The Flame Trees of Thika
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DVD details
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, 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
DVD Reviews of The Flame Trees of Thika
DVD Review: Terrible movie- very boring- no plot or action
Summary: 1 Stars
I am amazed this movie is getting such great reviews. We spent about 6+ hours watching this movie hoping that even at the end it would have some redeeming value. We were very disappointed because this movie is extremely slow moving and very boring. It seemed there was no real plot to the movie. A couple moves to Africa, plants some coffee plants and flame trees and never gets to see the fruit of their efforts.
Also, a woman in the movie has an affair (she was currently married to a man whom she had left her first husband for) and so she is repeating this action with yet another man. The main character, Tilly, seems to support her in this decision (oh well, someone will get hurt, according to them) but follow your heart and if it ends in regret- just never admit it. Wow- what a story line. Never mind that this woman is married to a man who worships her and provides her a good life. She hates life in Africa, so that justifies her actions, apparently.
If you want beautiful African scenery, I would highly suggest skipping this boring movie and renting a National Geographic special on Africa instead. You'll probably get a lot more excitement anyway. Another thing that bugged my husband and I was that each little scene took so long. Just capturing a leopard, for instance, took about 10 minutes of the movie. You sat there while they show each step, each furtive look, each little action. Ughhhhh! It drove us nuts!!!!!
I usually don't write movie reviews, but on this one I felt compelled to warn others.
DVD Review: Flame Trees of Thika--a great memoir!!
Summary: 5 Stars
The screen play and acting are great. I love British drama because the story/plot, include the range of human emotions--love, jealousy, marital infidelity, weakness, prejudice, etc.), psychology, intrigue, history, humor, etc.; actually are a priority and thus so well handled/executed, unlike most American screenplay which is mostly high technology, scenes, cinematography. This is a true story, of Elspeth Huxley's time in Kenya. Holly Aird beautifully portrayed young Elspeth, and Hayley Mills did an admirable job. The quality of the DVD is great, and captured the colors of Kenya.
I saw one episode of this series in my hotel room in London in 1981. I loved the story and the beautiful, almost haunting theme song so much that I dragged friends to a book store where I purchased it (a 45 record, which of course I can no longer play). Later I saw the entire Flame Trees series on public TV in the U.S, and for years wanted to see it again. I was delighted to find and purchase the DVD set from Amazon, and recommend it highly.
DVD Review: Good family watching movie
Summary: 5 Stars
Good acting and great English scenery
Haley Mills and the rest of the actors were great
has good family watching movie
the child acted out her part very realistically
will watch it again
ofcourse I hadf seen it before buying it
chfancier
DVD Review: growing up in Kenya in 1914
Summary: 3 Stars
The dvd is a sequence of of mini-series episodes from British TV.
The representation of African life in newly settled Kenya
is fairly accurate from other novels and movies that I have seen.
By the British settlers Kenya was looked at as part of the British Empire.
The young girl growing up here has stories a lot like
American frontier stories about dealing with the natives
and the wild life. I enjoyed the descriptions and pictures
of the life and the building of the house with the grass
roof. The bullying of the natives by the white settlers
was somewhat played down,
but the clash of cultures was really there.
DVD Review: Amazon Description Misleads
Summary: 3 Stars
The programming was excellent and I love Hayley Mills. Her acting, as well as all cast members was excellent, as were the production values. The problem I had was with the DVD itself. Amazon described it as a re-mastered version and it was not. Beware of this, future buyers!
Description 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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