In
celebration of Nextlix’s launch in Nigeria — not actually— but I found this Nollywood movie on
Netflix and dare I say it was my fave Nigerian movie of 2015? Yes, I dare say
so! The movie was sold out during its first
screenings in Lagos and London and celebrated at the 2015 London Film Festival!
“Fifty is the new 25”
The Rundown
Behind
the name: What happens when
women turn age 50 (on TV)
Country: Nigeria, 2015
Genre: Drama,
Romance, (The opposite of coming-of-age)
Produced
by: Ebony
Life Films
Director: Biyi Bandele
Cast: Dakore Akande
(as Tola), Ireti
Doyle (as Elizabeth), (Omoni Oboli
as Maria) Nse Ikpe-Etim (as Kate)
Hate it or Love
it? Actually, love it
Synopsis in a Sentence: Four friends, about 50 years old, share their
successes and failures on-screen as their lives unravel before them; One’s a
primadonna diva, another a successful business woman, another's a prayer-loving
party planner, and the last a celebrity gynaecologist, but between these
successful women, one of them gets preggers for her friend’s husband, frolics with boys half her age, has a chronic illness, and the last has a
deep, dark secret; which one of them out does the others with her dirty little
secret?
On Writing: The Plot
The plot is quite layered and goes deeper than the
surface, unlike most movies like these appear to portray. You know the wannabe
‘modern’ Nigerian movies that try so hard to appeal to the international
audience that they loose their originality? Well this is not quite one of them!
It’s real and as authentic as ‘shine-shine’ movies like this can be. The plot
is fresh and the characters are round and multi-faceted. Forget the “good girl”
vs. “bad girl” (or in this case, good woman/bad woman) story that so many
Nigerian movies are known for. This one is new and actually, a bit profound, especially
at the end.
And I must add, Nigeria is on of those few places in
the world today where being older is a good thing. And this movie just
celebrates that. (4/5)
On Acting: The Cast
 |
| Dakore Egbuson |
The cast is quite spot on! Shout out to
Dakore Egbuson, who plays the prima-donna-diva reality TV star. Her character is
multifaceted and she plays it quite well. It’s great to see Egbuson in
productions once again.
 |
| Ireti Doyle |
Also cheers to Ireti Doyle
who plays Elizabeth, the sophisticated, but apparently loose obstetrician whose
personal life is a mess. Her character is lovable-hatable and Doyle nails it to
a T!
 |
| Omoni Oboli |
Omoni
Oboli plays Maria, the accomplished businesswoman
who has everything down but love. At 49 her “time is ticking out” and so she
gets intertwined with a married man. Oboli does a good job of it.
And then there’s the
party-planning prayer-warrior, Kate, played by Nse Ikpe-Etim. Her life may seem
like a paradox, but there are struggles in there, and Ikpe-Etim is cast and
shot well for this role.
Overall a fabulous
cast! Great work, Mo Abdu, on getting this set-up together! But might I add,
because I know I would if I were fifty, that most of these women (according to
publicly-disclosed records, ahem!) are actually in their late forties. Would
have been great to have actual about-fifty year-olds or older play these roles.
How about Liz Benson, or Patience Ozokwor, or Eucharia Anunobi, or the
countless other older and talented Nigerian actresses that could have brought
these characters to life?
Then of course, there are the celebrity
appearances and performances from Waje
to Tiwa
Savage to Nneka
to Femi
Kuti to the Minister of Enjoyment himself, King
Sunny Adé! How cool?
(4.5/5)
On Production: The
Creativity
Production is almost
#Flawless! And speaking of the music, I once went on a mini-rant about terrible
sound production in Nigerian movies. In the last decade, video
quality in Nollywood movies have improved significantly, while sound
engineering fell behind. In this film though, the sound is quite perfect; sound
pairing, musical performances, and sound effects were spot-on! Great job with audio
editing and mixing! (And this is coming from a DJ)
And of course,
video production is fabulous as well. It’s well directed by Biyi Bandele,
who also directed the movie, Half of a Yellow Sun. Production was so good, this movie was featured in the 2015 London film Festival. Yayy! Go Naija!
(4.5/5)
On Resolution: The
Conclusion
Alright, the movie is almost perfect but like all
things in this world, there are a few flaws (which is why no movie in this
review blog will ever get a 20/20 score—If we were perfect, we’d be in heaven,
but we’re on earth, so…) This movie is almost perfect; it’s excellently
produced, and the ending of the film is also seamless too, but at the same
time, I find—in the unravelling of events in this movie—a reluctance to delve
into the deep and get dirty with all the nasty discoveries that we find here.
First, the movie seems to condone this idea: Man
cheats (due to no complete fault of his own, but still) the woman gets her ‘bashing,’
but the man doesn’t quite get the same. Why so?
Second we see that: Woman’s life is a mess so she goes
after little boys and gets played on, and then we discover a little-dark secret
that’s quite disturbing. It warrants a “what’s behind this kind of behaviour
thought” but we get nowhere near that. What we get is an attempt to smooth out
relationships, which is fine, but still…
Third: Struggling lady has to deal with a life-threatening illness, a gambling
husband, and all the bills on her plate, and so
goes to God in prayer—the endless Night Vigils, the pastor visits; this is
Nigeria, we can all relate, but we get a brushing over when it comes to exactly
how she deals with this, and the role of God and prayer in a struggling believer’s
life. I found a little caveat that could probably better portray how and
perhaps why so many Nigerians turn to religion for help. And then
Fourth: Seemingly fabulous Lady has some deep-dark
secrets that could make Tamar in the Bible weep for her in pitty, and all we
get is a sweep-over of a resolution. These are some Precious—the movie—type issues
but you know, life is fabulous and can we just brush over that; the movie’s
about to end.
No movie can portray a thorough
socio-psychological analysis of a people, but they certainly help with
portraying issues and aspects of other’s lives that many (especially
international viewers) and even local viewers may never have access to, and may
never develop and empathy for. In viewing the not-so-perfect lives of these seemingly
wealthy women, through this movie, we develop a deeper understanding for them.
No one’s life is perfect, and this movie does well to relay that. At the same
time, it does less than it could have to highlight some of the unique fragments
of modern Nigerian issues, and as a people who don’t and can’t get the same
global airtime with Western and even Asian audiences, it shouldn’t have taken
the luxury of sliding over some of the deeper issues. Still, in terms of movie
production, the resolution can’t be so easily faulted. Although I wish it had
ended in one huge party as the move had been teasing all along!
(4/5)
The Verdict: A good watch!
Light, but not so light, deep, but not so deep, original, Nigerian,
true-to-self movie! It’s what we’ve been waiting for since Flower Girl, and far,
far better!
Overall Score = 17/20
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