The much awaited film Battered
premiered at the Odeon Cinema Greenwich on Saturday 28th September
2013. The premiere started with the red carpet which had the producer, cast and
crew, Nollywood Directors and Producers, Nollywood film promoters, those involved
in the Nollywood industry in the UK and members of the public that came to
support the movie.
The movie was produced by Fatima
Jabbe and is about domestic violence in the home. Miss Jabbe who won the best
female actress at the African Oscars in the US recently wrote the story and played the lead role in
it. The movie saw the introduction of Nigeria's finest footballer John Utaka in
his debut in to Nollywood filming industry.
Other cast members and stars in the film included Atto Erick, Yvonne
Hays, Theodora Ibekwe, Jay One, Marie Gomez, Olivia Eze, Collins Archie Pearce,
Happiness, Tim Uche and many more. The movie was directed Lanre Balogun who
also played the lead role and Alaba Festus. Official sound tract for the movie
was by Cashino NDT, Libeks was the makeup artist and Nelson Spyks was the
Associate Producer and responsible for the cinematography.
Ann (Fatima) was a victim of domestic
violence. She shot her Fiancé Derek (Lanre Balogun) because her heart was full
of pains from torture and other cruel, inhuman, degrading treatment and
punishment she suffered in his hands.. She narrowly escaped court charges
because of an alibi from a friend Tina who was with her on the day of the
incident.
I must start by saying this is going
to be a bit of a long review as many stakeholders are waiting to see my
objectivity on the review. However, as usual, I would be as objective as
possible and include in this review one major issue that arose from the
question and answer session and the Producer’s response to it. I would also
like to say that this review as usual is open to comments.
Firstly, I would like to commend
Fatima for being bold to tell such a story. Maybe by coincidence, Theodora
Ibekwe who recently produced a movie about another social ill in the black
community that of child molestation was the one that came to the rescue of Ann
in the movie. While Fatima concentrated her story on women being the subject of
domestic violence (and I agree with her that in most cases, they are), even
Lanre Balogun stated that men are also victims of domestic violence and I agree
with him.
The picture quality was good in most
cases, but I don’t know if it was deliberate in certain scenes where two actors
appeared, one was clear and the other seemed to blur out in the face. With
regards to the sound quality, it was generally of a high quality only that in
certain scenes especially at the police station, there were buzzy sounds that
kept interfering. At times the sound of the mobile phone in the movie itself
was so loud and a bit distracting.
While I am not interested in looking
at every little thing about the movie, I need to make mention of one or two
things that glared me in the face. The whole reason why I started to review
movies was to give a true feedback of the movie and push Nollywood Producers
and Directors to a new level. I therefore believe that in any Nollywood Movie,
the whole storyline including the props and locations used should be as close
to reality as much as possible. While I cannot fault the arrest as it was
presumed done properly, to me the police station scene was far from perfect. In
the first place, that was not a proper custody suite that was used even though
we saw the outside of Belgravia Police Station. Secondly, interviews are done
on tape in the station and you never see a police officer recording a statement
on a dicta phone for obvious reasons. You may call me petty, but these are the
things that make Hollywood stand out. Things are done properly. Talking to one
of the people in the Nollywood industry, she was not happy with both the way in
which the lawyers were portrayed in the office with legs on the table and also
made mention of the fact that the office of the Victim Support did not look
professional and looked like a secretary’s office. To me that bit was cosmetic
but since my reviews take into consideration what the audience especially those
in the Nollywood industry say, I have to mention it.
Two issues came out in the Question
and Answer session that I think are of importance and that I think if I do not
mention in this review, I would be seen as bias. The first was the issue of
what happened to the pregnancy. That was a question I asked Fatima myself.
Fatima joked and asked the audience to wait for part two of the movie, but she
also stated that with all the violence she lost the baby. Although I believe
that one could have presumed that, a few lines with Ann crying about the loss
of the baby would have been a good addition to the movie.
The second issue had to do with the
issue of domestic violence and how it is dealt with. One of the viewers asked
if the movie had been properly researched with regards to how this issue is
dealt with and the message that was being sent out to those that watched the
movie. Fatima in response to that said that the movie was in fact a true life
story that happened in the UK, She would not give away if the story was her own
story or that of another person. While I agree with the issue of research 100%,
I also believe that if someone is telling a true story, it should be as close
to what happened as much as possible. What should have happened and this can be
corrected before the next viewing is that a kind of disclaimer be put at the
end of the movie explaining that this case was a unique one and that cases of
domestic violence are always treated individually and the results differ from
case to case.
Still on this issue, personally I had
an issue with how the detective handled the matter. I do understand as a lawyer
that prosecutors use what is referred to as plea bargaining especially when
they want to get a witness to give evidence for them. However, that being said,
even the Met Police would not be happy about the picture that was painted of
the police. He used words stating that a crime that was committed would not be
mentioned and said the proposed witness should trust him as he is a detective.
Again, this paints a picture that as long as the state needs you to give
evidence, you would be able to get away with crime no matter how small it was
and in this case it was not ordinary stealing but using a knife to threaten the
victim.
I would be seen as bias if I do not
mention lie I did in one of my previous reviews about my views about murdering
someone because he has been violent towards you. In this case, Ann had a gun
under her pillow which means the murder was pre-planned. Although the story
told us she lied to the police about the gun and that always happens in our
present day society, to me painting a picture that violence is the best way to
defend one’s self in these days when the fight is against knife and gun crime
is sending a wrong message. I think victim support was right, but since she was
a victim of violence, a restraining order would have been an option and the
whole story would have taken another dimension. Although Fatima stated that the
person Derek represented was powerful and could not be touched, in my stay in
the UK, I have observed that the police like to prosecute high profiled people
irrespective of who they are, so as long as this happened in the UK justice
would have taken its course.
In writing this review, I have taken
into consideration the view of those in the Nollywood industry and those that
attended the movie. In spite of all the comments which I believe would be seen
by Fatima and her crew as positive criticisms to make the Nollywood industry
greater, I still want to say well done to Fatima for her boldness in
translating this issue into a movie. If one is going through domestic violence,
male or female, they should not keep quiet but deal with it. With Lanre Balogun
in any movie of such magnitude, there must always be comedy. I commend Fatima
for her choice of multi cast from different nations.
The question then is what score out
of 10 would I give the movie. I have thought hard about this and I think I would
score between 7 and 8. I would therefore give a score of 7.5. My reasons for
these have been clearly stated above. Would I recommend the movie? My answer is
yes. it would be good for people to reach their own conclusions about the issue
of domestic violence and how it was presented by Fatima and all said and done,
we really need to create awareness about any social ill and domestic violence
is one which must be crushed!!
Watch the trailer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7sT25LWNSs
