Hard Decision

No doubt Cameroonian video film productions have a long way to go; however productions such as Hard Decision 1 & 2 by Molimi Cletus fill 0ne with hope.
A simple story about a young girl (Besumbu) who loses her father and is confused between two eligible suitors. Something happens and she goes mad and the power of love is revealed from either men.
Now as much as I commend the efforts we had a lot of technical issues such as poor continuity and camera management, the screenplay pulled on too long in the first quarter of the film and the dialogues lacked the crispiness that would have given an extra bounce to the production.
The acting needed serious time investment. Fioretta Cleare does her role as Besumbu well Molimi Cletus who played Ndip one of the suitors was too mechanical. Sah Keneth does his bit as Eboka one of the suitors but the other actors really struggle with dialogues and emotion.
Nevertheless the effort is commendable and i think it would make a great viewing. Go check it out!

Royal Destination - Movie Review

When it comes to homemade(Cameroonian) movies, before I slip the disc into the DVD player I say a silent prayer of hope that I wouldn't shudder with disappointment. Well one of the very few Cameroonian films I have watched so far which I can assure y'all that I could watch as many times as possible is this movie Royal Destination. Forget the Nigerian cast power, this film as compared to most 'Camer' movies had a sense of direction.The ending was commendably neat, the actors immersed in their roles, and the directors vision was applaudable.

The story
The story is divided into two part whioch connect at the end. Set in a kingdom the story is of a king in search of a male child to take over his kingdom less the kingly lineage be passed onto his brothers' side of the family and particularly to his unworthy nephew. With no hope of a remedy the King succumbs to heart failure and passes on. Thats where the drama begins in the Palace as his unworthy nephew forcefully takes over the kingdom and aims for his late uncles wealth. Emeka Ike plays the illegal son of the king who coincidentally comes into contact with the Kings' second daughter (played by Cameroonian rising actress Solange) and is led back to the palace to take his rightful place as heir to the kingdom.Tonto Dikeh plays the first daughter to the king who fights back to preserve her father's wealth.

Analyses
Lets start with the bad. As much as I think this film is worthy of praise there are however some lapses. The picture quality at certain points is doubtful, the script becomes repetitives and inadequate at many areas and there are unneccessary xters in the film. I don't know what happened but the quality of the first shot introducing the king and queen was not one of the best shots in the film. The picture quality was blurred and greyish. This is dangerous cos its at the beginning of the film and could kill the audiences' mood. The many scenes devoted to the desperation the character Tonto Dikeh plays in relation to the pressure from her family was redundant. Emeka's characters mothers' insistence for him to get married too did not require so many scenes. Emeka's brother and brother-in-law were uneccessary characters in this film from my perspective. I thought the lead character Emeka Ike played, apart from speaking french and a bit of some Cameroonian dialect did not wave the Cameroonian heritage flag well enough especially as far as costumes were concerned. Last but not the least I don't like the fact that the coranation takes place when credits are rolling. This was the 'denouement' of the film why put it so unimportantly besides the film end credits? Are the names in the end credits not noteworthy?

The good part lies in the fact that there can be no perfect movie and Director Neba Lawrence and his producer are taking bold steps which we should salute. The vision for this film was simple and the team did their best to pull it off. The script development, its climax and finale is a good attempt in screenplay writing. The locations and props well done.

Characters & Actors
I found Emeka Ike's attempt to speak french and a Cameroonian mother tongue very amusing yet thrilling.I commend the Nigerian actors whose professionalism could be felt as we watched the movie; they blended with the Cameroonian actors. Most of all I salute the one-part movie initiative which is a welcoming breath of fresh air. Some of the Cameroonian actors stood their grounds too. Solange(whose last name I have forgotten (check her out in the film poster) was believable in her pain at her fathers loss(though the nose discharge episode was very disgusting). Yimbu Emma seemed a little taken aback by Tonto from my perspective; I know what he is capable of doing as an actor and I didn't get 100% of that in this movie. The guy who played the greedy nephew was worth watching.As for Emeka Ike's charcaters mother I think she over-acts a little too much. Her flamy reactions in some scenes were unneccessary.

Conclusion
A lot of polishing still has to be done but a step a day will do the trick for this budding Cameroonian video film industry. So my last words are ...go grab your copy now!

I found this interview very good and honest. Check it out people! Its Desmond Elliot. http://nollywoodgossip.lurrenzinc.com/news.php?extend.690.7

Too Much Talk!

Undeniably when one looks at where Nigerian and even Ghaniain filmmakers are at with their work, there is undoubtedly a wealth of progress and strife for perfection. What about Cameroon? Is there any hope that we shall surface from the dpeths of procastination and humble ourselves to learn the art of filmmaking enough to incoporate our own values? Truth be told, Cameroonians talk more than they do. They are always waiting for the big break, the perfect equipment, the million dollar script and so on. Finally not much is done in terms of actually making films. The few films which finally get made have no marketing power or skillful marketers to market the products. I was shocked to discover that in Cameroon there were about 450 video films made and released yet with no real marketing startgies they remained underground. Where are we heading, it is said a journey of a thousand miles starts with a step...but lets not remain on that step lets take a few more cos we can.

Disgusting!!

What I have seen today is the height of it all. Ok agreed our greatest dream as filmmakers in Africa has always been to be internationally recognised but this recognition had to come based on our own cultural identity which we portray in our films. Not because we have shun our own cultural personae for a completely western mode of expression. Dressing, talking like white people is one thing but bringing this bluntly to television is another thing completely.

Personally I was happy when the Ghanaian film industry burst out showing their worth with their smooth English clean cut technique what I definitely did not bargain for was the horrid really horrid sense of naturalism which they aim to portray in their films. I just watched a Ghanaian film My Worst Experience by director Willie Ajenge where a girl small girl is asked to simulate in an explicit scene a ‘blowjob’ the very next scene is followed by another small girl being raped with an explicit display of their private parts. In another Ghanaian production the film Dirty War starring Jim Iyke and Yvonne Nelson opens with a gruesome sexual scene between two actors...the list goes on. Where are we heading to?

We are Africans and will never ever be western no matter how effective the concept of a global village has spread out amongst us. There are things that are said things that can be seen and other that are simply intolerable. How dare we! Nigerians...thank God for their religious background at least try to keep within the frameworks of decency. They remember that at all times the films they are making is for an audience which has a conservative cultural background. What are these Ghanaian filmmakers trying to prove? That they master the art more than Nigerians who spurred video filmmaking? Do they even have a censor’s board in that Ghanaian film industry? How can they let films like these be released, what is the aim of their filmmaking? What is their concept?

I think they are just being very callous and are derailing the future generation by overriding our cultural identity in favour of the voyeuristic western culture. What would an eighteen year old be thinking after watching a film like this? This is so wrong Africa lets wake up. We have very little that is left untainted about our cultural heritage. Let us stop trying to fit in the western world which is far from our reality. So is this the kind of art we want to display in our films? Is this African art? Use the filmmaking techniques but not to the detriment of what makes us African!

Tell our own stories from our perspective!

Movie Title: Love Lies

This must be a joke.
The cover of this movie is so well done when I saw it at the video shop I knew I just had to get me a copy. Now I am wondering who I can sell it too. I mean with heavy guns of the Nigerian film Industry such as Zack Orji, Rita Dominic, Tonto Dike...who wouldn't reach out for a copy of this two part flick.

The story:
Zack Orji's character meets Rita's character in the classic boy meets girl scenario and we can obviously guess where this is all heading. The screenplay writer throws in an annoying twist when he hints through Rita's friend on a possible dark secret(Rita was married and accused of killing her husband) and further reveals to us that Zack Orji is not only married to Tonto's character but has a son who is recalcitrant and bent to travel abroad. The story twists painfully around to finally have Zack Orji's son investigating Rita's charcater's past hired by Rita's Character's friend. This exposes her secret to Zack xter who shuns her, at the same time Rita's xters very concerned friend investigates Zack and discovers he is married with a son who happens to be the private investigator she'd hired.

The Review:
The story in the film may have been very interesting but for the fact that the script was not worked enough and the director missed a couple of points in his directors 301 class. I really don't know what made these actors sign up for the film cos its really pointless.
Charcater development is zero in the story...we never get to understand what Zack's character's unfaithfulness to his wife was all about; was he just a cheating husband or was there some story behind it or was he just playing with Rita...Tonto as the wife is plainly useless in this film if you ask me. She was under used and it seems like she was added in the story by mistake cos her character had nothing to offer. Rita's characters secret is half baked, and the sequences when she waits for Zack's character are a bore. Rita's xter has a male colleague who works with her ...I just don't get his part and the anger disappointment he shows at the end was unjustified...was he interested in Rita's Character at any point? If he was then it was poorly portrayed by the script writer.

All in All
The few good points in the movie for me ;
the fact that it was a pleasure seeing Zack Orji the actor again on screen,
Rita was dressed decently and was playing a less trashy role,
and last but not the least Tonto's beautiful face.
Apart from that...my copy of the movie is up for sale. Now I know why people don't buy Nigerian movies anymore but rather rent them.