University Girls

With a revealing title such as University Girls I already had an idea on what this film was going to be about and it did not disappoint my suppositions. However I found  script writer, producer and director Mina Mina's angle of approach somewhat refreshing. Rather than go through the overused Nollywood pattern of poor girl transformed by circumstance, the main lead Julie is rather a lazy girl avid for materialism and an easy life. Despite her extremely modest background she abhors poverty and languishes for selfish and money-oriented. The viewer is drawn in by good quality images and some attempts at creative frame/composition, camera angles and pleasant sound score to follow Julie's journey in the search of a 'better existence'. I would not really say there was any remarkable directorial style but what was noticeable was the attempt to capture and keep Julie and the other characters as basic as possible. I found Pascaline the 'big girl wanna-be' very interesting and she did get me to laugh in some instances, main lead Julie essayed by Adela Elad  was convincing. There was evident effort in the acting but the Slayer in the movie was the dialogue delivery which was mechanical and somewhat recital-like with overly timed entries and dead moments. The transitions between shots and connecting scenes were jagged and some handheld camera movements made one conscious of the film technicality consequently even though briefly, disconnecting the viewer from the story. All in all the story was neatly packaged and makes for an interesting watch. I must confess for some strange reason this is the first Anglophone Cameroonian film I have watched twice over and believe me that is something! I will not give any detailed synopsis here 'cause I believe the title is already too revealing as it is. Now it's your turn to purchase it, watch it and come tell me what you thought of the film.