One of the more fascinating true stories that became a book and now a film must be Corinne Hofmann’s tale of her amour fou for a Masai warrior whom she encountered on a ferry in Kenia while on holiday there with her then-boyfriend. On a whim, she decided to forego returning home and instead seek out the warrior of her dreams. Die weisse Massai (The White Masai; the German "Die" refers to a female) is the title of both her autobiography and Hermine Huntgeburth’s film adaptation of it, which may have an epic setting but which focuses almost exclusively on Ms Hofman (rebaptised Carola) and her personal experiences in Kenya and with the Kenyans.

While much of the material in the fine autobiography has been changed or condensed, Huntgeburth’s film stays true to the essence of the story, which is about a love-inspired urge turning into a tough day-to-day reality. Hofmann would eventually marry her warrior (named Lemalian in the film) and would even foster his child and live with his tribe in the Kenyan bush for several years. Actress Nina Hoss (Nackt/Naked) plays Carola as someone who is baffled by her own reasoning but who is also strong enough to stick with her decision once it has been made. She is one tough cookie (as the Americans would say) and she comes to terms with issues varying from female circumcision to the segregation of the sexes in the tribe of her husband as well as endless red-tape issues and the absence of such basics as running water, electricity and different food stuffs in the village in the bush she calls home.     

Huntgeburth (Bibi Blocksberg) and her screenwriter Johannes Betz sidestep much of the chick flick clichés with a generous insight in human nature and Hoss’s award-calibre performance. The narrative always follows Carola closely as the entry point into a foreign world and as such Die weisse Massai is perhaps an epic emotional story but not an epic in the traditional sense of the word. There are some sweeping vistas of the Kenyan bush accompanied by the African rhythms of its excellent score, but Huntgeburth has unmistakably steered clear from making a Kenyan tourism board advert -- this story could have played out between two people from any two cultures.

Similarly, the portrayal of Lemalian (portrayed by Jacky Ido in a fearless performance) and the dynamics in their relationship is something seen through the eyes of Carola, which makes her actions understandable and which judges Lemalian as a human being against Carola’s personal standards, not against some stereotype of "the foreign man" or even "a Masai". (Technically, Lemalian's tribe is not even a Masai tribe).

Die weisse Massai will appeal to those who love an intimate love-story from a female perspective against a background of a foreign culture. The film’s only false notes are when it tries to include too many snippets of German in the English-language conversations between husband and wife; they have obviously been inserted to minimise the subtitle reading for the German audience but they ring false as Carola sometimes appears to be her husband’s simultaneous translator for the audience rather than just his language-frustrated wife. A few more subtitles could have made the two non-mother tongues of the couple one of the film’s strongest assets as it is a very relevant detail in their relationship dynamic; not only Carola but als Lemalian finds himself in foreign territory.

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