[Growling]
He even took the gramophone on safari.
Three rifles,
supplies for a month,
and Mozart.
He began our friendship with a gift.
And later,
not long before Tsavo,
he gave me another.
An incredible gift.
A glimpse of the world through God's eye.
And I thought,
"Yes, I see.
This is the way it was intended."
I've written about all the others,
not because I loved them less,
but because they were clearer, easier.
He was waiting for me there.
But I've gone ahead of my story.
He'd have hated that.
Denys loved to hear a story told well.
You see...
I had a farm in Africa
at the foot of the Ngong Hills.
But it began before that.
It really began in Denmark.
[Gunshots]
And there I knew two brothers.
One was my lover, and one was my friend.
It's too cold for champagne.
It's too cold for anything but.
You said you'd be at Klampenborg.
I thought I'd come, but then I didn't.
Was it fun?
Tanne.
Tanne, come on.
You didn't love him.
You'd like to be a baroness,
that's all.
He lied to me.
Would you be in bed together otherwise?
My brother's dull but not stupid.
Pretend it's Hans.
Where would you go?
Anywhere. America. Ceylon.
I'd even go to Australia.
Perhaps not Australia.
But I've got to leave here.
I'll give you all I've got.
That should get you into town.
You could marry me.
I must marry a virgin.
I can't stand criticism.
For the money, I mean.
Probably.
I've got no life at all.
They wouldn't teach me anything useful.
Now I've failed to marry.
You know the punishment for that.
"Miss Dinesen's at home."
You've gone through all your money.
We're a pair.
At least we're friends.
We might be OK.
And if not,
at least we'd have been somewhere.
You don't think you're being too romantic?
Tanne, am I supposed to think you're serious?
I had a farm in Africa.
I had a farm in Africa
at the foot of Ngong Hills.
I had a farm in Africa...
Good morning.
Have you had trouble?
Now and then. Have you?
No. I'm traveling to Nairobi.
Well, you caught the right train.
Get away! Shoo! Shoo!
Shoo?
That's my crystal. My Limoges.
They didn't know it was Limoges.
[Speaking Swahili]
You're staying then?
I'm marrying Baron Blixen.
You know him?
Bror? Yes.
We plan to start a dairy.
They stopped the train for you.
It's rude not to here.
Isn't it too soon for milk at the door?
[Train's Whistle Blows]
Aren't you boarding?
I'm going on.
On? To where?
Mention the ivory to Berkeley Cole.
Bror knows him.
I'm Baroness Blixen!
Not yet.
Finch Hatton, Denys!
Msabu, I am Farah Aden.
We can go.
Where's Baron Blixen?
He's at Muthaiga.
Please, come.
[Speaking Swahili]
Where is Muthaiga?
Muthaiga is a club
where British go for drinking.
Please.
[Speaking Swahili]
On the train are crates with china and crystal.
Do you know china?
Yes, Msabu.
China, it can break.
Stay.
Excuse me.
I'm looking for Baron Blixen.
Rajiv.
Where might l...
Memsaabs must not be here.
I'm simply looking...
Memsaabs must not be here.
Where were you?
Arranging things.
How was the trip?
Tell me later.
Would you like to change?
My luggage is on the train.
Room "D," Farah.
I've done nothing about a ring.
You thought I wouldn't come?
Shall we get a drink?
The wedding's in one hour.
One hour?
[Playing The Wedding March]
I wondered what color you'd choose.
It's ivory.
Oh, my God.
I've got this man's ivory.
Ivory? Whose ivory?
I'm Sarah, Lady Belfield.
Shall I stand up for you?
Short or long?
Long, please. Give me time to adjust to it.
By the authority of His Majesty's government
vested in me,
I declare that the Baron Bror Von Blixen,
citizen of Sweden,
and, uh... what's your name, my dear?
I told you her name.
Karen Christentze Dinesen.
Karen Christentze Dinesen,
a female subject of the King of Denmark,
are henceforth united man and wife.
God save the King.
Thank you for this.
Did you hear about Shuttleworth?
No.
He says Shuttleworth is living up country
in a tree with a baboon.
"Male or female?" I said to him.
"Female," he says.
"There's nothing queer about Old Shuttleworth."
Where's your muddle-headed husband?
The governor's at the punch bowl.
Would you like to meet the bride,
or did you come for the whiskey?
Not for the company.
Lord Delamere, Baroness Blixen.
Baroness Blixen, Lord Delamere...
such as he is.
Lord Delamere.
Baroness. A Swede, are you?
No. Danish, actually.
The little country next to Germany.
If it comes to war,
where will Denmark stand?
On its own, I hope.
We do have that history.
Is there something you're called besides Baroness?
What do they call you?
"D"...if I'm lucky.
My stupid name's Felicity,
but I do like your dress.
That's not much of a hat, though.
It's meant to be stunning.
We die of sunstroke here.
I'm safe from the mosquitos.
The big ones.
Good Lord.
You nervous?
Should I be?
You know...
wedding night and all that.
So they're both naked.
Karen, have you met Vicky Gresham?
Hello, Baroness.
I'd curtsy, but I'm drunk.
May I see you, please?
Excuse me.
I'd make your friends here.
There's no one else.
I want to see my house.
You may want to change.
It's a two-hour ride.
Excuse me.
My God, these people drink.
I'm sorry. I was...
No, it's all right.
I'm afraid you caught me snooping.
It's not my room. It's Denys'.
Denys won't mind.
Are you...
Cole?
Berkeley Cole.
I brought the ivory.
Well, thank you.
You taking your Quinine?
Oh, yes.
He's got lovely books.
Does he lend them?
He had a friend, Hopworth,
who didn't return a book he borrowed.
I said, "Denys,
you wouldn't lose a friend for the sake of a book."
He said, "No, but he has."
Did you come out through London?
No, from Rome actually.
I thought you might have a newspaper.
No. Sorry.
Oh, nothing in them anyway.
I had a friend
who I took to the Oxford dances.
They were in June by the river.
She always wore a new silk dress.
You're wearing her perfume.
No.
It's very nice,
but it's not the same.
Msabu.
We can go now.
[Speaking Swahili]
This is Belknap.
He runs the farm.
Good evening, ma'am.
This is your cook.
Name's Esa.
Esa.
And this is Juma.
Houseboy.
Juma.
[Speaking Swahili]
Come... see your house.
When you leave me,
I'll marry Berkeley Cole.
A man in trade.
He's thick with the Somalis.
They think he's a prince.
He sells Finch Hatton's ivory.
Belknap is a cheery sort.
Had a place of his own.
Went belly up trying to grow flax.
Does he know cattle?
I didn't buy cattle.
We're going to grow coffee instead.
That's not what we planned.
You were in Denmark.
I had to decide.
We know nothing about coffee.
You plant it, it grows.
My mother put her money up...
Your mother only cares that it pays.
You must tend a herd,
or things go wrong.
Tell her we changed our minds.
Next time you change your mind,
you do it with your money.
They bought you a title, Baronessa.
They didn't buy me.
Juma...
fetch some wine
for my lover's brother.
I think you're tired.
I mean...
Be careful.
Did I tell you
Hans came to say good-bye?
[Speaking Swahili]
Where is Baron Blixen?
He's gone to hunt.
Did he say when he'd return?
He'll come before the rain.
Is it going to rain today?
It can be many days before the rains, Msabu.
In Ohio we put up scarecrow
to keep birds away.
Here, you hope the leopard
keep down the baboon.
How much are we planting?
1,000 acres.
In how long?
That depends on the Kikuyu chief.
Got to deal with him to get your help.
When is our first harvest?
Well, these are seedlings.
It'll be three... maybe four years.
Four years?
If they bear.
Nobody's tried coffee this high.
What will we live on for four years?
I'm working to get home.
If you haven't got it,
tell me right now.
We will plant 500.
Chief Kinanjui, I've heard you're wise...
Msabu...
Not now, please.
And I look forward to our dealings.
Your Kikuyu are good workers,
and I look forward to dealing with them
honestly and fairly.
Msabu, this chief has no British.
Tell him I'm Baroness Blixen.
Chief knows that, Msabu.
Well, then tell him what I said.
[Speaking Swahili]
What did he say?
These Kikuyu can do this work.
Farah...
what else did he...
Your leg is very sick.
You must come to the house for medicine.
Does he understand me?
Yes, Msabu.
If you don't come,
the other boys will say you're afraid.
I'll think only that you're foolish.
This boy must come to my house.
See that he does.
What else did Kinanjui say?
He says coffee must not grow this high.
Never mind, Msabu.
He's a chief, but he's a Kikuyu.
Cuckoo.
If you put a dam here,
then I can make a pond.
This water goes home to Mombasa.
It goes home after we make a pond.
This water lives at Mombasa.
[Goat Bells Jingle]
Come, then.
[Horse Whinnies]
I wouldn't run.
She'll think you're something good to eat.
Do you have a gun?
She won't like your smell.
Shoot... shoot it.
She's had breakfast.
Don't...
Please, shoot her.
No, let's give her a moment.
Oh, my God, shoot her!
How much closer could she come?
A bit.
She wanted to see if you'd run.
That's how they decide.
She almost ate me.
It wasn't her fault.
It wasn't mine.
Don't you have a rifle?
It's on my saddle.
Better keep it with you.
Berkeley's brought you presents.
We stopped by your house
and then came looking for you.
Good Lord, you're sweet.
We're off to Magadi to shoot some ivory.
Did you tell Berkeley what a fool I was?
She had a lion a bit interested.
A bit?
A bit.
Not enough to bite.
It's OK to take chances...
as long as it's you who pays.
That sounds like you, Denys.
Where's Blix?
Hunting.
Has he been out long?
Yes.
Shall we stay to supper, Denys?
Do I have anything to say in this?
Not really.
I'd like you to stay.
Good.
Denys?
I don't know.
Do you sing?
Never.
Can you tell stories?
I happen to be very good at stories.
I believe that.
What's happened to the cows?
We changed our minds.
We'll grow coffee instead.
A bit risky, this high.
So I've been told.
I think they just haven't tried.
Every time I turn my back,
it goes wild again.
It will go wild.
Your man...
Kanuthia.
He's not Kikuyu.
No.
Shall I see that he's given supper?
Don't do anything for him, Baroness.
Somalis are the only tribe that knows horses.
They don't drink, charge interest, or philander.
Got to go to town for that.
In all of literature,
there's no poem celebrating the foot.
There's lips, eyes...
hands, face...
hair, breasts...
legs, arms, even the knees.
But not one verse for the poor foot.
Why is that?
Priorities. Did you think you'd make one?
There's nothing to rhyme it with.
Put.
It's not a noun.
Along he came and he did put
upon my farm his clumsy foot.
Hmm.
We should have a story.
When I tell stories to my nieces at home,
one of them provides the first sentence.
Anything?
Absolutely anything.
There was a wandering Chinese named Cheng Huan...
living in Limehouse...
and a girl named...
Shirley.
Who spoke perfect Chinese,
which she learned from her missionary parents.
Cheng Huan lived alone in a room on Formosa Street...
above the Blue Lantern.
He sat at his window,
and in his poor listening heart,
strange echoes...
They found them there the next morning,
in their room above the Blue Lantern...
the dead child and the warlord.
With Cheng Huan's love gift coiled about his neck.
Had you been to those places?
I have been...
a mental traveler.
'Til now.
Yes.
Was this England?
Excuse me. Denmark?
I like my things.
When you traveled mentally,
did you carry so much luggage?
A mental traveler hasn't the need to eat or sleep...
or entertain.
You're right.
Anyway, aren't you pleased
I brought my crystal and china?
And your stories, yes.
(sing)... Conquering heroes come (sing)
(sing) Sound the trumpets (sing)
(sing) Beat the drums (sing)
(sing) La la la la (sing)
(sing) La la la la la (sing)
(sing) La la la la la (sing)(sing)
I want you to come often.
I'd like that.
Promise it'll be soon.
I promise.
Bye.
Did you save my life, Finch Hatton?
No. The lioness did that.
She walked away.
So I'm not indebted then?
Ah, but I am.
We pay our storytellers here.
It's lovely.
But my stories are free...
and your present's much too dear.
Write them down sometime.
Take care, Finch Hatton.
You wouldn't rather call me Denys?
Baroness.
Good-bye.
What are you doing, Tanne?
I want you to come home.
Bror?
We never spoke about children.
Did you...
Do you?
Yes.
Is that all right?
Msabu...
these Kikuyu want to be sick now.
Good Lord.
Your leg has got worse.
You should go to hospital.
This leg may be foolish.
It may think not to go to hospital.
This leg will do as it pleases.
If you take it to hospital,
I will think you are wise.
I would employ you in my house...
for wages.
How much wages would come to me?
More wages than come from tending goats.
I will speak to this leg.
[Horn Honks]
What about air raids?
Quiet, everyone!
The war's in Europe, not here.
Germany is only 200 miles south.
General Von Lettow is there.
Would we engage them?
Blix, this is our war.
I've got crops coming in.
How long will this last?
We'll each stay and go as we must.
We could arm the Masai
and point them south.
Do you want to disarm them
when it's over?
What about women and children?
We'll deal with that problem as it arises.
Will they use native troops?
Presumedly, but not Masai.
Berkeley, what about your Somalis?
They'd make very good scouts.
We could gather information
for when the regulars arrive.
Do you know what it's about?
Not really.
Then why get into it?
Victoria and the Kaiser were relatives, for God's sake.
They divided Africa between them.
There's a border because she had two mountains
and he had none.
So she gave him Kilimanjaro.
The sooner it ends,
the sooner we pick up where we left off.
It may end...
but we're not going to pick up where we left off.
You don't have to go.
We've got to live here, Tanne.
They don't want you.
I'm not so fond of their empire
I'd have you shot for it.
More likely chewed on than shot.
The farm will take care of itself.
The farm will not take care of itself.
I didn't expect to like you so much.
You're not falling in love, are you?
Not with someone who's always leaving.
If you need me,
send a runner to find Delamere.
I'll be there.
That's a fine kiss good-bye.
I'm better at hello.
It's an odd feeling,
farewell.
There is some envy in it.
Men go off to be tested...
for courage.
If we're tested at all, it's for patience...
for doing without...
for how well we can endure loneliness.
But I had always known that.
[Speaking Swahili]
It didn't require a war.
I said good-bye to Bror.
Denys left without a word,
which was quite proper.
Hello, the house!
[Dog Barks]
Felicity!
I thought you might want some meat.
Is there any word?
No, nothing new.
Not much fighting.
Awful fever, though.
I've got time for tea, I should think.
Are you for the Germans?
Did they send you to ask me this?
The town's arguing it.
Over my bad English?
And whose side were you on?
Yours.
They want to send me home to school.
Mother says I'm wild.
I wanted to ask you.
You've been round and about.
Someday, I'd like to run my own show
the way you do.
Is that what I do?
Well, you don't need us much.
Baroness, may I ask you something?
I don't know much about...
men.
I want them to like me,
but I...
I want to be let alone, too.
I'm supposed to want to be taken, right?
Uh, I've got this book...
but how do you know
when to do what they want you to,
and when not to?
I suppose you ought to call me Karen.
Cuckoo!
They need paraffin and tinned food,
enough for 300 men.
Is he all right?
Well enough to send a message.
Where should I send this wagon?
He's with Delamere near Lake Natron.
That's confidential, of course.
I'll bear that in mind, Lieutenant.
It wouldn't do for it to be talk around Nairobi.
We're moving you into town.
What do you mean?
It's the natives.
We have orders.
Women and children into town.
That is internment, Lieutenant.
Women and children, Baroness.
Is that one category or two?
Please gather your things.
I'll send an escort Thursday.
And I'm a Captain, Baroness.
I'm not paid to fight, Mrs. Blixen.
No.
Where is Lake Natron?
That's south, bush country.
It's no place for a white man.
[Lion Roars]
We should have crossed the Sand River today.
I may have got us lost.
God is great, Msabu.
Hyah!
Why are you here?
I'm going to Delamere.
Women don't go to war.
Well, I'm going.
You don't know your location.
I do now.
You'll get lost.
I'm going on, Berkeley.
Talk to her.
No.
She could be hurt.
She knows that.
Right. I tried.
Here.
Find a spot on the horizon and steer by it.
South, southwest. About three days.
I see.
Don't worry about us.
We'll be all right.
Farah.
[Speaking Swahili]
What is it?
Masai.
Ismail! My rifle! Where's my rifle?
Ismail!
Get away!
Msabu's bleeding.
She does not have this ox.
This lion is hungry.
He does not have this ox.
This wagon is heavy.
It doesn't have this ox.
God is happy, Msabu.
He plays with us.
Tell Blix his wife's here.
Hello, Karen.
Hello, D.
Hello, Bror.
I've brought you some things.
You've changed your hair.
You needed supplies...
Send someone, I said.
You were lucky.
It was foolish.
But I did get through,
and it was fun.
When are you coming home?
Not just yet.
You're not going to help at all with the farm.
No.
I could force you.
I could cut you off.
I'll just hunt professionally.
I might do it anyway.
It's not the way we thought it would be.
Is it?
But I like it that you're honest.
I like you, too...
Tanne.
Very much.
I had a compass from Denys.
To steer by, he said.
But later it came to me
that we navigated differently.
Perhaps he knew,
as I did not,
that the Earth was made round
so that we would not see too far down the road.
Oh!
You've got syphilis.
That's not possible.
Your husband is not ill?
No.
Not the last time I saw him.
That was three months ago.
He's on the...
he's on the border with Delamere.
He would have come home.
These cases vary.
He may have just a touch.
You're very ill.
Is he the only possibility?
Yes.
You must go home to deal with it.
The treatment's difficult.
But they have a thing called salvarsan.
Arsenic.
And if I'm not cured,
then I will be insane,
won't I?
You ought to go soon.
I'll have to see your husband.
I will send for him.
These will help with the fever
until you get home.
And what are my chances?
About even, I'm afraid.
It's not what I thought would happen to me now.
[Speaking Swahili]
What?
Your letters, Msabu.
Excuse me.
I heard you'd made it.
I'd have paid to see their faces.
Hello.
Would you join us?
I can't. Why are you home?
I brought Berkeley back.
Has he been wounded?
No, fever.
He'll recover with enough gin.
And you?
How is it with the fighting?
We're taking a beating.
It's likely to last for a while.
I still have your compass.
Why don't you keep it?
You've earned it.
I don't always want to know my destination.
Well, um...
please don't let me keep you.
Are you all right?
Yes. Take good care, Denys.
We're behind a story or two.
When I get back.
Back? From where?
When you get back, I meant.
I thought it was malaria.
Well, it wasn't.
You may be all right,
but you have to be seen.
And the others, whoever they are.
I hope they've got it.
It's my fault.
No one else's.
I want to go with you.
No. Someone must stay here and run things.
And the factory must be finished.
Can you do that?
That's little enough.
I'm sorry, Tanne.
I'm sorry.
Where's Memsaab?
She can come soon enough.
Later that day,
I left for Mombasa
and the voyage home to Denmark.
It was a longer journey this time.
The war went on.
I fought my own war.
Arsenic was my ally
against an enemy I never saw.
I stayed in the room
where I was born, in Rungstedland,
and tried to remember the colors of Africa.
There was only the medicine,
and walks with my mother
along a deserted stretch of beach,
and this room in my mother's house.
Denmark had become a stranger to me,
and I to her.
But my mother's house I came to know again.
And knew I would come back to it...
sick, or well, sane or mad someday.
And so I did...
after Tsavo.
Almost everyone's got them now.
Juma.
[Speaking Swahili]
Juma.
I am cooking now, Memsaab.
Yes, I have heard about this.
Are you well, Farah Aden?
I am well enough, Msabu.
Then I am well enough also.
What will you do?
I've been thinking I'll hunt.
Safari sort of thing.
It'll be quite a business,
once the war's over.
You wouldn't want to teach?
I would like these Kikuyu to have a school.
There will be a fight about that.
Tanne.
Are you all well?
They say I'm cured.
I won't have children.
Have you thought about us?
Of course.
Belknap says
the coffee will flower after the next rains.
If it does,
you'll have to hire for the harvest,
and get to market.
Where would Berkeley be?
He must be here.
Hello.
Good evening.
Hello.
Hello there.
Who won the match?
Have you got a story for me?
Finch Hatton.
I've been demoted.
I was Denys last time.
Would you care for some champagne?
They said you went home for a while.
Yes. Where is Berkeley?
It's good to see you, Karen.
He's still down with fever.
He'll be OK.
Who are all these people?
Bror says we'll be a colony soon.
Yes. They want it settled now.
There's a lottery.
Buy a ticket and win a farm.
Did you think it would stay the way it was?
I thought it might.
Where is Kanuthia?
He's dead.
Hello, Denys.
Bror.
How are you?
Join us for a drink?
It's time to find a pillow.
Another night then?
Yeah.
Have a good Christmas.
Christmas.
So it is.
[Speaking Swahili]
This Chief says
children higher than this
must not learn to read.
All the children must go to school.
No. He's a chief.
You aren't a chief.
That's absurd.
Tall people shouldn't know more than this chief.
When these children are tall,
this chief can be dead.
Denys hired out to tourists.
I can't imagine.
It's his only trade.
The government stopped the ivory.
What'll you do?
Concentrate on the farm.
Hello, the house!
Felicity! Why are you home?
I'm out. Look.
I didn't learn a thing,
but I'm wonderfully clean.
I'll come see you.
Save me a dance, Berkeley.
What's this nonsense about a school?
I've taken on a young missionary.
First the alphabet, then God later.
Wogs can't even count their goats.
It's not your business.
Who are you?
I wonder if you'd dance with me?
Come on.
You are about to apologize.
You do stir things up, Baroness.
When they said they'd like to read,
how did they put that exactly?
You don't think they should read?
You might have asked them.
Did you ask to learn?
Stories can't harm them.
They have their own unwritten stories.
Why keep them ignorant?
They're not ignorant.
They shouldn't be turned into little Englishmen.
You do like to change things.
For the better, I hope.
I want my Kikuyu to learn to read.
My Kikuyu. My Limoges. My farm.
It's a lot to own.
I've paid for everything I own.
What exactly is yours?
We're not owners here.
We're just passing through.
Is life really so damn simple for you?
Perhaps I ask less of it than you do.
I don't believe that.
Happy New Year!
(sing) Should auld acquaintance be forgot (sing)
(sing) And never brought to mind (sing)
(sing) Should auld acquaintance be forgot (sing)
(sing) For the sake of auld lang syne (sing)
(sing) For auld lang syne, my dear (sing)
(sing) For auld lang syne (sing)
(sing) We'll drink a cup of kindness here (sing)
(sing) For the sake of auld lang syne (sing)
(sing) We'll drink a cup of... (sing)(sing)
[Gunshot]
God save our...
(sing) Gracious King (sing)
(sing) Long live our noble King (sing)
(sing) God save our King (sing)
(sing) Send him victorious (sing)
(sing) Happy and glorious... (sing)
Happy new year, Karen.
And for you, too.
(sing) God save the King (sing)(sing)
Someone has left her underclothes in the back.
I want you to take a place in town.
Are you sure, Tanne?
Each.
Eat.
We eat.
Elephant.
Give me work.
We've got peace.
Where's the prosperity?
Why should prices fall
just because they're not killing anybody?
Well, tea's down just as bad.
Do they always have to whip them so?
[Mozart Symphony Playing]
Look. They finally made a machine
that's really useful.
Listen.
It's for you.
I can't accept it.
Why not?
Bror's moved to town.
That's a private matter, I imagine.
Did you think you would spend the night?
Can't, thanks.
I have to go down to the Mara.
I've taken up safari work.
I must find a camp.
No.
There's country you should see.
It won't last long.
No. I would be wasting your time.
Why don't you get your things?
If you like me at all,
don't ask me to do this.
[Engine Sputters]
[Sputtering]
What's your word?
Shoo?
Is that it, shoo?
Shoo! Shoo!
That's a fine word you've got there, Baroness.
[Engine Cranking]
[Cranking Continues]
Crank it again, will you?
Almost.
Crank it again.
Again.
Once more.
[Engine Starts]
Well done.
We're off.
I don't know the scientific basis for it,
but you can see further in the African night
than any other place.
And the stars are brighter.
[Laughter]
It's about the tents.
When I'm out with Kanuthia...
it used to be we didn't use them.
I remember him.
There was something...
Masai.
He was half Masai.
That's what you remember about him.
They're like nobody else.
We think we'll tame them,
but we won't.
If you put them in prison,
they die.
Why?
Because they live now.
They don't think about the future.
They can't grasp the idea
that they'll be let out one day.
They think it's permanent.
So they die.
They're the only ones out here
that don't care about us.
That is what will finish them.
What did you two talk about?
Nothing.
So...
you knew I would come.
It's an early day tomorrow.
Why don't you get some sleep?
And what happens tomorrow?
I have no idea.
Good night.
Good night, Karen.
[Music Plays]
You would think they would run off.
You didn't.
Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!
Think of that.
Never a manmade sound,
and then Mozart.
Have you clients already?
In a week.
A Belgian man and his daughters.
He asked for three of everything.
I'll be gone a month...
or an hour and a half.
Why are you doing this?
I don't know how to sew.
Did you know they're made of cloth?
Where will he land?
Trick is not to.
It must feel amazing.
It's how I imagine America to be.
Have you been to America?
No, but my father went.
He told me stories about it.
Are you still close?
He killed himself when I was 10.
I can fix that, I think.
"Laughed loud and long,
"while his eyes went to and fro.
"Ha ha, quoth he, full plain I see.
"The devil knows how to row.
Farewell, farewell..."
You're skipping verses.
I leave out the dull parts.
"Farewell, farewell, but this I tell
"to thee, thou wedding guest...
"he prayeth well
"who loveth well both man and bird
and beast."
That's better.
Will it be so different...
hunting for hire?
Not for the animals.
Well, maybe for them.
Do you really prefer them to people?
Sometimes.
They don't do anything half-heartedly.
Everything's for the first time...
Hunting, working, mating.
Only man does it badly.
Only man tires of going through it.
Who says, "Now I know how you feel about me
"and you know how I feel about you,
so let's lie down and get on with it."
Why am I here?
Because I wanted you to see all this.
I wanted to show it to you.
I thought you'd understand it.
Do you think much about death?
I think about getting old.
It'd be like living with a cranky, demanding old bastard.
Well, you are a cranky, demanding old bastard.
I had syphilis.
That's why I went home.
I know.
I never seem to get anything.
German measles once.
They say I'll have a normal life now,
but no children.
So, the school?
So, the school.
The farm. That's what I am now.
No.
We'll need meat for the camp tomorrow.
I'll wake you at dawn.
Good night.
We're going through buffalo country again.
They get cocky when you're on foot.
Andalayo.
Supper.
Good size, but...
Eio.
Lion.
Careful, the wind's behind us.
Psst.
Back up.
Slowly.
If there's a charge, drop flat,
and let me do it.
Drop!
Reload!
Dinner in a while?
I'm glad you came.
To rose-lipped maidens.
There was a very young girl from Denmark
who took passage on a steamer bound for Suez.
There was a storm...
off Morocco...
and she was washed ashore
onto a beach.
Onto a white beach.
Onto a beach so...
so white...
I'd like to do that.
Will that hurt?
No.
If you say anything now, I'll believe it.
I need to know how to think about this.
Why?
[Speaking Swahili]
Your clear soup,
the new lettuce,
chicken... just the breast.
I trust this meets with your approval?
Who is coming?
Bwana Cole.
I will think on Bwana Cole.
Oh, Berkeley...
I've got myself in real trouble now.
You think they should vote?
Worse.
Denys?
Get Kamante.
He is out of hand entirely.
Does this look like a chicken?
Here is not a chicken, Memsaab.
Here is a fish.
Go away.
What do you think?
It's quite good, isn't it?
Berkeley?
Be careful.
At the world's edge,
mapmakers used to write,
"Beyond here there be dragons."
Is that where I am?
He likes to give presents...
but not at Christmas.
He hasn't even said when he's coming again.
If he's coming again.
Would you divorce?
Then I would have no one.
Men who missed moose in Alaska,
grizzly in America, tiger in India,
are all at sea, bound for here.
Berkeley is going to farm.
You could do that.
No, thank you.
You ought to look in on him, though.
He didn't look all that well.
Can you stay?
For a day or so.
Is that all right?
No.
You don't need two guns on safari.
Then do the town work.
Meet the clients, do outfitting.
There's the mail.
I wouldn't be any good.
You've got to do something.
I don't, actually.
My water's gone black, Denys.
We've got to get you some proper care.
I'm being cared for properly.
It's, uh...
some years now.
She's fond of me, I think.
Why... why didn't you tell me?
I suppose, uh...
I thought...
I didn't know you well enough.
I'd like my share of the trading account
to go to Miriamo.
George Martin had black water fever,
and it's five years now.
You might take that 12-bore you're so fond of.
The trigger's...
Have Karen try the Rigby.
It's a nice size gun for her.
Would you like...
Would you like me to take you home?
I am home, I suppose.
"F."
"G."
"G" for girl.
Girl.
"G" for girl.
Are you packed?
Yes.
How was town?
Crowded.
"M."
"N."
I've been thinking...
with all the safari work,
I have little use for the room at the club.
I don't know that I'd be any good at this.
How would it be
if I kept a few things with you?
You would come and go from my house?
If that's all right.
When the gods want to punish you,
they answer your prayers.
Berkeley's dying.
What?
Black water fever.
Oh, my God!
I'll go to him.
He wouldn't want you there.
Why?
There's a woman there.
She's Somali.
She's been with him for some time.
You never told me this.
I didn't know.
[Singing In Swahili]
The love of God
and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost
be with us now and forevermore.
Amen.
Strange that Denys isn't here.
I think he is off with Berkeley.
In the days that Denys was at home...
we spoke of nothing ordinary.
Not of my troubles with the farm...
my notes due and my failing crop...
or of his with his work,
what he knew was happening to Africa...
or of anything at all that was small and real.
We lived...
disconnected and apart from things.
I made up stories while he was away.
In the evenings, he made himself comfortable,
spreading cushions like a couch in front of the fire.
With me sitting cross-legged like Scheherazade herself,
he would listen, clear-eyed, to a long tale
from when it began until it ended.
[Speaking Swahili]
Where did you get it?
Mombasa.
Get in.
When did you learn to fly?
Yesterday.
Don't move.
I want to move.
Don't move.
Hello, Denys.
Hello, Blix.
Tanne, may I see you?
I'm broke, too.
I wouldn't ask, but tips were light.
You all right?
If I get a decent crop.
I could shoot him.
I've got this terrible urge to kiss you.
He's smarter than I am.
It may go well.
Good luck, Tanne.
You might have asked, Denys.
I did.
She said yes.
If I get eaten up, bury me here.
Whatever's left.
At the crest of the hill.
When are you leaving?
Tomorrow.
Doesn't it matter I'm another man's wife?
No.
What matters is that you tried so hard.
What time tomorrow?
Good-bye again.
How many acres under cultivation?
500.
The rest is wild?
No. The Kikuyu live there.
Why don't you move them off?
Because they live there.
We'll take it over should you default.
We've got another year.
God is great.
He's charging 3%.
[Speaking Swahili]
This chief says tall children can come to school now.
Tell Chief Kinanjui that reading is a valuable thing.
His children will remember him well.
[Speaking Swahili]
This chief says British can read,
and what good has it done them?
[Music Plays]
Miss Felicity's Spurway. Clear round.
That Felicity's quite something.
Yes, indeed.
The next competitor... Mr. John Sutton on Castano.
Tanne, how are you?
Getting old, I think.
How about you?
How is the hunt?
I'll make a living. Where's Denys?
Uganda...
some potentate.
I thought you might be wanting a divorce.
Has she got money?
Of course she's got money.
Is this important, Bror?
I suppose.
I'll have to accuse you of something.
Or would you have it the other way around?
Fire away, whatever.
I have surely done it.
Thank you, Tanne.
How do you manage it?
To keep us friends?
We started that way.
I'll be happy for you...
if I can.
I remember that quite well.
When you go away on safari,
are you ever with someone else?
I'd be with you if I wanted someone.
You ever get lonely?
Sometimes.
Ever wonder if I am lonely?
No, I don't.
Do you think about me?
Often.
But not enough to come back.
I do come back.
All the time. What is it?
Nothing.
Bror has asked for a divorce.
He wants to marry someone.
I thought we might do that someday.
Divorce?
How would a wedding change things?
I would have someone of my own.
No.
You wouldn't.
What's wrong with marriage?
Ever seen one you admire?
Yes, I have. Many.
Belfields, for one.
He sent her home for the 1910 rains.
Didn't say they were over until 1913.
Marriage isn't revolutionary. Some animals mate for life.
Geese.
You use animals for your argument.
You won't let me.
I'd mate for life...
one day at a time.
I'd like someone to ask me once. That's all.
Promise me you'll do that,
if I promise to say no.
Just trust you, eh?
When you go away,
you don't always go on safari, do you?
No.
Just want to be away.
It's not meant to hurt you.
It does.
I'm with you because I choose to.
I don't want to live someone else's life.
Don't ask that of me.
I won't be at the end of someone's life.
I'm willing to pay for mine,
to be lonely sometimes.
I think that's fair.
No. You want me to pay, too.
No. You have a choice.
You're not willing to do the same for me.
I won't love you more
because of a piece of paper.
[Speaking Swahili]
See if you can shore it up.
Let it go.
This water lives in Mombasa anyway.
I flew to Narok.
You could see where the lorries were.
The Serengeti's still good.
It'd take a week getting there.
And Samburu's still good.
Where's Belknap? I haven't seen him.
He's in America by now.
I let him go.
I had to.
But you don't want to hear about the farm.
Got any buttons?
What are you doing?
Mending your shirt.
Don't do that.
You don't have to.
Maybe I'll try Samburu day after tomorrow.
You just got back.
Felicity asked to come along,
and I almost said no
because I thought you wouldn't like it.
I wouldn't.
You want her along?
It doesn't matter.
Then tell her no.
And then?
Isn't my freedom important?
I've never interfered with it.
I'm not allowed to need you
or expect anything from you?
I can leave.
But I need you.
No, you don't.
If I die, will you?
You confuse need with want.
Your world would have no love.
Or love we needn't prove.
You'd be living on the moon.
We're assuming there's one proper way?
Think I care about Felicity?
You think I'll be involved with her?
No.
Then why discuss this?
If she's unimportant, give it up.
I've learned something you haven't.
There are things worth having.
But they come at a price.
I want to be one of them.
I won't allow it, Denys.
You've no idea what that language does to me.
I used to think there was nothing you wanted,
but you want to have it all.
I'm going to Samburu.
She can come or not.
Then you'll be living elsewhere.
All right.
[Singing In Swahili]
Is that a prince in there?
I think you'd better get up, Memsaab.
What?
You'd better get up, Memsaab.
I think God is coming.
All gone.
How did it start?
God did it.
He gave me my best crop ever,
then He remembered.
Insurance?
That's for pessimists.
Where's Denys?
Who knows?
It doesn't matter.
I'm broke, D. It's over.
I've got to find some land before I go
for my Kikuyu.
You've trouble enough.
Just a chunk somewhere,
so they can stay all together.
We're just out of coffee,
but I can give you tea.
If arable land that size existed,
we couldn't put natives on it.
Since it's theirs.
It belongs to the Crown.
You want the impossible.
It always is.
Who must I see?
You've run through us all.
We've a new governor?
Sir Joseph.
He hasn't arrived yet.
But will soon, I'm told.
You still ask me to things.
Captain Jacques Llewllyn.
Your servant, sir.
Mr. Llewllyn.
The Honorable Hugh Chomondeley,
Lord Delamere.
Your servant, sir.
Lady Delamere.
Commissioner.
Baroness.
Baroness Von Blixen.
I'm sorry to know Kenya will be losing you.
You've heard of my trouble?
Yes. I regret it.
You know of my problem now?
This land you want from us...
Will you help me?
Baroness...
That's quite difficult.
Baroness.
Get up, Baroness...
please.
Kenya's a hard country for women,
so there is a chivalry here.
Please.
You're a powerful man.
Let's discuss this properly.
I've lost everything.
It costs me little to beg you.
Wait.
Give her a moment, please.
This land was theirs.
We took it.
Now they've nowhere else to go.
I'll look into it.
We'll do our best.
May I have your word, sir?
You have mine.
Thank you.
I hope you will be happy here.
I was.
I'm sorry I won't know you.
I didn't hear until I reached the border.
Seems I'll do almost anything
to get your attention.
I've nearly got you packed.
I've got my family near bankrupt.
I have to ask them for more money.
Let me help.
You would keep me then?
No. I want to be worth something now.
What will you do?
After my rummage sale, leave.
Friday for Mombasa, and then...
the boat to Denmark.
Thank you, Denys.
You must have them ready to leave before the rains.
It is good land.
They mustn't fight about it
or trouble the authorities,
or they'll lose it.
Yes, Msabu.
Make them understand I will not be here
to speak for them.
This land is far?
By Dogoretti.
Not too far.
Msabu.
How could it be now?
With me and yourself?
You will have some money.
Enough, I think.
I do not speak of money.
Do you remember how it was...
on safari?
I'd send you ahead to look for a camp,
and you would wait for me.
And you can see the fire
and come to this place.
Yes.
Well, it will be like that.
Only this time,
I will go ahead and wait for you.
It is far where you are going?
Yes.
You must make this fire very big
so I can find you.
Take that out to the lawn.
Have you had dinner?
Yes.
Your things, I...
I thought I'd send them on to the club.
Is that OK?
Juma?
Juma.
This wasn't a good idea.
We should have had it this way
all the time.
I don't know.
I was beginning to like your things.
I was beginning to like living without them.
You've ruined it for me.
Ruined what?
Being alone.
Have I?
I'd like to come to Mombasa.
Can I fly you there?
Aren't you going away again?
I have things to do in Tsavo,
but I'll be back Friday.
Is that all right?
Of course.
I've got this little thing
that I've learned to do lately.
When it gets so bad,
and I think I can't go on,
I try to make it worse.
I make myself think about our camp on the river...
and Berkeley...
and the first time that you took me flying.
How good it all was.
And when I'm certain I can't stand it,
I go one moment more.
And then I know I can bear anything.
Would you like to help me?
Yes.
[Music Plays]
Come dance with me then.
You were right, you know.
The farm never did belong to me.
I may have been wrong.
I had a farm in Africa.
Friday.
Yes.
[Singing In Swahili]
Hello, Bror.
Hello.
Would you like a drink?
Please.
Denys has been killed.
His plane crashed at Tsavo.
There was a fire.
Can I take you into town?
Why did they send you?
I thought I should.
My God, you are brave.
"The sun shall not smite thee by day
"nor the moon at night.
"The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil...
"The Lord shall preserve
"thy going out and thy coming in...
from this time forth and forevermore."
Amen. Amen.
"The time you won your town the race,
"we cheered you through the marketplace.
"Man and boy stood cheering by
"as home we brought you shoulder-high...
"Smart lad to slip betimes away
"from fields where glory does not stay...
"Early though the laurel grows,
"it withers quicker than a rose...
"Now you will not swell the rout
"of lads that wore their honors out,
"runners whom renown outran,
"and the name died 'fore the man...
"And round that early laurelled head
"will flock to gaze the strengthless dead...
"and find unwithered on its curls...
"a garland...
briefer than a girl's."
Now take back the soul
of Denys George Finch Hatton,
whom you have shared with us.
He brought us joy,
and we loved him well.
He was not ours.
He was not mine.
If I know a song of Africa,
of the giraffe,
and the African new moon lying on her back,
of the plows in the fields
and the sweaty faces of the coffee pickers...
does Africa know a song of me?
Will the air over the plain
quiver with a color that I have had on?
Or will the children invent a game
in which my name is?
Or the full moon throw a shadow
over the gravel of the drive
that was like me?
Or will the eagles of the Ngong Hills
look out for me?
You cannot come where I am going.
There is no cooking where you're going?
You would not like it there.
You must trust me about this.
Send letters to this address in Denmark,
the check for the car to Hunter and Company,
and anything else you don't know what to do with.
Baroness, may we stand you a drink?
Who is we?
Well...
the members, actually.
All right.
Whiskey, please.
Two whiskeys, please.
Baroness?
Rose-lipped maidens,
light-foot lads.
Hear, hear.
Thank you.
This is very dear to me.
It has helped me to find my way.
Thank you, Msabu.
I want to hear you say my name.
You are Karen, Msabu.
The mail has come today,
and a friend writes this to me...
"The Masai have reported
"to the district commissioner at Ngong
"that many times,
"at sunrise and sunset,
"they have seen lions on Finch Hatton's grave.
"A lion and a lioness have come there
"and stood or lain
"on the grave for a long time.
"After you went away,
"the surrounding ground was leveled out
"into a sort of terrace.
"I suppose the level place
"makes a good site for the lions.
"From there,
"they have a view over the plain
and the cattle and game on it."
Denys will like that.
I must remember to tell him.
5@y3