I first saw Nowhere in Africa in the theaters (back when I did that) when it came out in 2003. I liked the acting, scenery, but added “not Oscar worthy.” Tad harsh.
It did win the Academy Award for Best Foreign film. To quote one review:
Based on an autobiographical novel [she also wrote a sequel] by Stefanie Zweig, "Nowhere in Africa" was filmed on location in western Kenya -- the same remote area where Zweig's father, a lawyer, and mother, a spoiled daughter of privilege, fled in 1938 to escape the Nazi persecution of Jews.
It was one of the more negative reviews (Roger Ebert loved it) though it overall honors its acting, scenery, and storytelling. For instance, it argues:
"Nowhere in Africa" approaches enchantment when it's focused on Regina [the author as a girl], Owuor [the family’s cook] and on Regina's other tribal friend, Jogona [the film could have showed more about how he matured].
Otherwise it's fairly standard: a well-acted, exquisitely photographed, plot-jammed movie that sinks into melodrama and reveals too little about the African culture and landscape in which it's set.
At some point, you can expect too much. The film concerns white Jewish German emigrees. It is not about “African culture.” Also, and I agree the late scene about an attack of locusts was unnecessary and tacked-on, not sure what more about the “landscape” the film could add. Again, that wasn’t the point of the film.
The film concerns the family’s varying reactions to their life in Africa. The daughter loves it. The father/husband sees it as a temporary haven until he could return to Germany. The mother/wife at first hates it, but then settles in, and welcomes the independence and maturity it offers. She eventually is wary about going back “home.”
I enjoyed the film while watching it a second time. One sign of this was that I watched the over two-hour film straight through. I have difficulty doing so these days. The easy-to-read yellow subtitles helped. Some films have too small subtitles.
Juliane Köhler plays Jettel Redlich, the wife and mother. I saw her in multiple films. Her first film was Aimée & Jaguar, which is also based on a true story about a Jewish (not her this time) woman and German mother of four who have a lesbian affair.
Köhler favored WWII era films. She was Eva Braun in Downfall, which I enjoyed, later the subject of multiple YouTube parodies. She also played a small role in A Women In Berlin (enjoyed the book), based on an anonymous account of the author’s life in Berlin right after WWII. Also, Two Lives, which I have reserved in the library.
(Caroline Link, who directed Nowhere in Africa, later directed When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, another autobiographical account in life in Nazi Germany. Also, on my list.)
Anyway, was it Oscar worthy? I guess so. It was very good. The story kept my interest. The main characters were well acted. I believed in and cared about them.
I agree that we could have known more about the African characters, including the girl’s friends. Owuor was something of a stereotypical character. But we are seeing him through a certain point of view. Some Amazon reviews called out the book itself for having a stereotypical view of Africans. We do see their perspective at times.
The film is “R” rated for a few fairly quick sexually explicit scenes. We are basically talking scenes where we see some breasts. I think mature teenagers can manage it.
The DVD set I saw this time has some extras, including a German commentary track (not helpful for me), deleted scenes, interviews, and a “making of” segment. The second disc was scratched so I was not able to access the extras.
Some people are not fans of foreign films. This is a somewhat narrow view. There are variety of foreign films, and it is not merely another word for “art film.”
If you do not like to read subtitles, fine, but there are many good foreign films out there. Some films are dubbed though if not done carefully that feels fake. There are some good dub jobs, including some animated films with an English version.