Abhiroop Das
Helmed by Embeth Davidtz, ‘Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight‘ takes a razor-sharp look into the lives of the Fuller family, whose home in the state of Rhodesia is put into question at the height of the Bush War. With the white government at constant and serious odds with resistance fighters demanding sovereignty, the safety of Fuller’s two children, Vanessa and Alexandra AKA Bobo, is threatened every day and night. Bobo becomes our eyes and ears into this twisted world, one that is confronted with the reality of sociopolitical chaos and racial prejudices every day. However, in many ways, the movie’s beating heart is their mother, Nicola, who fully intends to stay in Rhodesia no matter what. Over the course of this historical drama movie, based on the eponymous memoir by Alexandra Fuller, Nicola’s faith in her very existence is put to the test, and a complex discourse surrounding identity and community is channeled through her.
Nicola is a Dramatized Version of the Real Nicola Fuller
The character of Nicola in ‘Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight’ is based on the real-life mother of Alexandra Fuller, named Nicola Fuller. To that end, writer and director Embeth Davidtz reimagined and integrated several details from Alexandra’s memoir, which the movie is based on. Nicola Huntingford was born to Edith Margaret Belfinley Huntingford and Roger Lowther Huntingford on the Isle of Skye, in Scotland. She was part Scottish and part English, on her mother’s and father’s sides, respectively. While she was born in Europe, Nicola spent much of her childhood in colonial Kenya, which over time informed her fondness for (later) being referred to as Nicola Fuller of Central Africa.
As a child, Nicola befriended a chimpanzee named Stephen Foster, but their time together was cut short when the family moved from their bungalow at Kaptagat Arms to the city of Eldoret in Kenya. In Alexandra’s book, ‘Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness,’ it is detailed that Nicola took an instant liking to some African values and traditions, such as loyalty to one’s land and a belief in spiritual and restorative powers. In 1961, at the age of 17, Nicola was sent to Mrs. Hoster’s College for Young Ladies in London, and when she returned two years later, Kenya was an independent country. Incidentally, Nicola met her future husband, Tim Fuller, while deboarding from a plane in Nairobi, en route to Kenya.
Nicola and Tim Tied the Knot in 1964 and Eventually Came to Rhodesia
As per Alexandra’s interviews with her mother, it was love at first sight for Tim, and not a month after their first meeting, he asked for her hand in marriage. Nicola said yes, and the couple tied the knot in Eldoret on July 11, 1964. Their eldest child, Vanessa, was born in 1966, and a year later, in January of 1967, Tim moved to Rhodesia due to job prospects, and Nicola, her daughter, and two pets followed shortly after. While the journey to Rhodesia was meant to reflect new beginnings for the Fuller family, tragedy struck around 1968, when the couple’s second child, named Adrian, died due to meningitis. In ‘Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight,’ Nicola describes the day of his birth as “The happiest day of my life,” and his death in a hospital in Salisbury, England, left an irreconciliable hole in her heart.
In March 1969, Nicola gave birth to Alexandra Fuller, and seven years later, the family welcomed Olivia Fuller. While the family had settled in a farmhouse in the town of Karoi, social conflicts soon consumed the region. Around that point, the Rhodesian Bush War was in full swing, and racial tensions between the white minority government and Black resistance forces were building up consistently. In such circumstances, the Fuller family resorted to staying armed at all times, even teaching their children to use and dismantle a gun, and keep themselves safe from unnatural threats. By 1974, Nicola joined the British South African Police Reservists, specifically as a Red Cross emergency responder, tasked with alerting authorities of potential attacks on white families.
Nicola Fuller’s True Story is Defined by Resilience in the Face of Tragedy
Although the Fullers immersed themselves in service, the family was pushed into even deeper sadness when Olivia passed away in January of 1978 due to a drowning accident. Alexandra’s writings note that the tragedy marked a turning point in Nicola’s life, and may have pushed her towards her alcohol addiction. Both ‘Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight’ and ‘Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness’ feature vivid descriptions of Nicola’s long battle with addiction, as well as her alleged diagnosis of manic depressive disorder.
All of this culminated in the family’s eventual departure from Rhodesia in the early 80s, shortly after Robert Mugabe won the elections and assumed leadership of the state of Zimbabwe. From there, the family moved to Malawi, and later to Zambia, where Nicola and Tim settled and reportedly began a Tilapia fish farming business. Several of these details are directly translated to the screen in Embeth Davidtz’s movie, and while some elements are fictionalized, the story of Nicola Fuller’s perseverance over the years is ultimately rooted in reality.
Read More: Is Bobo Fuller Based on a Real Person? Where is Alexandra Fuller Today?
