Season 11 - The Flame Trees of Thika (1981-1982)
My mom had a special place in her heart for all things African. Books, movies, photography, anything to do with Africa she would devour. Even excruciatingly long slide shows from friends who had just gotten back from safari. I remember watching Out of Africa with her and her complete and total anger at Denys Finch-Hatton being played by Robert Redford. Her rage was incandescent. Whereas she thought Klaus Maria Brandauer was sheer perfection as Bror von Blixen-Finecke. As you can see, strong opinions run in my family. What she loved more than anything though was The Flame Trees of Thika written by Elspeth Huxley. In fact the 1987 edition published by Weidenfeld and Nicholson was one of her favorite books of all time. So one Christmas I bought her the 1981 miniseries on DVD assuming that she probably hadn't seen it because it aired right when she was pregnant with my brother. I never got to watch it with my mom, but my dad claims they did watch it and she enjoyed it. Personally I wish I could know her opinion on it because I am conflicted. I've now watched this series twice and the first time I saw it through Elspeth's eyes. A continent full of awe and wonder. The second time I watched it the paternalism and sheer theft of land by the British pissed me off. Even as I sit down to write this I'm not sure how to frame my thoughts. The Flame Trees of Thika is interesting in that it is set in Kenya before World War I when it wasn't yet the place to banish problematic relatives who then became known for their swinging lifestyle. Though I have a feeling had anyone brought up the notion to Elspeth's parents Robin and Tilly they might have been game. In fact a lot of my first viewing was how astonished that the scantily clad Robin with his toned muscles, high-waisted pants, and perfect coif was in fact David Robb who is most known for playing Dr. Clarkson on Downton Abbey. I actually got into the habit of taking screencaps and sending them randomly to my friends who are Downton Abbey fanatics and asking them if they could guess who the man in the picture was. My friend Sara literally, after almost giving up, said "Doctor from Downtown Abbey? Can't be…" And yet, she was right! This was just one distraction that made me take this show at face value. I was literally ogling the surface of David Robb, who I might add, is totally not my type. Also, Holly Aird as Elspeth is perhaps one of the best child actors I have ever seen. She's just the right level of intrigued and rebellious. Her awe and wonder at the world around her makes you feel the same way. Plus, she is untainted by prejudice, she takes the world as it is, the Africans are her friends, as are all the animals. She's a pure spirit in a cruel world. Because on rewatching this I was thinking again and again how cruel the British occupation of Kenya was. They just sold land that wasn't theirs to desperate people claiming that they could make their fortunes by growing coffee. The key thing is, this land wasn't theirs to buy or sell. And then the British hire the natives at slave labor wages and this is totally acceptable!?! It so so isn't. The Grants didn't have an easy go of things and they were trying to help all those they believed to be in their care, but for every Grant there are a dozen Palmers, people who build their big house and treat their servants horribly and are there to just go on a constant safari, killing their way across the continent. While I adore the work of John Hawkesworth and all the thought he puts into his shows, this show's British paternalism is too strong for me to wholeheartedly endorse it. As a look back onto another world it is valuable, but we have to take stock that it was wrong in the first place. And The Flame Trees of Thika doesn't do that.
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