The African Queen 4K 1951

“The African Queen” takes its place in the top 1000 movies, according to the NEW YORK TIMES. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation names it in the top 100. And the American Film Academy (AFI), in turn, put the movie on the 17th place in their hundred of the best American films (thus ahead of 6 positions directorial debut of Houston, “The Maltese Falcon”, and 13 positions - his same “Treasure of the Sierra Madre”, incidentally, both films with Humphrey Bogart in the roles).

The picture was made in 1951 - total and mindless craving for exoticism in American cinema has subsided and quantity is replaced by quality. Decent level movies “Europeans (Americans) in exotic countries” still regularly appear on the screen: “Out of Africa”, “Under the Cover of Heaven”, “Gorillas in the Mist: The Story of Diane Foss”, “Australia” and many others.

The film is saturated with light and color (mostly green). It is noticeable on the poster to the tape. Actually, because of the brightness of natural shooting, the combined shooting (superimposition of the characters filmed at the studio on natural landscapes) looks mediocre, especially when the boat descends the mountain rapids of the river.

And no matter what they say about the director's (John Huston) lack of care for filming, saying he favored the hunt over the creative process, it did a pretty big “favor” to the cinematography. Not only did we get “The African Queen.” So nearly forty years later, Clint Eastwood made “White Hunter, Black Heart,” which has at its core exactly the director Huston's predilection for hunting rather than filmmaking. And there aren't many feature films about working on other actual movies. I can think of a few: “Shadow of the Vampire” about the filming of ‘Nosferatu’ (directed by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau).

It starred Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn. They played great, their relationship in the movie AFI called the hundred most passionate, and the heroine Hepburn (Rose Saer) edition of Premiere Magazine - in the hundred best movie characters. Although, as far as I'm concerned, Cary Grant is nicer company for Hepburn, but he wouldn't have fit the “river wolf” role and it would have been a very different movie.

Hepburn's character is really spoiled a bit in one episode. Categorically did not like it when she poured overboard alcohol - threw bottles there. She is an educated woman, she loves Africa, but she takes and pollutes the river like that - a shot in which a dozen bottles are floating in the water - seriously spoils the positive impression of the heroine.

But, in general, an excellent representative of the adventure genre, its preheroic form, which became popular after the arrival of Indiana Jones. Quite a successful movie. A bit reminiscent of Werner Herzog's masterpiece Aguirre, The Wrath of God. Perhaps by the colors, perhaps by the naturalism.