The Flame Trees of Thika
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: David Robb, Hayley Mills, Holly Aird, Mick Chege, Sharon MaughanBrand: A&E
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.1
Format: Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Miniseries, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 350 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-03-29
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: A&E Home Video
Movie Reviews of The Flame Trees of Thika
Movie Review: Only the Lonely
Summary: 5 Stars
I had seen some of the segments as part of a mini-series on Masterpiece Theatre but had not been able to catch them all which prompted watching the series in DVD these years later.
The story is superb with a camera crew, casting and direction to match, capturing the joys and anguish of childhood while subtly comparing that joyful, wondrous time against the problems and passions encountered later in the distinctly separate world of the adult. The open, rolling away vistas of African landscape are splendidly filmed, and while everyone seems to stay much too clean, especially after trekking hundreds of miles behind oxen in blistering heat and dust, nonetheless, it is a small detail to be forgiven, all things considered.
It starts off as a home seekers journey into the African Bush, where a young couple and their small daughter, obviously well-to-do, have decided to relocate and create a coffee empire out of a wilderness - based on nothing more financially tangible than the flowery descriptions of his real estate agent, who has likely never even been close to the acreage he sells to the unsuspecting. After the initial shock, they settle in because these two possess not only a pioneering spirit but a lot of common sense to go along with it, and they both deem it worthy enough to make the best of things - and start to develop their plantation aided or perhaps hindered by the native population they use as workers. Their medical facilities consist of what they have in their medicine chest - to be used without much real application knowledge for everything from simple first aid to the grimmest of wounds inflicted during personal altercations by the machetes being used in the clearing of the bush. Since they are too unaccustomed to what might happen, ignorance is bliss, and they proceed as though they knew what they were doing - there is no other choice anyway.
All types of personalities find their way to the widely scattered settlement; from lonely women whose husbands "are off on business" that somehow seems never to bring them back to the starting point, to wimpy young men who fancy themselves equal to if not fully ready for the challenge; the willing, capable, but untrained natives awash in local superstitions and customs that are across a universe from their white interlopers. This, beyond it all, as from yet another world, is accepted and absorbed into the mind through the yet untainted eyes of a smart, impressionable child which the story revolves around, as a nucleus accepting of all of it's neutrons. The lilting soundtrack adds a serene, mystical, and plaintive dimension, in much the same way as one imagines the Pied Piper called his children to him from afar through the magic of his flute.
The one common denominator they all share as they struggle to make their homes in this remote yet beautiful land is loneliness. Some are better at adapting to it, perhaps even loving it - than others; some never do. And there's little chance for keeping a secret very long.
Summary of The Flame Trees of Thika
When a young Edwardian family leaves the shores of England to build a home in the wilderness of East Africa, what they encounter is beyond their imagination, but forever remembered through the eyes of their 11-year-old daughter. Based on the beloved memoir by Elspeth Huxley, The Flame Trees of Thika brings to life the color and adventure of turn-of-the-century Kenya. In 1913, Robin (David Robb) and Tilly Grant (Hayley Mills) arrive in Kenya with the dream of transforming a barren plot of land into a thriving coffee plantation. But torrential rains, relentless insects and murderous animals, as well as relations with natives and other settlers, challenge their ambitions. Will England call them back? Or will the wide-eyed wonder of young Elspeth (Holly Aird) help unlock the mysteries of a foreign land and open the doors into the pleasures and rewards of a new home? From the creator of Upstairs, Downstairs, The Flame Trees of Thika is an enchanting, critically acclaimed mini-series featuring all seven episodes authentically shot on location.Based on the beloved autobiographical novel by Elspeth Huxley, BBC miniseries The Flame Trees of Thika brings an eventful childhood in Eastern Africa to vivid life. In 1913, 11-year-old Elspeth Grant (Holly Aird) traveled with her mother, Tilly (Hayley Mills), from England to Kenya to help build a coffee plantation. (Born in 1907, Huxley was actually six at the time.) Her father, Robin (David Robb), who had preceded them, was waiting to greet his family in the arid town of Thika. Also waiting for them were lions, elephants, giraffes, and countless other creatures (the 18-week production was filmed on location in Kenya).
Directed by Roy Ward Baker (A Night To Remember) and written by John Hawkesworth (Upstairs, Downstairs), The Flame Trees of Thika isn't just about one girl, or one family, adrift in an occasionally hostile foreign land, but also about the dangers of colonialism. The Grants, their neighbors, the Palmers (Nicholas Jones and Sharon Maughan), and most of the other Europeans in Thika feel certain they're bringing culture to the uncivilized, without realizing what they're destroying in the process. Ian Crawford (Ben Cross from Chariots of Fire), is one possible exception to the rule, but he brings another kind of danger in his pursuit of Mrs. Palmer.
Since their actions are seen through the eyes of a child, The Flame Trees of Thika is never preachy, but the meddling of these adults--however well intentioned--in the affairs of the Masai, the Kikuyu, and other locals frequently creates tension. As Tilly notes, "It's like two whole separate circles revolving around each other--their world and ours--and only just touching occasionally." What began as Elspeth's coming-of-age story, becomes one for her parents, as well, in this sensitive and engaging series. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
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