''The White Masai'' (german: Die weiße Massai) is a 2005 film directed by

Hermine Huntgeburth Hermine Huntgeburth (born 13 November 1957) is a German film director. She is best known for her 2005 film ''The White Masai''. Selected filmography *'' The Terrible Threesome'' (1991) *''Gefährliche Freundin'' (1996, TV film) *' (1998) *''The C ...

and starring

Nina Hoss Nina Hoss (; born 7 July 1975) is a German stage and film actress. Early life Hoss was born in Stuttgart, West Germany. Her father, , was a German trade unionist and politician (member of the Bundestag with The Greens). Her mother, , was an act ...

and

Jacky Ido Jacky Ido (born 14 May 1977) is a Burkinabé-born French actor. His first role was as Lemalian in the 2005 German film, ''The White Masai''. He is best known to English-language audiences for his role as Marcel, the film projectionist in Quentin ...

. The screenplay concerns Carola, a woman who falls in love in

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

with

Maasai Maasai may refer to: * Maasai people *Maasai language * Maasai mythology * MAASAI (band) See also * Masai (disambiguation) * Massai Massai (also known as: Masai, Massey, Massi, Mah–sii, Massa, Wasse, Wassil or by the nickname "Big Foot" Mas ...

Lemalian. The film is based on an autobiographical novel of the same name by the German born writer

Corinne Hofmann Corinne Hofmann (born June 4, 1960) is a German born author living in Switzerland, most famous for her multi-million selling memoir ''Die weisse Massai'' (The White Masai).Hofmann, Corine''The White Masai'' HarperCollins, 2005Hawker, Philippa (2 ...

. In the film version, names have been changed from those in the novel.

Plot

Carola (Hoss), a German woman living in Switzerland, is on holiday with her boyfriend in

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

. She falls in love with

warrior Lemalian (Ido), who is visiting dressed in the clothing of his area. At the airport on the way home she decides to stay. It turns out that Lemalian has gone to his home village in the

Samburu District Samburu County is a county in the former Rift Valley Province, Kenya. It covers an area of roughly 21,000 km2 (8,000 mi2) in northern Kenya where the Samburu, Turkana and many other tribes live. It stretches north from the Wuaso Ng' ...

. Carola travels to the area, and stays at the house of another European woman. Lemalian hears about her stay and comes to meet her. Eventually they start living together. She travels to Switzerland to sell her shop there, promising Lemalian to come back to him. She does, and they marry and have a daughter. Carola buys a car and starts a shop. They lose money on the shop because Lemalian gives too much credit to friends and neighbors, and because they have to pay bribes to the mini-chief. Lemalian argues that this is no problem because she has more money in Switzerland. The mini-chief demands that Carola hires his teenage nephew as a shop assistant. She has to accept this although she does not need him and he does not work hard. After some time, when he is just drinking beer and not working, she fires him. Later he returns and attacks her. A local judge rules that she has to pay two goats for firing him, but the boy's family has to pay her five goats to compensate for the attack. Carola is frustrated by the

female circumcision Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision, is the ritual cutting or removal of some or all of the external female genitalia. The practice is found ...

being practiced in the village. She wants to stop it, but it is a long tradition that is not easily changed. When Carola helps a pregnant woman in labour with a

breech birth A breech birth is when a baby is born bottom first instead of head first, as is normal. Around 3–5% of pregnant women at term (37–40 weeks pregnant) have a breech baby. Due to their higher than average rate of possible complications for the ...

, Lemalian refuses to assist because the woman is supposedly bewitched. Lemalian does not want Carola to be friendly with other men, even if she is just serving a customer in a friendly way. He is very jealous and suspicious of Carola having a boyfriend. He even wants to kill a man he suspects. Carola wants to return to Switzerland with her daughter, stating she needs a two-week holiday. After some hesitation, Lemalian signs a form giving Carola consent to take the girl out of Kenya, although he suspects that she will not return.

Thematic content

The themes of the film have been controversial. Ultimately, the film is about the clash of

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...

s and

worldview A worldview or world-view or ''Weltanschauung'' is the fundamental cognitive orientation of an individual or society encompassing the whole of the individual's or society's knowledge, culture, and point of view. A worldview can include natural p ...

s. Two individuals who believe that their worldview is superior and therefore right (thus Carola condemns female circumcision because it does not fit her cultural outlook while Lemalian cannot understand how she could talk to men without being unfaithful to him), and it is their inability to understand the other that brings about their misery, separation, and divorce.

References

External links

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Production notes
* {{DEFAULTSORT:White Masai, The 2005 films 2005 romantic drama films 2000s English-language films Films based on biographies Films based on Swiss novels Films shot in Kenya Films set in Kenya 2000s German-language films German romantic drama films Films about interracial romance Swahili-language films Films shot in Germany 2000s German films