How is a physical and emotional journey conveyed in the film African Queen

The African Queen

Set in East Africa in September 1914, during the period of the First World War, the film the African Queen conveys a journey through physical and emotional ways. The tale begins after well educated, prim and proper Rose Sayer is forced to travel alongside the mail carrier Charlie Allnut, after the German imperial troops burn down the village and capture the natives and haul them off. The reverend, Rose’s brother dies and Rose is left alone, fortunately Allnut returns to the village to check on her, as he was aware of the German Raids. They both identify that the Germans will be looking for the mail boat, the African Queen as it is well stocked with supplies, and they make the risky decision to travel to the lake at the end of Ulanga River, so the journey begins. Physical and emotional hardships are overcome within the journey, leaving both characters with a change in personality and a connection with one another in their fight for freedom.

Charlie and Rose begin the journey with two significantly different and contrasting personalities. Rose is a conservative Christian who thinks of the good of others while Charlie is quite the opposite and enjoys quite a few shots of gin. In the beginning of the film, the two personalities often clash, leading in arguments and disagreements. Rose is seen as an upper class woman who would not usually assimilate with those of Charlie’s standards, viewing him as a washed up alcoholic who is unfit to be a captain. Whilst Charlie makes the assumption that Rose is a crazy old maid. Throughout the establishment of their relationship, Rose makes little conversation with Charlie and does not assist in any aspects of the physical journey and despises Charlie’s drinking habits. In one scene of the film, conflict can be displayed when Rose attempts to convince Charlie that they should travel down the Ulanga and sink the Louisa. Charlie believes this idea to be preposterous but in the end chooses to follow her suggestion in order to shut her up and avoid the Germans.

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Later on in the film, Rose makes the decision to pour all of Charlie’s alcohol overboard, symbolising a new beginning for them both. After which, their relationship begins to blossom and Rose begins to take charge in some aspects of the journey. Rose is seen to make an inner gender change and shies away from the stereotypical women’s roles of the time by working harder and taking the initiative to do more to assist. As the journey continues on the African Queen, a change is seen in Charlie and Rose as they begin to recognise the good qualities in one another, share opinions and work together and cease the arguing over their differences. This enables them to support the other and strengthen each other’s weaknesses. In one scene after they have overcome an obstacle and realise they have survived certain death, they celebrate by hugging and kissing, after which they realise their love each other and become two lovers throughout the remainder of the journey. The director has displayed the personal change of each character and the journey of hatred for one another to kindling love through an array of techniques and mis-en-scene.

When the film begins it is easy to distinguish the differences in personality between the two lead characters by observing the way of dress. Rose is dressed in a big posh dress, with neatly combed tied back hair whilst Charlie is an unshaven alcoholic, dressed in torn and worn apparel. The scene and camera angles show that Charlie and Rose make no contact with another and do not sit in close proximity, therefore symbolising their differences and dislike for one another. Often in scenes featuring conflict between the two, the setting is dark with grey clouds or heavy rain falling and trouble looming ahead. When Rose and Charlie’s relationship begins to blossom, and Rose begins to take on more roles, a change in Rose’s appearance can be noticed. Rose no longer has neatly combed hair and her dress is now beginning to look worn and dirty, which shows Rose’s journey of change as she is no longer as concerned about appearance. In the scene where their true love blossoms, the background is bright, sunny, and happy and appears to be a delightful day with the water being calm and tranquil.

The physical side of the journey is clearly displayed throughout the film. The nature of the journey is unpredictable, sometimes allowing them to take the easy road, while other times obstacles are thrown in their way, facing them with challenges they must overcome. The first impediment they face are the massive rapids on Ulanga, then having their boat shot at by the German lookouts followed by the African Queen going over a small waterfall, resulting in the need of repairs to the ship. In these negative scenes, as with the emotional journey, the background is dark and stormy whilst chaos arises as Rose and Charlie have a hard time navigating their ship out of rough seas. Although, once the rough seas and waterfall is out of the picture the scene then reverts back to the beautiful blue sky and the African Queen travels along peacefully. The journey continues on in this pattern, with Rose and Charlie facing a few more obstructions, in which they must work together to pull through each time feeling more confident and learning more about themselves. In some stages the audience is made to feel as though there is sometimes a too big of a barrier in the way and that Rose and Charlie may not get to fulfil their journey and have to result to giving up, but as soon this occurs, one character enlightens the scene with a brilliant idea that will get them out of trouble, therefore responding to the challenge and continuing on.

The journey appears to end in sudden doom when Charlie and Rose are captured and taken aboard the Louisa, with the Germans sentencing Charlie to death. This scene is accompanied by dramatic music, making the audience feel miserable for what is about to happened to Charlie until the torpedo facing Louisa is released and Louisa is destroyed allowing Charlie and Rose to be set free, leaving them with a happy end to their journey. The scene ends with the delightfully swimming away singing merrily “There was an old fisherman...”

Throughout the African Queen it is quite clear that both a physical and an inner journey take place. The journey of the mind and spirit occurs as Rose and Charlie become and discover new personalities. They explore themselves, and as individuals review their growth and development in the light of the experiences they were challenged with, leaving them both with happiness and joy. The emotional journey left Rose and Charlie with new insights and understanding of themselves and each other, and chose to see the good in one another rather than the negative. The physical journey involved a number of obstacles in which Rose and Charlie had to persist and overcome in order to reach their new place. They were provided with opportunities in which they could extended themselves physically, emotionally, and intellectually as displayed by Rose, who took on more initiative to assist in the journey and made an emotional change, as well as learning how to respond to the challenges they faced and how they could overcome them bringing them closer together and bringing out the good in one another.

Jacqueline Young