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Disappointing and dull with an uninspired turn by Basinger.

The story is dull and lackluster but the biggest disappointment is in Kim Basinger's performance. She sleepwalks through the part. Her job is to be convincing, instead she seems like she is acting. Vincent Perez fairs better. However, his energy is wasted in his scenes with Basinger. She just seems like she would rather be anywhere than in this movie. Towards the end she does come through a little better but, by then it's too late to save the film.

Excellent!

My product arrived fast/on time. The DVD is in excellent condition, and the price was very reasonable.

Dreaming about an Africa without Africans?

This is a strange movie. The title refers to dreaming of Africa. But the movie leaves unclear why the two principal characters are dreaming of Africa and what they are dreaming of. Perhaps they are dreaming of touristy pictures: beautiful landscapes, herds of wild animals and dancing Africans. Indeed, the movie has some nice images but alas, even these are spoiled with music that often sounds ill adapted. What is worse is that African people are nearly absent as people. Not a single African gets more than a superficial treatment in this movie, so that it seems that the principal characters are dreaming of an Africa without Africans.Well, perhaps all this is just due to the weak overall quality of the movie. In fact, there is hardly any character development. Many images remain disconnected and thus remain hollow. Finally this movie does not surpass the level of my neighbor's slide show of his package tour to Pakistan. Which is a pity for the means spend on it.

Not too well developed but beautiful

I bumped into this film on television rather unexpectedly. I've never seen L.A. Confidential so I can't say I'm a fan of Kim Basinger. But as soon as I saw the photography I just couldn't take my eyes off the TV. This is a beautiful film about a farm in Kenya where there are no mosquitoes or infectious deceases. It's about a woman in her forties trying not to get her second husband killed every time he goes away hunting or her teenager son poisoned by one of his pet snakes. So as far as I'm concerned about the characters there's not much to say but it's still a visually stunning film with some rain and maybe a storm or two throughout the whole film. Althougt, I have to admit that the actors did their best with what they had and made me cry one too many times. The children gave a spark of happiness to the feeling that you know terrible things are about to happen to the main characters. In the end, it's a sad film with a message of love of nature in savage Africa brought to us by superb Basinger and Vincent Perez, who by the way I just love since "La Reine Margot".

VERY good movie

I saw this movie last night, and was absolutley blown away by the deep impact the story had on me. Kim Basigner did a winderful job in her part as Kuki (cookie). The movie has two VERY sad parts, and it seems almost unreal that those type of things could happen to someone. The cinematography is beautiful, as well as just Africa itself (the film was shot on location). I reccomend this to anybody who wants to see a pretty good movie with a pretty good actress!

Bland bio pic of an intriguing woman

I Dreamed of Africa is based on the nonfiction bestseller by Kuki Gallman, a European woman who settled on a ranch in Kenya with her husband and young son. The movie version seems curiously dated, probably because the idea of white settlers in Africa is so out of fashion. Ironically, it is now politically correct to think of this one great land mass as suitably for segregation forever.

The movie begins in Italy, where Kuki, played by Kim Bassinger, is a member of the partying set. On one night of revelry, she is nearly killed in a horrific car wreck. While recovering, she realizes how vacant her life is. She feels that the only worthwhile thing she has is her young son, Emanuele [Liam Aiken]. She falls in love with Paulo [Vincent Perez], a restless but charming man, and they soon discover that they have a mutual love for Africa. When he decides he wants to take up ranching in Kenya, it doesn't take much to persuade her to go with him, much to the dismay of her powerful socialite mother, Franca [Eva Marie Saint]. When they arrive, they find their work cut out for them. There is barely a road to their land, and the ranch house is a wreck. Kuki learns that chasing lions out of the front yard and elephants out of her vegetable garden is nothing unusual. Paulo enjoys going hunting with his buddies, but in Africa, these trips often last up to ten days. With no telephone, Kuki is often left to manage the place on her own, and this is her most difficult adjustment. It takes her a long while to understand that, in Africa, time has a different rhythm.

Kim Bassinger is totally believable as Kuki. You can see this woman running a vast ranch in real life. There is one scene in particular, a crisis involving her son, where her acting is as good as it gets. The photography is magnificent, although with Kenya and South Africa as backdrops, I imagine it's hard to take a bad shot.

Now for the bad news: The script is below par. The movie is filled with dramatic events, but most of them are disconnected. For example, at one point there is a fierce storm which nearly destroys the house. We see the destruction, but in the next scene we are into another subject, making the storm sequence pointless. The result of the script problems is that, while we witness several events that should be emotionally powerful, we wind up being rather detached from them. The native Africans are always in the background. This makes no sense, because for Kuki and her husband to control 100,000 acres, they would have to had have great interaction with the people. In fact, how did they ever run it at all, since, as the movie would have it, Paulo was always away on a hunting trip? These are just a few of the myriad script problems.

For Bassinger's performance alone, this movie is worth seeing, but don't expect to be swept away by the story. For more accurate information on the real Kuki Gallman, who has turned her land into one of the great wildlife refuge and research centers in Africa, go to her Website...

Beautiful film

This was a gift for a friend who dreams of Africa. This film is an excellent view if you are in love with Africa.

I could relate....

I caught this movie on Bravo last night and I asked myself why I never saw it earlier. It was a true story about an Italian socialite named Kuki Gallman. The movie begins with her out on the town with friends and they have a car accident. As Kuki was recovering from the accident, she begins to wonder if there is any purpose in life out there and if so, what is it? It was like the accident was a major turning point, wake-up call or something that made her yearn for something more than what she had. She falls in love and marries this man who is going to Africa to live on a ranch. Kuki remembered learning about Africa as a child and against her mother's better judgement, she packs up herself and child and moves to Kenya. We see that she is going through many transitions and adjustments from the gleeming socialite to the devastating wiles of Kenya. We hear her say that she wondered what she had gotten herself in to. This was a woman who was chasing poachers, caring for a ranch and having to do a lot on her own as her husband was gone often, nothing that she had grown acustomed to in Italy. However, we saw her grow as a person and as she was growing, she was fufilling what she desired, life with a little bit of meaning. It was tragic when her husband and son both died and so close in time. However, it is people like Kuki who should be appreciated as they work for the good of others and try to make this world a better place. I saw the differences in Kuki from beginning to end as she dealt with frustrations, growing pains and all ingredients that prepare us for our purpose out there. Something I can completely relate to at this point in my own life. I thought the acting was great, Kim Basinger did an exceptional job. I thought the music was great; I liked the version of "The Rivers of Babylon" and the shots of Kenya that are breathtaking. I have two friends from Africa and my mother did some mission work there three years ago so I have learned about some of the culture and way of life there. Africa is dry and hot but beautiful as well. Kudos to all involved in this movie and to Kuki Gallman for sharing her story.

A good movie is a good movie

After reading all of the preceding negative reviews one who is perusing the ratings might be turned off by negativity here. This is a good movie through and through. What it doesnt contain is a lot of shallow and unbelievable scenes. Basinger and Perez do an excellent job. Most importantly it is entertaining and poignant, definitely bring a box of tissues to view it. Great job - well done, the whole reason to watch a movie is to be entertained, not to try to justify or validate the merits of it based on some less informed know-it-alls. So, ppplllllgggggghhhhhhhh to those who have nothing better to do than pretend they are paid movie critics.

It's not National Geographic

Please don't waste your time with this movie. It has little story, minimal scenery and average directing. I watched the final third of the movie on fast-fwd, it was that bad. For heavens sake, don't "buy it" if you do decide to give it a go.

Beautiful movie

Based on the previous review, I would like to say that not having taken the time to TRY and find so many indiscrepancies and weak points that I found this to be one of the most beautiful movies ever made. The cinematography was amazing, the actors and actresses WERE the characters, not vice versa.
This film showed me all I needed to know about each character to fall in love with them. To feel what they felt, laugh when they laughed and cry when they cried. If there was anything lost in the timeline, it was explained in the narrative. The true sign of a good movie is when you are so into it that you are there with the characters. I was not in the theater, I was in Kenya.

Not bad, but far from good

I hate people who criticise any movie that isn't an art house and Oscar worthy experience. I Tivo! a ton of movies to watch when I'm home during the day (I work at night and like to unwind when there is usually not much on). This movie was not a waist of time, but I do wish I had gone to the gym instead. The acting in the movie verges on soap opera worthy at time, the writing to uninspired. Worse, there is practically no character development or motivation. A series of tragic events happen and they're sad, but I as the viewer was left not even carring that much. I don't know why Kuki did a lot of stuff she did, like marrying and moving to Africa, but after a while I just didn't care. It was a beautiful movie and interesting to see what Africa is like, but there are a lot better movies to do it with. By the middle of the movie I was ready to shut it off and do something else. Honestly, the only thing that had kept me watching was I was waiting to see how she developed as a conservationist, but it was never developed. Interesting and beautiful, but a let down.

Another White mans View of Africa.

Although I loved the direction of this movie.I did not like the idea
of white people in Africa Telling Africans what to do with the animals
in Africa, and appearing to be more concerned about African Animals
than Africans themselves.I find that to be very arrogant and insulting.

Amazing Kim Basinger!

When I read all the reviews I could about this movie, including specialized magazines, I thought to myself that Kim Basinger had a bad dream after the great LA Confidential, one of my favourite movies of the 90's.Now that I've seen it, I believe that 'I Dreamed of Africa' was not well understood. This is a different movie, the story was written to show dramatic and common scenes of Kuki's life, trying to reveal that all dreams can bring nightmares. And Kim shows us that she's a mature actress, not only a sex-symbol. She had no glamour in Africa, but her sensuality is so natural that I thought to myself that she was the most beautiful animal in Africa.This film deserved more positive reviews than it had. It's not worse or better than 'Out Africa'. Only different. And this difference makes it fabulous.

A review from someone who liked it

I Dreamed of Africa is a movie based on a true story about a woman who changes her and her son`s life when she goes to live to a ranch in Kenya with her second husband. Some parts of the movie do not make any sense, or they look incomplete. That is because they show how hard living in Kenya is; but they aren`t an important part of the story. Another bad thing about it is that it`s way to predicable: you know that something will happen to Paolo (Kuki`s husband) since the first time he goes away hunting; and every time Ema (short for Emanuel, her son) grabs a snake you prepare yourself for a funeral. It is a shocking movie and you may go out of the movie theater hating Africa; but it shows some important parts of the living difficulties in places like Kenya. Altogether I think that it was a worthwhile movie, specially for us Kenya lovers, and you can get to know amazing parts of African savannahs.

Unexpectedly Great!

What a brilliant performance by Kim Basinger, without her this movie had nothing but beautiful scenery. Her Oscar worthy performance allows you to feel her ups and downs throughout this true, very dramatic story.

See "Nowhere In Afrika" instead not this timewaster

Okayyyyyyy...a total fantasy pic ***SPOLIER***How does Kim Basigner's character keep so clean in all that white linen?Perhaps the book upon which this film was based was intriguing, but this film has so many flaws (as one other reviewer pointed out the "languages" issue etc.) Nice beauty footage of Kenya (although IMDB lists the filming location as a game reserve in South Africa so perhaps just some Second Unit beauty shots in Kenya?) ADVISE? Skip this stinker and get "Nowhere In Afrika" if you want to see a great film shot in Africa.

Dreams that are better left unrealized.

An early critique I read of this film suggested it was bad: that was generous.It is hard to understand how an actress as good as Kim Bassinger could allow herself to get embroiled in a movie as still born as this one.The script has some of the most excruciatingly vacuous dialogue that will be heard on screen this year, permitting no character interaction or development; the story is a thin linear string of anecdotal occurrences poorly hung together; it borrows shots from from Out of Africa, The English Patient and one or two other better movies and mixes this with a Discovery-style documentary approach to camera work which leads nowhere except, thankfully, to the long overdue end credits.Director Hugh Hudson has really lost it this time.

Magnificent scenery emphasized at the expense of the story

This film was a fluff piece that succeeded better as a showcase for Kim Bassinger and Africa's natural beauty than it did at telling this true story. The first hour of the film was a succession of Kodak moments depicting the romantic splendor of Africa and how idyllic it would be to live there. Although they showed the occasional storm and threatening wild animal, every effort was made to emphasize the positives. They glossed over little things like the oppressive heat (Kenya straddles the equator but no one in the film ever broke a sweat), insects (not a mosquito in sight), and the fact that the rainy season is three months long and it often rains nonstop for weeks. The first hour seemed more like an advertisement by the Kenyan ministry of tourism than a feature film. It wasn't until the second hour that the story really centered on the characters.

Filming Africa is a cinematographer's dream. Unfortunately, Director Hugh Hudson seems to have been so enamored with creating beautiful photography (and it was truly magnificent) that he rushed through the dramatic elements to get to the next helicopter shot of wild animals loping across the plains. Many of the important dramatic scenes were not allowed to fully develop, giving a snippet and then cutting away to a completely unrelated scene. This took much of the impact out of the film. One example is the egg hanging over the bed. A big point was made over the fact that Paolo had put something in the egg. Yet, we never learn what it is. Why tease us with this tidbit if he is not going to follow through?

The film had strong conservationist undertones, but they were tastefully done and not overly preachy. The point was made that poaching to hunt elephants for ivory is illegal and unconscionable, but it was presented in a way that wasn't strident and smug. The scenes of dead elephants made the statement in a poignant way, much better than any dialogue could have.

Kim Basinger was excellent as Kuki. She went with a more natural look which was very flattering. The understated makeup used in the film revealed that even at 47, she is still one of the most beautiful women on the planet. However, after a three-year hiatus since L.A. Confidential, she delivered her second consecutive acting triumph, proving that she is more than just a pretty face. Her acting was far more genuine and mature than any role I had seen her play before. After having read an interview she gave about the film, it is clear that Basinger is a strong conservationist and naturalist and she identified strongly with her role, which imbued her performance with great conviction and believability.

This film was good, but it could have been much better. I rated it a 7/10. The locations and photography were marvelous, but the story's power was frayed by inattention to basic filmmaking tenets. If Hudson had spent more time developing the characters and creating continuity for the story, it would have been an exceptional film.

This is what drugs do to you, children.

My Age: 14 Hah, I bet you thought just becuase I am a teenager, doesn't mean this movie is pathetic. Well, to say I loved "Out of Africa", and I have been around the block. COLUMBIA pictures has been complaining about bad business. This is why. I swear they were on drugs when they thought a rip-off of Sydney Pollack's Out of Africa was going to profit, with a budget of $34 million. Woah! I watched some of this when going to see another movie, while waiting. I was sorry. I find the lobby much more interesting than this trash. If Kim Basinger could win an Oscar(L.A. Confidential was an exception), so could Jennifer Love Hewitt and I can't stand either of them. That's all folks!