that it's Isak Denisen (or Karen Blixton) looking back over her time in Africa, but again, if you pay attention to the opening of the film, it's focus will be on her romance. Does that mean that she doesn't learn more about Africa and learn more about herself along the way? No.
Sometimes I feel like people watch movies with certain "prejudices" that make it impossible to see what the film is about. That's a little ironic, I guess, considering that these same people criticize Karen for having certain prejudices that make it impossible for her to see what Africa is about, outside of what it is for European colonialists or hunters who are just there on the final frontier to make money and/or live a comfortable life in an uncomfortable place.
Karen's marriage is a sham, really. She marries the brother she's friends with, Bror (Klaus Maria Brandauer), and not the brother she was lovers with. She and her "friend" may come to "love" each other in a sense, but she loves him more for his honesty, and what he's honest about, really, is that he will never be the man that she wants him to be as husband. They may end up having sex occasionally, but they did not make love on their wedding night, and he leaves the farm almost immediately, and often, having little to no real interest in being around to take care of things.
This forces Karen to take charge of the farm, and she learns by trial and error. We see her tell Denys and Berkeley (Michael Kitchen) an after-dinner story. It's apparently quite detailed and lengthy, and both men leave impressed at her storytelling talent, but she isn't yet a "writer." She likely doesn't have the time. Denys, however, will later gift her a pen, encouraging her to "write down your stories sometime." At this point, he's still a character that comes and goes, and neither have expressed openly or even indirectly that they are attracted to one another, but the fact seems obvious every time they are together.
A year into their marriage, Karen discovers that her husband has been sleeping around. His gift to her is syphilis, and she returns to Denmark for a year to receive treatment. Bror apologizes and takes care of the farm in her absence, but it doesn't stop him from sleeping around. Finally, Karen asks him to move out, and she begins to get closer to Denys. (Karen actually has to go back to Denmark a second time, this time for 18 months... but that second trip is skipped over in the movie.)
Denys takes her on a safari. We don't see them consummate their relationship immediately; first, Karen needs to tell him that she had syphilis, and that she no longer has the ability to have children. I don't actually know how syphilis works, but according to her Wikipedia page, the treatment Karen received helped with the symptoms, but the "cure," in addition to living her barren, damaged her health and lead to other health issues later in life.
Denys, meanwhile, tells her that he knew why she had gone back to Denmark, but at this point, Karen (and us) don't know what he wants from her. Does he take her on safari just to "show her" Africa? What is it that he wants her to see, to better understand? Why is he against her plan to teach "her Africans" how to read?
On the safari, Denys tries to give Karen a prompt to begin another story. Perhaps the prompt is too closely related to herself, and although she tries to continue the story he started, she falters. She says goodnight, but he follows her into her tent. That is how the story ends that night. Denys has told her earlier that sometimes he doesn't want to know where he's going, and he's okay not knowing what his relationship with her "means"; Karen, on the other hand, is the sort who wants things planned out and explained. She's still a married woman, and here she is, off on safari with another man, with no clear idea how any of this will play out. Of course, the storytelling that we see her do with Denys isn't "planned out." It's spontaneous, and it flows from her or doesn't. Denys teaches Karen to be more spontaneous, but she always had that characteristic within her. She adapts, as necessary, to her environment.
In some respects, her relationship with Denys is a continuation of her relationship with Bror. Denys comes and goes as he wants. He has little interest in settling down, and although he doesn't sleep around like Bror did, he feels like he should have the right if he wanted to.
Why does Karen put up with it? Eventually, she doesn't, but by that time, her farm has failed, and she's ready to return to Denmark.
In terms of the ending, the movie is already 2 1/2 hours long. I don't mind the length, although it probably could easily be 30 minutes shorter. But part of me would still like to see the film "circle" back to her writing in her home office in Rungstedlung, Denmark. Not a big point, but it would be nice to see her sitting there as she put the final period on the story. This could easily be done in one quick 3- or 4-minute scene...
Rating: 5/5 stars
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