The Gala Premiere took place at the Hackney Picture House On Tuesday 30th September 2014. The premiere was attended by the Director Destiny Ekaragha, the writer Bola Agbaje, the cast and crew of the movie and many of the Nollywood UK industry stakeholders including DJ Abass, Theodora Ibekwe Oyebade, Ayo Oyebade, Teju Ibukunoluwa, Ikenna Obi, Kenneth Benson, Danny Erskrine, Nelson Spyke, Riyike Alayande, to mention but a few.
Storyline: Gone too far follows two estranged brothers mainly over the course of a single day as they meet for the first time and struggle to accept each other for who they truly are. Yemi (Malachi Kirby) who was a British born Nigerian teenager could not wait to for his brother Ikudayisi (O C Ukeje) to join him in Peckham but it was all disappointment when he arrived wearing socks and sandals making Yemi question both his judgement and African heritage.
The drama continued as Ikudayisis African heritage and unimpressive fashion sense soon start to endanger Yemi’s street credentials. He had been trying so hard, got the right clothes, listened to the right music, stayed out of trouble, and it seemed to be working particularly when trying to impress local troublemaking temptress Armani (Shanika Warren-Markland), but his wall soon came crashing down as this goggle-eyed, naive immigrant could do nothing but harm his credibility.
As simmering adolescent passions and West Indian-African tensions erupt over the course of one day in their estate, both siblings had to decide where their loyalties lie. A day in the estate becomes filled with danger and excitement and teaches both siblings the values of family and self-respect.
The movie was adapted from Bola Agbaje’s Olivier award winning play and is a delightful funny tale from the end of Peckham and focused on addressing serious racial tensions. The film was directed by Destiny Ekaragha and produced by Christopher Granier-Deferre. The Associate producer was Rob Watson.
The storyline outlined what is a prevailing issue in the British and in fact in other parts of the world. Discrimination is not necessarily between black and white or white and Hispanic and could actually be amongst the black race, in the case of this movie between African and Caribbean citizens. What caught my eyes and was real is the way the Afro-Caribbean in the Diaspora have refused to identify with their roots as depicted by Yemi and Shanika. These are real issues and though not depicted in the movie, people want to identify and do so by changing their names and even the colour of their skins. To me, the storyline was direct, relevant and eye opening. We need to go back to our roots and identify with it, we need to be proud to be Nigerian or Bajan. I therefore give kudos to the script writer for coming up with such a concept.
Cast: The movie feautured Adelayo Adedayo (Paris), Malachi Kirby (Yemi), Shanika Warren-Markland (Armani), Ashley Chin (Mark), Bhasker Patel (Mr Patel), Eddie Bagayawa (Cook), O.C. Ukeje (Ikudayisi), Pooja Shah (Aisha), Kulvinder Ghir (Bossman), Tosin Cole (Razer), Wai Wong (Mr Wong), Michael Maris (Blazer), Eddie Kadi (DJ), Liz Sutherland (Mrs Wong), Golda John (Mum), Sandra Michelle (angry girlfriend), Garry Marriott (PCSO), Miles McDonald (Ghost) and KG the Comedian (Hi Res).
I must commend the Director how she was able to bring a blend of different personalities to tell the story. Using a mix of Golda, Malachi, O.C Ukeje, Shanika and the mix of minor characters such as Bhasker, Mr Wong etc brought balance to the movie. Usually, I pick one or two of the cast and credit them, but for this movie and in order to encourage the upcoming actors and actresses take a bold step and get into the industry, I would say a big well done to everyone. When a Director makes a foreigner speak an indigenous Nigerian language, I give kudos to that Director and although murdering the Yoruba language, I give credit to Bhasker for the effort.
Saying that, I think in some scenes, there was a bit of overacting, I also think that one or two of the cast in some scenes made it obvious that they were in front of a camera, thus defeating the ethos of acting. That being the case, overall, I give a thumbs up to the cast especially those that are new to the Nollywood scene. I also see potentials of new stars erupting as a result of their roles in the movie. To me Golda was just natural and I commend her. I have said in a previous review that O.C. Ukeje is a fast upcoming star, but I think he should learn his role properly and convince the audience of the role he is playing. He was playing a Yoruba boy and in my honest opinion in some scenes his tone and acts did not demonstrate a typical Yoruba compared to Golda. Being Yoruba myself I noticed easily, others may not but overall, I say the cast did well.
Picture quality: To me throughout the movie, unless I missed something, the picture quality was not excellent, but it was good and I do not have any negative comments about the picture quality. With a larger budget in these days of technology the picture quality could have been improved. That said, as a starting point I give credit to the Director and her crew and I look forward to seeing the use of sharper and up to date cinematography in her next movie. This bit should not be seen as a negative criticism but one that is pushing the Director to look deeper and upgrade in her next effort.
Sound: Again apart from one scene which was an external scene where I heard some buzzing sound I think the sound was good again I commend the Director and her team for this. Not much to say.
Overall performance: In describing the movie overall, I would say it was simply brilliant, an excellent movie, one of the best that I have watched in Nollywood recently. There were loads of comedy with the audience bursting out in laughter.
However good as the movie is, I think there should have been subtitles for non-Yoruba speakers and even non Bayan speakers. If the movie has been produced for a Nigerian or even Afro-Caribbean audience I think subtitles would not be necessary. However, if the movie has been designed for an overall audience of different nationals, in some scenes people would be lost as was the case in the premiere where my neighbour looked lost in some scenes as she just did not understand the jokes or what was going on. Golda in her role tried to interprete Yoruba to English, but not in all cases. That is just a food for thought.
The movie is showing at a cinema near you from the 10th of October 2014. The question is that as a Nollywood critic and movie reviewer, would I pay to go and see the movie. I do not have to think hard and fast about the answer to that question. The answer is a categorical YES.
I believe this is one of the movies that depicts where the Nollywood movie industry should be going and as such we should encourage a step in the right direction. To the Director, cast and crew of this movie I say well done!!
Watch the trailer:
No comments:
Post a Comment