By: Arc
Level: 2
(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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Kunle Afolayan
The Best Thing That Has Happened To Nollywood Storytelling
I often wonder why Nollywood movies are made…Strictly just for laughs? The Dumebis, the Ebola satires, the aki and paw paws, spider girl, the unending royal cacophony and co (The tag home video is totally appropriate).
Some have real pitiable stories, makes you wonder how adults can converge to produce such distastefulness…They actually go through the stress of “cut and action”…If you are unfortunate like myself to only afford the Dstv family plan (no access to “current” Nigerian movies and series) then you are stuck on big time eye sores and mentality pollutants…I lost all faith in Nigerian movies…The importation of fine boy Vicker did little to help us as he contrived to portray himself as a very bright boy-pun intended (based on his delivery). He famously bragged in an interview that it takes him 2 weeks to complete a “movie” (what an insult to the art)…I used to walk out the living room when I saw “Produced by Tchidi Chikere” as I had come to associate him with real abominably lousy scripts (kudos to him for reviving his career with Professor Johnbull). Just concluded my second decade on earth and very few movies leave the kind of impression the likes of Desperado, Rattle Snake, Heritage, Full Moon and some others have left in my gut…I was on the verge of joining the “I-don’t-do-Nollywood-movies” gang till I saw the light—-A certain movie that had me screaming Araromire for days…I met art and I met the artist, Kunle Afolayan restored my faith…Artists exist in fatherland…
Figurine: This movie released in 2009 remains my favorite movie till date (Let’s forget the Godfather and Troy for a bit)…I totally enjoyed it from start to finish, Mr. Afolayan perfectly executed an enriching story (yes flawless victory)…The movie has it all- Nigeria exposed in all ways with an electron microscope…Where to start,
- The picture—every scene seemed so real and just right.
- The great Araromire exhibition (surely now Nigeria’s most famous deity, I’d have to make my own movie on Ogbuide).
- The display of our “controversial youth corps exercise.”
- The performance-Bodacious!!! Ramsey Nouah himself knows it’s his best work yet, Funlola Afofiyebi-Raimi ensured Linda became the face of Figurine…Her acting was superb; it was in every way watching a Nigerian lady in her natural habitat…
- The great debate: belief versus coincidence (Mr. Afolayan puts his free thinking on display, everything should have an explanation).
- All the many sub themes e.g. irrational love, cheating husbands, incentifying aka bribery, IM.
- Seeing Mr.Afolayan keep Ombo Gogo afloat in the-making highlights the level of work put into creating the right picture.
The fact that this totally awesome movie (which I’ve watched say 10 times) only recovered 30 million of its 70 million budget makes me understand wholeheartedly why Mr. Afolayan feels so strongly about piracy and why he felt the need to trouble Mark Zuckerberg’s ears with our problem. Figurine is indeed worthy of Avatar success, thankfully it is internationally acclaimed @ “Auteuring Nollywood: Critical Perspectives on the Figurine.”
Phone Swap: I’ve spent so much words talking about my favorite-Figurine so I’d just point out a few about the rest. Very interesting story, lacked a little on believability, still turned out okay, it’s a comic right? Joke Silva was graceful; drunkenness seems to agree with her. Nse Ikpe Etim was wicked awesome as usual. My favorite scene was the twin boys’ reply to Akin’s question of what they were into—“Bi-zi-ness!!!”…
October 1st: Another flawless piece…Wikipedia pinpoints the following powerful themes-Tribalism, Western imperialism, Pedophilia, Nigeria’s unification…I know right? Theme packed!!! Sadiq Baba’s execution of Waziri didn’t look like a first appearance in 10 years as I’ve been told (someone’s not saying the truth)…Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba on one set…Well done Tunde Babalola, beautiful story (hard to even conceive it is fiction)…I love how the movie blames Lord Lugard for all our troubles as he merged people from different realms as one…It is an opinion I strongly agree with and love to propagate, how dare he? Look at the sheer size of land mass…What addle-brained fellow felt a country should be that large with people who speak a thousand tongues and worship a hundred gods? A selfish fellow! Prince Aderopo declared we were set free too early, frankly I believe we still haven’t earned the right to be independent in terms of governance…Anyways I’m on Team One Nigeria.
The CEO: Mr.Afolayan subtly reminds us who the boss is. Intriguing story, average performances…Wale Ojo was the star man here (did great). The one sour moment of my Filmhouse Ceo experience was the scene where Lisa fails to knife Kola—the cliché moment the bad guy owes the good guy some explanation. In the voice of the bad: “when you want to stab, stab, don’t talk.” I am waiting for the world to get over this movie anomaly. I left though with excitement that would last me a decade lol. Hilda Dokubo’s “Seat your yansh down!!!”—Classic.
Sadly these are the only Kunle Afolayan movies I’ve seen, looking forward to seeing more. Some months back, I tweeted that Mr. Afolayan is by far the best movie producer in Africa…Just a glimpse of any of his movies would surely make you see things in my light. Shout out to the other leading lights Omoni Oboli, Uche Jumbo, Desmond Elliot and co…Thank you all for saving me from tossing Nollywood in a bin…True Artistry Shall Rise Above Mediocrity!!!
(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)Loading...
