Kunle Afolayan, son of the late Yoruba movie legend Adeyemi Afolayan(aka Ade-love) is apparently living up to his legacy with his new movie The Figurine.
Kunle used to work in a bank before quitting in 2005 to attend NEW YORK FILM ACADEMY in London to study Digital Filmmaking (source) (I suspect that website of his is really old, so I will update it if something more current shows up).
Anyways, his latest movie is making waves, as it is said to be in a different league compared to our usual Nollywood movies. The movie is currently in theaters in Nigeria (yay, exciting), and word on the street is that its really good. The synopsis
Two buddies and A girl………all down on their luck have their lives changed after one of them discovers “ARAROMIRE” a mysterious figurine in an abandoned shrine which according to ancient legend bestows seven years of good luck . But, no one told them about the next seven years…..
The movie stars Ramsey Nouah, Funlola Aofiyebi-Raimi, Omoni Oboli and Kunle Afolayan himself.
The trailer:
A teaser:
There is a lot of stuff out there about the movie already. I have not seen it, so I cannot review it yet, but I just can't wait! In the meantime though, you can check out the following: The website of the movie, some cool behind the scene pics here and here, a review here and some gorgeous Lagos premiere pics here.
In addition, if you are outside Naija, there are a whole bunch of premieres still planned:
London Premiere:
Start Time: Saturday, October 31, 2009 at 9:00pm End Time: Sunday, November 1, 2009 at 12:30am Location: ODEON Cinema, Greenwich Street: Bugsby Way, SE10 0QJ City/Town: London, United Kingdom
Starring: Genevieve Nnaji, Segun Arinze, Joke Silva, Gbenga Richards, Chet Basheri Anekwe (CBA), Kalu Ikeagwu, Iyabo Amoke, Najite Dede.
Producer(s): Ego Boyo
Director: Mildred Okwo
Year of production: 2006
Country: Nigeria.
Genre: Political Thriller/Romance
Language: English
Availability: This movie is ONLY available for purchase here
Trailer
Preamble: There was a lot of anticipation surrounding this movie – it was finished and premiered in 2006, but was not released until 2008 for a number of reasons, none of which are really relevant to this review. Suffice to say – we were waiting for it anxiously. And because I am reviewing it here, suffice to say it was worth the wait – mostly! It is a thriller and a love story (well mostly lust), and it somewhat delivers on both fronts.
Story: Gbenga Richards is Mr President, Ms Joke Silva is Minister of state while Segun Arinze is the inspector General of police in a corrupt and degenerate establishment. However, they have a problem on their hands, as top government functionaries are being mysteriously assassinated. The culprits? A band of female revolutionaries who are tired of the massive corruption pervading the land and decide to take matters into their own hands. Into all this drama walks Kene Alumona (played by the ubersexy CBA). He is home on vacation after many years in the US, and he picks up the very pretty Chinora Onu (Genevieve Nnaji) after dancing with her at a club. But is Chinora just another hot chick, or is life a little more complex? And how are the lovebirds affected by the chaos infecting the larger polity? REVIEW Positives: How would I describe this movie? How about ambitious? And SEXY!! I think Desmond Elliot and Ramsey Noah, and all the rest of Idumota’s favorites just got schooled. Chet as love interest was absolutely outstanding and extremely sexy. I think just a little too sexy!! I think this is one of the sexiest Nigerian movies I have ever seen. I know, I am overusing the word sexy, but mamma mia!! My eyes were wide open agape. Genny and CBA really went for it in this one. I was, to say the least, surprised, and believe me, the love scenes are not for kids. At one point, we even get a glimpse of Chet’s well toned butt!! They certainly pushed the envelope on this one. While not as bad as the sex scenes in many American movies, this was still a bit raunchy. So therefore, watch with caution.
How was the acting? Mostly great. Joke Silva, CBA, Genny and her sidekicks, Segun Arinze, and Gbenga Richards all did their thing very, very competently. Genny living her double life – floated nicely between super bad woman, and conflicted good girl. And Ms Silva!! Oh, she was just magnificent as Minster. Finally a role that is ALMOST worthy of her talents! In terms of other aspects of the movie, sound and picture quality were very high (this is a Nigerian movie after all, and we must comment on these things until they cease to become an issue) and the musical scoring was mostly very competent. There were one or two songs that bothered me, but in general, it worked well.
Negatives: Kalu Ikeagwu was in this movie as a reporter, working along side a female reporter played by Iyabo Amoke investigating all the murders. I am a huge fan of Kalu’s – have been ever since I saw For Real, but he was just bad in this one. He was not the spontaneous, fabulous Kalu that we love. He was so scripted, his dialogue so slow and so stilted – I just could not figure it out. And while I understand what he and Iyabo Amoke were supposed to be doing, I was not overly impressed with how they did it. Needless to say, the journalistic angle to this story did not really work for me. In addition, it was obvious that there were certain aspects of the story that were better developed, and better thought out than others - I still don’t really get that Alhaji thing. And as for the ending, without giving it away, I must complain about it most vigorously. Waaaay too cheap. C’mon. I know the Nigerian Police Force has issues, but I cannot believe that they can be that clueless, careless and inept. I think the writer ran out of ideas at the very last minute and thus wrapped up the movie with an ending unworthy of the story. I was really disappointed by that!!
Themes and worldviews: The issue here is revenge or justice, depending on how you see the world. This is particularly relevant to us as Africans, as we deal with corrupt and inept leaderships in our respective countries. How do we handle people in power who bleed our countries dry? Kill them all? Many African countries have chosen that route and the resultant civil wars over the last few decades. Is there a better way? If we do not put into place, collectively as a people, a system of justice that is fair, equitable and blind, then we make revenge as a system of justice almost inevitable. This may be manifested in carefully targeted assassinations as we see in 30days, or, it may end up as nasty, protracted, expensive civil wars. Our choice.
Bottomline: Despite all the sex involved, the movie certainly deals with some difficult and timely issues, very relevant to our situations as Africans. While it had its problems, I still highly recommended it. It is certainly way better than the average Nigerian movie.
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