I Dreamed of Africa

An Italian divorcee (Kim Banister) and her new husband (Vincent Perez) move to Africa to homestead a dilapidated ranch in the wilds of Kenya. Adapted by Paula Milne and Susan Shilliday from Kuki Gallmann’s autobiography, the film is lumpy and plodding, and despite all the things that happen to Gallmann and her family—storms, injury, animal attacks, battles with poachers, robbery, sudden death—it seems uneventful. Gallmann’s life may have been dramatic, but the movie version never manages to whip up any real drama. Also, the narration, presumably from Gallmann’s book, must lose something in the translation; in Basinger’s solemn readings, it sounds like ersatz greeting-card poetry. Director Hugh Hudson and cinematographer Bernard Lutic at least provide some gorgeous images of the stunning African scenery.