Lionheart: Of Family, Culture, and Industry

The Obiagus

(By Obianuju Okafor) - Enugu takes centre stage in Genevieve Nnaji’s directorial debut with lighting and colouring made to reflect the mood and feel of the town. It is one of the things that Lionheart gets right from its beginning and the first sign that the audience is about to get a film that mixes the technical improvements that have attended more recent Nollywood releases with a more old school, locally flavoured, story, and (this bears stating right of the bat) superb, superb acting.

Adaeze is an adept and excellent right hand for her father in the bus transport empire that he has built. When his health is severely threatened, Adaeze’s assumption that she will be appointed as the acting leader is disappointed by the arrival of her uncle who is then appointed in her place, and whose presence initially irks her. Still, the two band together to solve a problem left by her father and compounded by the owner of a rival transport company, who hopes to make a gain from their troubles. Ada slowly has her perspective changed as she interacts more with her uncle and comes to the end of her own rope.

Lionheart is a slowburn, walking leisurely through every occurrence even when a clock is introduced to heighten the stakes. Genevieve Nnaji is a great lead as Adaeze giving a great and completely unforced performance and leaving room enough for the roster of other veterans to shine.

King of Boys: A Compelling Lagos Story

(By Obianuju Okafor) - King of Boys had a lot to live up to from day one of its announcement. Kemi Adetiba’s previous feature film project was the successful Wedding Party film. That particular project had been a collaborative win with EbonyLife Films tag teaming other major production houses – FilmOne Distribution, Inkblot Productions and Koga studios – and all of them together trusting the project to the hands of the director who had, for the most part, cut her teeth directing music videos. She delivered then, and it’s easy to say that with King of Boys she has performed an even greater feat.

An effective trailer built anticipation for King of Boys, and the gangster royalty themed premiere managed to also heighten conversations about what was to be expected. All this background is necessary to point out the tall expectations that followed King of Boys, and why it is amazing that it did not disappoint. There is a common Nigerian parlance used in discussing films that have been well marketed and therefore well talked about prior to a bulk of people actually seeing it. It is this concept of over-hyping, where people who watch a movie after an explosion of compliments for it condition their enjoyment by claiming that it is merely ‘okay’ and unable to live up to the particular tall order or hype that had so far followed it.