Review of London Premiere of Collins Archie Pearce's the devil in Freetown

The movie The devil in Freetown premiered at the Odeon Cinema on Friday 25th July 2014.

Amongst those that attended included HE Edward Mohammed Turay High Commissioner of Sierra Leone to the UK and Ireland, cast and crew of the movie from Sierra Leone. Others who graced the red carpet included members of the press, members of the business community, the Sierra Leone community in the UK and distinguished members of the public. Of course members of the Nollywood UK community including Theodora Ibekwe Oyebade and her husband Ayo, Nelson Spyk, Toyin Moore, Ruke Amata, Toksy B, Tolu Yesufu, Riyike Alayande, Danny Erskine, Rita Nzelu Okoro and of course Collins Archie Pearce.

Also present were representatives of sponsors including Melgosh Mission International. At the end of the movie Collins Archie Pearce announced that he was championing an Ebola Fund for the amputees from the war and that 30% of the proceeds from the premiere will go towards Melqosh Mission International's projects including the procurement of preventative materials against the Ebola plague. We at babso.org would like to commend him for this initiative and ask others to inject proceeds from future premieres into developmental issues in the community that they may deem relevant.

Storyline:

The ethos of this movie is to showcase the resilience of Sierra Leone and her people in rising up from the ashes of the war despite the human, structural and societal destruction it experienced. The date, January 6^th 1999, will be forever etched in the minds of Sierra Leoneans as the bloodiest day of the war. This movie brought to light inhumane activities which took place in what had once been one of Africa’s  most peaceful country and to also highlighted the need to strive for continuous and prevailing unity in any given country, be it  in Africa, Europe, America, Australia. The movie revealed exactly what transpired during the war and d a beautiful story line to complement it. According to Collins Archie Pearce, some of the people who were affected by the war volunteered to feature in the movie to give first-hand information of the trauma they went through.

The main message behind this movie is to illustrate to friends and neighbours of Sierra Leone that the peace of one’s country or native land must be maintained and preserved.  Unfortunately, the effects of the war are still prevalent in the lives of many, the victims of the Blood Diamond fuelled war – the war afflicted amputees.

In my view and as a reviewer and critic, the storyline is relevant and was well depicted to the effect that, I could not really seat and watch things that happen in war. The same people from your own country, probably people whom you ate and drank with now take up arms, loot places, kill innocent civilians, rape women and just for no reason cut off people’s hands making them handicapped. Some of us have not seen real war and are priviledged to enjoy life in a country like the UK where things work and there is peace. Watching the movie brought tears to my eyes especially as I understand that though the war has been over, the effects of war still prevail in Freetown. On this category of storyline, I cannot fault the storyline. I thought it was long and could have been cut short, but none the less I would give a maximum of 10 for the storyline.

Sound:

At the beginning of the movie when a narrator was trying to introduce the events that had taken place in Freetown, his voice was overshadowed by the music that was being played. I think there could have been a better balance of the sound especially in external scenes. In most part of the movie, I could hear what the cast were saying which is important in a movie. For this category, not much to say and I would award a 7.5 for sound out of a possible 10

Picture Quality:

In some of the scenes, the picture quality was a bit shaky. The Cinematography especially when bombs were released or when a hand grenade was fired was poor. The final effect of what we saw as a burning house or the effects of the bombs in those scenes were not real. Also as in most African movies, the way gun shots are depicted were not real. The use of an experienced cinematographer would have made those scenes more realistic. The general picture quality of the film was otherwise good. In the light of the above and hoping to see issues like this addressed in future movies, I would award 5.5 out of a possible 10 for picture quality.

Cast:

As stated earlier and I would like to re-iterate this, I commend all those who have been victims of war that came out to tell the story. However, although this is commendable, I am a reviewer and critic and I need to say things as I saw them. I believe that the cast tried to tell the story in the best way they could. However, I think in some cases, there was over-acting and this could have been checked by the Director. For this category, I would award a 7 out of a possible 10.

Overall performance:

All in all, this was a good movie and another god effort from the people of Sierra Leone. However, a few gaps need to be filled and I see the Sollywood industry going in the right direction. There was a scene when a female soldier was called by her Commanding Officer to report. Although this was a phone call, it seemed as if the people were just talking next door, did not seem in reality like a phone call.

As usual, I have tried to be objective in my review because I want the next movie to be better than the previous one. There were also some spelling mistakes in the subtitles and these could have been corrected during editing. We have been going on at babso.org for a while now and we are now at the stage where we have given enough room for improvement and now wield a strong stick in reviewing our movies. I would like to congratulate the entire cast and crew for this movie and award it a 4 star out of a possible 5+ stars.

The question that is left for me to answer is if I would recommend this movie and my answer is that in spite of the flaws mentioned, I would recommend the movie.

Watch the trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7Z8ddJdWJM

Review of London Premiere of George Kelly's The Broken Bride

The movie The Broken Bride premiered at the Odeon Cinema Greenwich on Friday 4th July 2014. As usual with Nigerian movies, there was the pomp and pageantry of the red carpet preceeding the movie.

Present on the red carpet included HE Ambassador Oluwatoyin Kayode Lawal, Deputy High Commissioner Nigerian High Commission and his wife, cast and crew of the movie including Director George Kelly and Julie Coker, Producer Theodora Ibekwe and her husband Ayo, members of Nollywood UK including Collins Archie-Pearce, Toksy Bello, Ruke Amata, Riyike Alayande, Nelson Spyke, MA Benson amongst others, supporters of the Nollywood industry and members of the public.

Storyline: In the movie, Omatseye loses his job in Nigeria and can no longer afford to pay his rent. His live-in lover, Eriwu takes over this responsibility and soon evicts him from his own apartment. Omatseye decides to move on. He comes to the UK in search of a new lease of life. On arrival, he finds a new love, Temisan. They are so committed to each other, that he thinks he has found himself a bride.   He soon realises that life in the UK is full of un-envisaged challenges and all seems to be falling apart. He experiences heartbreak worse than that of Nigeria.

He is torn between two worlds. Does he go back to Nigeria or remain in the UK and keep on living a life of emptiness and misery? Added to this is the fact that he made a promise to his dying father that his manipulating aunt Duduyemi would take care of him on his demise.

According to the synopsis, the movie is a story inspired by forced marriages which are prevalent in Nigeria and other developing nations.  It is a new generation multicultural Nollywood movie aimed at enhancing cultural integration and promoting unity in diversity.

The movie was directed by George Kelly with Chucks Mordi as the Co-Director some  was  produced by Theodora Ibekwe Oyebade and Onome Mowoe as the Associate Producer. 

The theme of the movie was real as in the 21st century, parents are still telling their children whom to marry. In some cases, there are still issues where parents refuse proposed suitors because of “class”, in other cases, it is because of religion and in some cases, it has been arranged that the children marry when they grow up and in most case these marriages end up being anything but blissful. For telling such a story, I commend George as the ills of such situations need to be told and children should have their freewill to choose who they want to marry with guidance from their parents. There were parts of the movie that were comical and I give credit for that.

Having said that, there are some parts of the movie that were not realistic and I would highlight just two of these. Understandably, people would do anything including paying assassins to ensure they get a proposed bride that they do not like from their son and that was exactly what Duduyemi and Eriwu did to Temisan. However, she was shot in the leg and that part of the film was done in the UK. She was given only a bandage and we were told in the movie that she was crippled even though she had a chance to walk again. In my view, if she was meant to be crippled, everything should add up, the impact of the gun shot should have been exaggerated, she should have been put in a cast as opposed to bandages, it should have looked real, in my view it was not convincing she was crippled.

I also looked at the whole storyline about Eriwu and Omatseye. In the United Kingdom, that could work with the woman throwing the man out of the house, but in Nigeria where with respect things don’t necessarily favour the woman, I cannot picture a situation where a man rents a house and his live in lover because of circumstances throws him out of his own house. In our culture, the man would do whatever he can to maintain his dignity and would not leave sheepishly as he did with a Ghana must go bag.

 All I am saying as an outside watching a movie is that the storyline needs to be realistic and reflect what actually happens in society especially when the movie is meant to be educative.

In the light of the above, for the fact that a real life issue has been brought to light and considering the entire storyline, I would give a core of 6.5 out of a possible 10 for this category.

Picture Quality: I think the picture quality was good, not excellent to deserve maximum point as I have reviewed movies with better pictures, but I think it was a good attempt and as such I would not hesitate to give an 8 out of a possible 10  for this category.

Sound: For most parts of the movie, the sound was clear and we could hear what the people were saying. Having said that, there were buzzy sounds especially in external scenes. For those who know me, when it comes to reviewing movies, I am a sticker for excellence. I always like hearing clear unadulterated sounds and in this movie, that was not the case. For sound therefore, I would award a 5 out of a possible 10.

Cast: The movie had a wide range of cast that included Julie Coker, Theodora Ibekwe Oyebade, Preston Toghanro, Roli Maku, George Kelly, Olivia Eze, Edith Ogharaerumi, George Buwa, Verona Rose, Onome Mowoe, Stephen Hammond, Tyna Gibah Sonuga, Iyabo Tiya Odebode, Steve Hawker, Ebiyemi Jemide, Vanessa Kala, Remi Efele, Weyinmi Omadoye, Jane Atserunboma, Stella Fiberesima, Azalea O’Baye-Briggs, Pst Prisca Nife Blackson, Queen Adisa Adedoyin, Caroline Frempong, Joyce Momah, Riyike Alayande, Ani Atsedagho and William Uwale.

In my view some of the cast were not up to par and just seemed as they crammed their lines. I keep saying that when acting a movie, there is a difference between the way one speaks and transforming such into the character they are playing. I understand that it is not easy to get one’s lines, but it is all about convincing the audience about the role that is being played.

Having said that, I believe that Duduyemi nailed the role she was given. I commend her and think that she is an upcoming Nollywood star. I think in some parts of the movie, Daddy Yanky did well and he even carried the audience with him and made them laugh, but sometimes, I think he got carried away and in trying to impress, he exaggerated and missed the plot. That said, with focus, I also see him as an upcoming Nollywood star. He would need to keep playing roles to perfect his act. I think Omatseye played the role to the best of his ability. In my view, I don’t think he was given a role that showcased his ability. I see potential in him, but I don’t think he was the best person for that role. However, considering the fact that the role needed not only an actor but one that was versatile in Itsekiri language and culture, there might have not been much of a choice. I must say a big kudos to Theodora’s fiancée in the movie. I believe that Nollywood needs people like him. All I can say of him is that he came, he saw and he conquered his role.

I would like to commend veteran Julie Coker, she added spice to the whole movie typifying a real mother. Finally, I saw Theodora in another light in this movie. I have seen her act in many movies, but to me, I think to date, this is the best I have seen her do and I commend her.

Overall, if I were the director of the movie or if I did the auditioning, some of the cast would have been moved around. It was a good effort and in totality in spite of what I saw as little snags, the cast ended up telling the story.  For this category and balancing the pros and cons as highlighted above, I would award 7 out of a possible 10.

Overall Performance: The movie was based around the culture of the Itsekiri’s of Delta State in Nigeria and so for a good part of the movie, the Itsekiri language was spoken and so sub-titles had to be used. Most of the sub-titling was good although there were some spelling errors.

Much effort was put into the movie and I must commend the cast and crew for coming out with the movie. However, attention must be paid to details as it is little foxes that spoil the vine. There was definitely a story to tell, but with focus and using the principle of less is better, the movie would have been one of Nollywood’s top rated movies. I looked at the list of cast advertised and some names did not actually show in the movie (I believe due to editing). 

However, seeing the movie, some parts could have been edited out to make the story look real.

In the light of all the above, I would award this movie a 3+ star out of a possible 5+  stars.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rubY_cO9Ats

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbhWewe4rVw&feature=youtu.be