ANIKULAPO REVIEW

Kunle Afolayan is possibly my favourite Nigerian director. As an aspiring filmmaker, I find his work to be refreshingly unique. While this may seem contradictory given my Citation review, I believe he is somewhat of an auteur where Nollywood is concerned. He is intentional in defining his director’s signature and language and his clear vision as a storyteller never goes unnoticed. Admittedly, that doesn’t always, and my views on Citation illustrate my opinion on this. Nonetheless, he consistently dares to be different and to showcase Nigerian stories in a light it is deserving of, and I believe that is respectable.

I am aware that I am relatively late to the Anikulapo party; however, I was undeniably excited to learn of its release. Anikulapo is not perfect, but I cannot deny that I thoroughly enjoyed most of the movie and that there are commendable elements worth mentioning.

SIMPLE PLOT, RICH ELEMENTS

Its story is simple; it follows Saro, an aspiring cloth weaver, in his search for a better life. I really appreciated the simplicity in the plot because it created room to develop the more complex cultural and fictional elements within it. The use of folklore and cultural biases as a plot device was very effective and I believe intentional on the writer’s part. It did not feel overbearing or disorganised and as a viewer I was able to follow the story and indulge in all the rich culture subsumed in the film. The incorporation of the mythical Akala bird as the bridge between the different phases of Saro’s journey was quite poetic. We are introduced to it three times in the movie, and they were all indicative of a new direction in Saro’s story while being educative of its significance in the Old Oyo Empire.

Similarly, exploring the dynamics in the romantic relationships allowed for the story to progress as needed and shed light on the cultural biases present in that cultural context. We see this in the celebration of an old king with many wives, and the condemnation of an old woman with many lovers. Moreso, with the normalisation of an old king with a significantly younger wife and the taboo of an old woman with a significantly younger lover. I believe that these important elements were intentionally used to develop the plot and build the necessary tension while showcasing what culture and history accepts as a ‘respectable romance’. The film is littered with these cultural plot devices, and I found them very educative, enjoyable, and natural to the context of the movie.

CASTING

The casting choices were generally good; some actors were significantly better than others, but nothing was so bad that it was distracting. I thought each actor was well suited for their role and I was quite impressed with the performances, particularly from Sola Sobowale, Bimbo Ademoye, and Kunle Remi.

I must commend Afolayan for his good marketing choices. At first, I thought it was a waste of talent to cast Hakeem Kae-Kazim as King Ilu Ojumo because he had no lines. However, after discussing it with some friends, I must concede that it was pretty clever. Kae-Kazim is an internationally recognized actor; hence, he is bound to pull international viewers. I doubt he knows how to speak any Yoruba, and even if he was coached for the role, it wouldn’t have been executed as precisely as the other Yoruba speaking cast. Thus, it would have been a disservice to give him any lines which would have made his performance as a king unconvincing. Let’s be real, what type of king in the Old Oyo Empire wouldn’t know how to speak nearly perfect Yoruba? Therefore, I think Afolayan’s creative choice to write his character as a dumb king that needed a mouthpiece was absolutely brilliant and Kae-Kazim’s execution as a king who couldn’t speak was pretty convincing.

THE CINEMATOGRAPHY

As with many of Afolayan’s works, the cinematography in this movie was good. It was not necessarily better than any other thing he has done; however, it was a beautiful looking movie. It had some well thought out shots which were reflective of Afolayan’s touch as a director. Additionally, the location for the movie was also extremely beautiful, and the film was generally very aesthetically pleasing.

THE MOVIE IN YORUBA

I intentionally went into Anikulapo clueless. I avoided all spoilers. I did not engage with Twitter. I did not watch the trailer, and other than my knowledge of Afolayan as its director, I opted to remain in the dark. I did this because I wanted to form an unbiased opinion of the movie when I eventually watched it. Hence, I had no idea that the original film was in Yoruba and that the default Netflix version was dubbed in English. However, when I discovered that I could watch the movie in Yoruba, I was able to make a well-informed comparison.

I am not a Yoruba speaker; however, I enjoyed the Yoruba version by a landslide because it felt more authentic. I found the voice acting in Anikulapo to be overly expressive, rehearsed, and not entirely but a bit un-Nigerian, (for a lack of better words), particularly in the context of the film which was set in 17th Century Oyo Empire. This proves my observation about Nollywood as an industry and its never-ending attempts to reflect a westernized image that Nigerians do not relate to. It is my opinion that actors who sound foreign, whatever that may mean, are better appreciated, and recognized within the industry.

I have found that sometimes some Nollywood actors are not exceedingly bad in their acting; however, they focus more of their energy on the accent rather than the acting, and as a result the performance suffers. It is unfortunate because this does not only limit the actor as they desperately strive to pull off an accent that is not natural to them, but it dims the personality of the character because it isn’t natural to the character either.

I thoroughly enjoyed the performance in the Yoruba version and could really tell that the actors were able to truly immerse themselves into their roles as the burden of speaking English in a foreign accent removed the mental block on their performance. Nonetheless, I do recognize that dubbing the movie in English on Netflix is more profitable as it would be marketable to a wider audience. However, it was simply my observation that it is better enjoyed in the language it was originally intended, as is with a lot of other foreign movies dubbed in other languages.

THE LENGTH

The movie is undoubtedly unnecessarily long. There are elements of the plot that could have been addressed quicker and scenes that could have been cut shorter. I think this robbed the movie of a thorough and better fleshed out ending as it felt quite abrupt and a bit rushed. However, this did not have any significant bearing on the overall quality of the film for me.

 CONCLUSION

To conclude, Anikulapo is not without its flaws; however, I was able to enjoy it for what it is. I will always appreciate a Nigerian period piece that sheds light on Nigeria’s rich and diverse culture. I think Afolayan is steering Nollywood in the right direction and telling authentic Nigerian stories that truly reflect the DNA of who we are.

Rating: 7.5/10