My opinion is probably influenced by the fact that I've read the book but since this movie is an adaptation it should be able to deal with this.The movie itself is neither very good nor very bad. It has some very good scenes which cause the exact feelings they are supposed to. But mostly the movie is as if in a rush to show events and feelings that are not supposed to be shown like this. This movie must be even slower (although many people think it's too slow as it is) because many things are left out of our view. And one more thing which is - in my view - very bad. There are too many "love lines" (along with nude scenes which are completely unnecessary) which don't exist in the book. I have no idea why the directors tend to show these things so much even when they only spoil the picture. The story is good by itself, there's no need to use such methods to draw attention to it.I would highly recommend to read the book which is nothing less than a masterpiece. Its beautiful and unconventional language is unforgettable. The comparisons are fascinating and are definitely something that could be only created by wise people of Africa rather than Western people. Also, you can see how wise Owuor and Regina are. You can see some hints of it in the movie but the book gives a much better perspective. And of course, the story is completely coherent comparing with the movie where it is sometimes too difficult to understand the reasons of some actions/events.So really, better read the book.

I watched this movie purely because because it has Juliane Kohler in it. I had recently watched Downfall and thought the acting was excellent so obviously wanted to see more. I have a habit of watching a movie purely because of who's in it, and i rarely get disappointed.This movie was unlike anything i have seen before. It is such a great story and in the wrong hands it really could have ended up over sentimental and 'corny'. This movie was anything but. The characters were completely authentic and you sit watching the movie in complete empathy for them, even though i couldn't understand what they're saying! The character there are so many themes going on the movie but they piece together perfectly and keep you rooted to your seat. All i can say is i hope the book is translated into English because i have to read it, the perfect extension to a perfect movie.

Didn't know what to make of it as I began watching it. Thought it might be just another one of those movies about Africa, not that there are many I don't like. This went far beyond any movie I've ever seen just on Africa. And more than that, it was one of the best I've seen, easily putting it among my top 10 favorites. The performances by all involved were wonderful. I won't repeat the details of this movie as it has already been done by many others, but do yourself and don't miss this one. You'll lose yourself for a couple of hours and experience a piece of history you never knew about and how others managed to cope with a difficult situation and become the better for it.

When you have a story as powerful as this it's almost impossible to strike no emotional tone. But Nirgendwo in Afrika / Nowhere in Africa succeeds in just that through a mechanical adaptation to screen, mechanical direction and mechanical acting. There are few scenes that take this to a higher level and tons of missed opportunities. Take the grasshopper plague where the family more or less reunites or the whole African setting compared to Europe at that time: No parallels are drawn. Reading letters is not the way to convey heavy emotions to the audience. Caroline Link is the main suspect here because she fails in bringing this to a coherent movie. It's also overlong and moves unnecessarily slow probably to tell something about time passing, but again there are better cinematic ways of doing this.Beautiful panorama shots of the African landscape so I do advice to see this on the big screen if you can. And the two Reginas Lea Kurka and Karoline Eckertz are very adorable. Most intriguing character in the story is Jettel who is tossed around by her emotions and is in the beginning less an adult than her own child. The wider story here is about problems arising from adaptation to new circumstances.This movie received an Oscar for best foreign film. My guess is that had more to do with the subject than with the adaptation as shown by the undeserved one for De Aanslag / The Assault some years earlier. As usual the Academy had no interest in real film-making, as Ying Xiong / Hero was nominated in the same year and category.Germany's role in current cinema is diminished severely the last decade in favor of the Spanish and the Danish. Gone are the days of Fassbinder, Herzog or Schlöndorff. But luckily they still have the enormous talent of Tom Tykwer. Nothing mechanical about his movies.