Plot
Sisters Olanna and Kainene return home to 1960s Nigeria, where they soon diverge on different paths. As civil war breaks out, political events loom larger than their differences as they join the fight to establish an independent republic.
Release Year: 2013
Rating: 6.7/10 (217 voted)
Critic's Score: 54/100
Director: Biyi Bandele
Stars: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Thandie Newton, Anika Noni Rose
Storyline
Sisters Olanna and Kainene return home to 1960s Nigeria, where they soon diverge on different paths. As civil war breaks out, political events loom larger than their differences as they join the fight to establish an independent republic.
Writers: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Biyi Bandele
Cast: John Boyega -
Ugwu
Thandie Newton -
Olanna
Chiwetel Ejiofor -
Odenigbo
Anika Noni Rose -
Kainene
Joseph Mawle -
Richard
Hakeem Kae-Kazim -
Captain DUTSE
Babou Ceesay -
Okeoma
O.C. Ukeje -
Aniekwena
Genevieve Nnaji -
Ms Adebayo
Rob David -
Redhead Charles
Paul Hampshire -
Professor Lehman
Susan Wokoma -
Amala
Onyeka Onwenu -
Mama
Zack Orji -
Kasper Michaels -
Plump Charles
Trivia:
The film is essentially a love story set in the war. See more »
User Review
Author:
Rating: 3/10
This film is a great example of some incredible archive footage ruined
by a boring, mediocre and incoherent film in between.
Yes, I have read the book. I wasn't expecting a literal screen
translation of the book, as the book covers a vast array of characters,
but I did expect the essence of it to be retained.
It wasn't.
The film follows the lives of twin sisters Olanna (Thandie Newton) and
Kainene (Akina Noni Rose) right after Nigeria gets its independence
from the British and through to the Biafran war, as the Igbo people
struggle to establish an independent republic. The film (similar to the
book) tries to follow the lives of these 2 affluent young women, their
relationships with men and with one another set against a significant
historical event in Nigeria.
I went to watch this film specifically to support African Cinema and
exited about a Nigerian Director making a film with a strong cast. I
was bitterly disappointed with the lazy result.
Firstly the performances; Chiwetel Ejiofor is ever earnest in his role
as Olanna's lover Odenigbo. He is OK, not offensive and gives a similar
performance as he did in 12 years a slave. Thandie Newton is horrific.
She has literally two expressions. I like to think its to do with the
bad direction, someone should have told her she's over-acting .
The worst and best performance came from Odenigbo's Mother played by
Onyeka Onwenu. What can I say. The best is that she was very
entertaining, funny and a joy to watch. What made it the worst was that
it belonged to a different film. A film I would have preferred to watch
by the way. Her performance added a quality of a soap opera to the
film. Anika had the strongest performance among them and deserves a
mention for it.
The film has two parts, the first comes across as a cheap soap opera
and the second, a cheap action movie. Choices that were made baffled
me. Scenes played out that were pointless and didn't add much to the
plot, making the first half plod along longer than it should have. The
second half was riddled with inconsistencies and poor editing.
Characters were introduced just as quickly as they were killed off. I
am not sure why it was important to illustrate on a map were everyone
was, that added nothing.
But the biggest problem with the film is that it lacked a director, a
proper director. There wasn't anyone keeping the actors believable,
controlling the movement of the camera, having a coherent edit or
keeping tabs on the horrendous sound score.
Unbelievably the producers also produced Constant Gardener and should
have known better than this. How can you allow an inexperienced
Director to helm such a significant film? It's arrogant and
irresponsible.
I am African (yes, I know it's a continent), I applaud any one trying
to make our stories for an audience outside of the continent but this
effort was so poor that I had to write about it. We can do much better
than this.
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