The three eternal propositions that are often asked in Western philosophy are: Who am I? Where am I from? Where will it go?
In the process of exploring the meaning of life, some people spend the rest of their lives in the rush and busyness, some people think hard in peace and comfort, and everyone's thinking and epiphany about life depends on his environment and experience, and determines his future path.
For the novelist Karen Dinessen, love is long and endless, love is this hatred is endless, she wrote the novel "Out of Africa" in 1937, and wrote a sequel in 1960 "Grass Love Shadow", the two combined into "Out of Africa", popular all over the world.
At the beginning of the work, it is written that "at the foot of the Gonggar Mountains in Africa, I once had a farm", which also became the opening statement of the film of the same name.
In Africa, Dinerson spent a precious 17 years of youth, this work can be regarded as an autobiographical novel, with a beautiful writing to outline the unknown image of Africa, even Hemingway when he accepted the Nobel Prize in Literature, he mentioned that "it should not be me who won this award, but Karen Dineson", which shows the literary achievements and philosophical speculations of the novel.
In 1985, the American director Sidney Pollack adapted it into "Out of Africa", which won the 58th Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Sound and Best Soundtrack at the 58th Academy Awards for its particularity and connotation of the theme, a river that bears witness to Kenya's sad and joyful, euphemistic and moving emotional stories, in addition, the meaning of life, precious memories and women's equality shown in the film. Spirits such as independence are also expressed in the vast African lands.
From the novel and film title "out of Africa", going out of Africa seems to have a kind of birth attitude, when the eyes of the world are focused on the magical land of Africa, shouldn't it be more about walking in? In fact, only by walking in can you observe and appreciate the lifestyle and value composition of the locals. But "out of Africa" contains a kind of helplessness, a feeling of the impermanence of life and the faltering fate, obviously want to live like this for a long time, how to get out? This leads to the beginning of the story.
For the heroine Karen, she does not have the personality of Wei An, on the contrary, her purpose in life is no different from that of contemporary people: she is old and needs to find someone to marry. But there is always an insurmountable gap between reality and ideals, she loves vanity, covets the name of duchess, and she longs for men rather than love. The trade of wealth for knighthood and the construction of the family seems to be an explicit reality even today, let alone in 1914.
But it is undeniable that Karen is so brave that she can gamble her life and gamble on african estates with her family's possessions, and her entry is as opportunistic as the early American gold rush. And walking out twice expresses the weight that feelings occupy in her life.
The first time he ran away: because he suffered from syphilis, he saw through the false love.
In the first relationship, Karen devotes all her love, for the sake of her husband, she can ignore the male lion of the prairie, suffer life-threatening, and travel thousands of miles to visit her newlywed husband, but unfortunately the husband seems to pay more attention to money and does not care about Karen's feelings at all. For many years of evading family responsibilities outside, looking for flowers and asking willows to infect his wife, these irresponsible acts reflect the impurity of the purpose of marriage.
When Karen because her husband suffered from syphilis, she did not blame her husband, chose to return to the country for treatment, the chance of survival of this escape is less than 50%, it can be said that in the face of death, love becomes insignificant, even after returning, husband Brixon asked her whether she had considered the child problem, she also firmly replied "considered", but at this time Karen has lost the ability to procreate, the reason is the egoism of the man in the relationship.
The second escape: because the manor was burned, the lover crashed, and saw through the utilitarian life.
The manor is burned, Karen who has nothing to worry about personal feelings, but for the black people to fight for the opportunity to work and live, her departure is more important because of the departure of her lover Dennis, at this time Karen has completely changed from an earlier egoist to a calm and capable strong woman, but even if she is strong on the outside, she still wants to get all of Dennis's love inside. Dennis's refusal to marry only because of the concern of other women once again confirms the image of the negative man, and his death in the plane has become a philosophical subject like "Aesop's Fables".
The film has always explored the meaning of loss and gain around the life of the emotional line, Karen lost her property when she got a lover; when she got marriage, she lost love; when she got fame, she lost the ability to reproduce; when she got the care of her lover, she lost the dignity of a woman. It can be said that the more Karen gets, the more she loses, and this contradiction has been entangled in Karen's life, and it has also made her reflect on the true meaning of life.
In a person's life, is wealth important or health important? Is love important, or is marriage important? Is status important, or is reputation important? Is family affection important, or is friendship important? These questions are presented from an objective perspective in the film, and the answers are self-evident. Fish and bear paws cannot be combined, and they appear in everyone's life in the same way that they are lost and gained.
The heavy tone and timeless character portrayal allow us to see the bold, strong image of Karen, who is not only optimistic, brave, but also determined and strong, Kenya is the place where dreams begin, she can fight for the rights of the Kikuyu people, she can fight for the recognition of white people, she can work hard for hard-won love, but in the end she has been robbed of everything because of the burning of the farm.
Death was never far from Karen, her companion died of syphilis; her friend Buckley died of black uremia; her lover died of a plane crash; even she herself was almost killed twice under the gaze of a lion, these unexpected deaths were so close that they seemed to be able to smell its smell, touch its veins, feel its atmosphere, and always remind those who survived to cherish the present and face the future bravely.
First of all, it should be clear that the plot in the novel and the content in the film are very different, the novel only provides some material and background, and the film is appropriately intercepted and extended, and in terms of content depth, the film cannot be compared with the novel.
Because of this, when expressing the unparalleled charm and exoticism of Africa, the use of romantic colors with empty lenses, such as the vast green grassland and the endless blue sky, slowly opened in the lingering Mozart soundtrack, with an ethereal melody to show the empty, rustic, pure scenery of Africa, bringing peace of mind, this atmosphere will make the audience unconsciously immersed in it, unable to extricate themselves.
The most classic scene of the film is the shot of Dennis taking Karen to the sky, the plane traveling through the boundless primeval forest, grassland, river, antelope running freely in the field, the end of the canyon is a waterfall that flows straight down, and the gulls and birds that are startled are shining in the rainbow, interpreting the harmonious coexistence of man and nature. At this time, Karen's hand is held together with Dennis in the sky, which means that they will never be separated.
This scene contrasts with the beginning of the train speeding in the wilderness, the sunset is scattered in the barren land, the majestic mountains are reflected in the white steam and rumbling of the train, with the arrival of the train, Karen completed the transformation from a girl to a young woman, it was the first time she left her hometown of Denmark, what she did not expect was that it had become her second hometown.
The novel once emphasized the core of colonial culture, but in the film it is completely diluted, from the beautiful environment of Gonggar Mountain, it is still not difficult to find the multiculturalism contained in it, such as the relationship between the servant Fana and Karen, after 14 years, when Karen left again, Farner has become a relative of Karen, which is undoubtedly a representation of cultural integration.
Karen's life can be said to have been devoted to the great cause of racial equality, providing opportunities for education and medical care for the local population, providing them with jobs, shooting lions that threaten their livestock, building ponds for them, and improving living conditions. Karen did not stand tall because of the wealth of wealth, but participated in labor and listened to opinions, so when she fell asleep at the table due to exhaustion, the servant Fana lovingly blew out the candle and guarded her.
When Karen first came here, even entering the café was ostracized by men, and in the traditional concept, women should marry and teach their children at home and avoid showing their faces, even in Kenya, this custom has been continued, which shows the prevalence of feudal concepts. But Karen changed the stereotype of everyone with her own efforts, and when she left, she was given the courtesy of tasting coffee and paying tribute together, and the completely different treatment meant the promotion of women's status, which was the result of Karen's personal efforts day by day.
In order to allow his servants to obtain a dwelling, Karen could even kneel for the governor, which was impossible before she entered Africa, but 14 years of life experience made her deeply attached to the land and the people, for the well-being of the people, she completely disregarded her personal face, although her knees were kneeling, but her personality stood upright, more magnificent than before.
The moral nobility can be measured by any money, and in the soothing style and strong humanistic care atmosphere of the film, the film comes to an end, Karen walks out of Africa, but her spirit still remains in this land.
"Out of Africa" explores life and the meaning of life with love as the main line in a very superb way, and each time you watch it, you can get a different inspiration from it, just like Karen said, "I don't want to find myself living for others one day, I am willing to bear the consequences, even if I am occasionally lonely or even lonely, I can accept it."