What's with the Masai?
Are we given an explanation of why the Masai go running past, ignoring the out-of-towners?
shareI agree with you--why do they go running past without acknowledging the others on the plain?
shareThey are on their way to a battle...it's said so in that scene.
Character is what you are in the dark.
The Masai were renowned for their ferocity in battle and their single-mindedness of purpose when fighting. The scene is meant to illustrate this.
shareThere's a more important, thematic reason for that scene. Remember, later on, Denys talks about the Masai being "like no other people in the world" because of how they live, their wildness, and how they do not grasp the future....They cannot be tamed and when imprisoned, they die. They are part of the sadly temporary wildness of Africa. So they are symbolically "passing through", as well as literally in that scene. The film draws parallels with Denys's way of life and the nature of the Masai people...his unwillingness to belong to anyone, his views of ownership, his love of the land and the wildness of africa, and his distain for the encroaching colonialism. The scene is also important because we see that Karen is fascinated and intrigued by the Masai, as she is with Denys.
shareI was in Kenya at the time this movie was filmed (I missed the chance to be an extra because I overslept one Saturday morning) and even at that time the Masai were still very distinct from other Africans. Other tribes were wearing more or less Western clothes, but the Masai still lived and dressed very traditionally.
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