The
movie Basira in London premiered at the Odeon Cinema Greenwich on Friday 21st
August 2015. The attendance of this movie was unbelievable and in the words of
the MC for the night DJ Abass, with an attendance of 1200 people, that was the
highest record for a Nollywood premiere in the UK. The movie was shown in 6
screens so it was a challenge to identify people on the red carpet but in
summary on the red carpet were the cast and crew of the movie as well as
members of the public.
Storyline:
An African woman
Basira (Eniola Badmus) relocates to London with great expectations. She came in
with her elderly husband and jilted him in the airport. All her efforts to
"fit in" result in hilarious consequences.
Initially she did
not realise that the job that was found for her was a cleaning job and as a
proud lady that she was, she did not stay long in the job as she wanted a
managerial job. She went on to a salon and before she even started she messed
up and had to run away. She was desperate to get the right to remain in the UK.
To what extent would Basira go? You need to watch the movie yourself for
answers.
The storyline is
one that is a common occurrence not only for Nigerians but for people from less
developed countries who believe that once they get into the UK their lives
would be better. On a daily basis, we hear of people risking their lives
staying in different parts of the plane and dying of suffocation or trying to
cross the Calais borders or hiding in trailers just to get into the UK to stay.
These people go to any levels to regularize their stay including claiming
asylum even where there is peace in their countries, doing arranged marriages etc.
so Basira’s case is not a strange one.
I would like to
commend Philippa for telling such a story that is real to life. However, there
are one or two flaws that I saw in the story itself and this is just me being
fastidious and the average person may not know.
At a wedding
where three persons were to be arrested, you never send two Immigration
Officers. The number of Officers must exceed the people to be arrested and in
reality, the chances of Basira escaping would be nil as all the exits would be
covered by Immigration Officers.
Worse still was
the purported arrest by one officer of Basira in her house. Again this would
not happen in reality and at least two officers would attend. In fact, if
properly researched, you would find out that a team of six officers would
attend to arrest Basira.
I am of the
school of thought that for this industry to attain a place of excellence, we
need to shoot movies that people can relate with and believe. More extras
should have been used to make this part of the storyline look real. If
Immigration Officers were in the audience today, they would have laughed. I used
to watch soaps like The Bill and the setting and storylines reflect exactly how
things are done in the metropolitan police.
Secondly, at the
end of the scene in the lawyer’s office, the lawyer wore a wig over his suit
and a s a lawyer myself, I questioned if he was a solicitor or a barrister. If
a barrister he should not have worn the wig or should have dressed in a bib not
a wig over a tie and suit.
I was seating
close to a producer/Marketer from Nollywood Nigeria and one thing we both
agreed was that the movie dragged on longer than it should have. I think parts
of the movie should have been edited out to make the storyline short and sweet.
That said, the storyline was full of comedy and people kept laughing all the
time.
Cast: The cast
included Eniola Badmus,
Philippa Abraham, Timothy Byrne, Theodora Ibekwe-Oyebade, Ayo Oyebade, Riyike
Alayande, Tolu Yesufu, Jason Abraham Junior, Destinee Anthony, Dapo Oloja, Frank Williams and many more.
Let me start from the positives.
There were two people that shone for me in the movie. Firstly was Eniola
herself. She was the backbone of the movie and like Julius Agu cracked many
ribs by making people laugh. I could not see any other person playing that role
and I commend the casting Director for giving her the role and the Director
Phillippa for bringing her role to life.
I have seen Tolulope Yesufu develop
and I left this choice to my Producer/Marketer fro Nollywood Nigeria to make. I
did not tell her about previous movies that Tolu had done, but she picked her
as having a flair to act and playing the role properly. I would like to
encourage Tolu to keep working hard as her potential would hit the skies.
Again having said that and I don’t
want to break the morale of people who are trying hard to make it in Nollywood.
There was a lot of scripted acting and by this I mean cast just cramming their
lines and reciting them without any passion for the role that is being played.
I saw some upcoming actresses that I have seen playing minor roles in some recent
movies struggling to act and basically delivering lines.
My pastor says proper preparation
prevents poor performance. One thing I have noticed in this industry is that
people do not want to better themselves. Seeing a review like this should
prompt people to go to acting classes even if for a few weeks but people think
they are good enough when they are not. This being Phillippa’s first Nollywood
job, I would not really blame her for casting such people, but we should get to
a place in the Nollywood industry where if you are not good enough, you are
just not good enough. I rest my case!
Picture Quality:
The cinematography for this movie was generally good. There were no shaky
pictures and generally pictures were within their frames. However, is some
scenes, there was a slight gap between the close of one scene and the beginning
of another. This usually lasted about two seconds.
Also of
concern, were two scene where two people in one case Basira and Aunty Ifeoma
(Phillippa) and in the other case Basira and Bose (Tolu) were having a
conversation and for most parts of that scene all we saw was Basira. I believe
proper editing can correct that and show both parties in the conversation.
Sound
Quality: For a Nollywood movie, I am happy that the sound was good and there
was no external interference. I was concerned at a stage when I heard a siren
when the cast were inside a studio, but I discovered it was deliberate as it
was meant to be that the photographer had called the police.
I
also commend the wisdom of the Director for not allowing the cast actually
converse this not having problems with interference in public places like the
Rye Street Market.
However,
my friend from Nollywood Nigeria who reviewed this movie with me was concerned
about lips moving sometimes before sound and vice versa in some scenes. I
believe that can be corrected in editing.
Overall
performance: Overall, in spite of my
little critics, the film was a very good movie. It was comical and I read some
of the comments on Bella Nigeria and in my view they were just a figment of the
imagination of the writers. People kept laughing and could not leave their
seats to the extent that there was a queue in the ladies toilet after the
movie.
I would say a big well done to Phillippa who wrote the
script, directed and produced it as well as the cast and the crew for a job
well done!
The question remains if I would recommend this movie. As a
reviewer and critic, and without a doubt, I would recommend this movie. As an
individual, I would watch the edited and shorter version of the movie any day
anytime
Once more well done to the team
Watch
the trailer:
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