Pollack says in the Director’s Commentary that it was convenient having the house set to use for both exterior and interior scenes. He felt that Redford was such an American icon that it might be difficult for audiences to believe his character was British.Ī few scenes later, after the room has been furnished and decorated:
Redford used an English accent at first, but those scenes were later dubbed because Pollack decided the role would play better as an American. The problem was that Finch Hatton was an Englishman. Robert Redford was the actor they had in mind for the role of Denys Finch Hatton from the beginning.
#PICTURES OF INSIDE OUT THE MOVIE PATCH#
These were known as Shambas, Swahili for a patch of cultivated land, and were quickly inhabited by local people, which gave them a lived-in look by the time filming got underway. They also planted coffee in various stages of growth around the house so they could film the progression of the crop through the story.Ī Kikuyu village consisting of circular cottages made of mud bricks and thatched with reeds was also built within the grounds, for the most part by a group of women. Regarding the difficulty of filming with wild animals, Pollack said, “I’m not sure you can ever really train a lion, so whenever we were filming a scene with one, there were several big guys standing nearby with (industrial sized) fire extinguishers, just in case.” They also had to dig wells and irrigate because there had been a drought and everything was “pretty dried up” when they got to the house, which had been abandoned.ĭirector Sidney Pollack says Production Designer Stephen Grimes “saw past all the crumbling stones of the house and the dried grass and the abandoned place and turned it into a really lovely house that was very close in spirit to the one she lived in with the same view of the Ngong hills in back.”
#PICTURES OF INSIDE OUT THE MOVIE FULL#
Thick ivy was stripped from its walls, and a cookhouse and paved veranda the full length of the house were added.
The Ngong Dairy in Karen (named after Blixen), with areas of lush farmland and a magnificent view of the Ngong Hills, provided a fitting location for a replica of Blixen’s home.Īn existing farmhouse on the property was renovated to duplicate the original. The rest of the filming took place on two sites about 30 miles from Nairobi. The only scene shot outside Africa was of the hunting party in Denmark, which was actually filmed in Northern England.ĭirector Sydney Pollack says they got lucky when it snowed because it doesn’t snow that often there. Let’s take a look back at Karen Blixen’s house in Africa at the foot of the Ngong Hills… Her actual home was still standing, but it was being used as a government health training facility and wasn’t available. The film crew added onto the house in order to make it resemble Blixen’s. The house they used in the film was once owned by the widow of Jomo Kenyatta, the first Prime Minister and President of Kenya. It’s hard to believe it was filmed in 1985 because all these years later, it feels timeless.
Each time I watch the Academy Award-winning romantic drama Out of Africa, I get swept up in the sheer beauty of it all - the scenery, the sets, the music and the love story.
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