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The Nigerian Film Invasion
The Nigerian Film Invasion
By I. K. Gyasi
T
here is no doubt about it. Nigerian films have crowded out
Ghanaian films from our television and other screens.
When Ghana Television (GTV), Metro TV and TV 3 tell you that they
are going to show an “African Movie”, you can be sure that the film will
be a Nigerian one.
Nigerian films on our television screens dominate the evenings of Friday,
Saturday and Sunday. Apart from the full-length films, there are a
number of soap operas also from Nigeria.
Super Story, Papa Ajasco, Candlelight and Everyday People are only a
few of these soaps that entertain Ghanaian viewers.
You know something? If a BBC Network Africa programme report of
Tuesday, March 16, 2004, is anything to go by, then Nigerian films can
be said to have also invaded Sierra Leone.
I
t is not surprising that the popularity of Nigerian Movies has met with
mixed reactions from Ghanaian filmmakers in particular and viewers in
general.
Ghanaian film producers see financial ruin staring them in the face, that
is, if the business has not collapsed already. They complain that they
cannot compete against the Nigerians in point of financial support and
other resources available to them.
One general complaint against Nigerian films is the overwhelming
presence or use of occultism. Whether a Nigerian film is set in a precolonial
era or post independence-era, the chances are that one of the
actors will go to a fetish shrine. The consultation is either to enable the
actor to better his economic and financial circumstances or to kill or
spiritually destroy a perceived rival.
I
n ninety-nine percent (99%) of these cases, the sector gets what he
wishes and he spreads death and destruction around.
I
t is true that invariably, the matter comes to grief. He confesses to the
killings and destruction and then, afflicted by diseases, he dies.
It is obvious that the film producer aims at teaching the lesson that it
does not pay to indulge in occultism or embark on a life of crime.
However, the lesson can be lost in the pervasiveness of the juju practice.
Again, by the time the actor confesses, so many deaths would have been
occurred. A typical example is found in the film Journey of the Dead in
which Peter Edochie kills his brother and blames the death on the
widow.
Peter Edochie later uses juju to kill the widow. He also prevents his
brother’s daughter from going to school. Nemesis catches up with
Edochie when he is killed by the very juju he had obtained from a shrine
to kill a prospective husband of his brother’s daughter, the same one he
prevents from going to school.
Sometimes, one does not see any sense in the introduction of the occult.
For example, the film, The Pope Must Hear This is, to me, a very fine
one. I refer to the Part 1. For some reason, when the film producer
decides to do a sequel to the film, the occult looms large, with a spiritfilled
woman trying to torment and dominate the leading actor, Ramsey
Noah. It is absolutely unnecessary and to me, spoils an otherwise great
film.
And that is another problem with Nigerian films, which Ghanaian film
actors have imitated. I mean the production of he films with several
sequels, from Part 1 to Part 3 or 4. The motive is cheap hankering after
money and nothing else.
I nearly forgot to mention the fact that the Ghanaian film makers have
also introduced the fetish style in their films, ostensibly because
Ghanaian film-goers like it.
Another negative aspect of Nigerian films is the excessive portrayal of
violence. The unfortunate impression created is that killing is even easier
than normal breathing. Quite common are scenes in which armed
robbers not only rob their victims but also shoot them.
Once again, in the end, the criminals are caught and punished. My fear
is that some viewers are more likely to be impressed by the evil plotting
of crime and the wanton killings that go on rather than by the lesson
that crime does not pay.
Practically, open sex and rape also feature often in Nigerian films. This
near-explicit depiction of the sex detracts from whatever benefits or
lessons such a depiction has been taken over by Ghanaian filmmakers.
It is well known that our laws ban adverts on smoking. Yet what do we
see in these films? Mini-skirted girls in their near-nakedness, light up
and puff on cigarettes. Sometimes, they even blow the smoke in the face
of people they do not like in the film.
I
s that not a clever way of beating the ban on adverts on smoking? Again,
in one or two Ghanaian films, smoking goes on. As for drinking, I need
not mention it.
The hospital scene is more or less a regular fixture in Nigerian films. It
shows reliance on the ability of medical science to cure the sick.
Still, from time to time, the impression is created that a particularly
difficult case that baffles medical science can be cured by a prayer
session in which a pastor prays for the frantically and hey presto, the
sick person receives his miracle cure, leaving the baffled doctor
wondering how it was done.
Again and again, there is a negative portrayal of aspects of Nigerian
culture and belief.
A man dies and his wife is invariably accused of killing him spiritually. Is
that so? A woman who is pregnant and has two children of school-going
age by this man, killing husband when the man’s relations will inherit
everything he left behind? And when this poor, innocent woman is taken
before a shrine, the fetish priest can be bribed to say that according to
his fetish, the woman should be held responsible for the death. Indeed!
Let me say that for all these criticisms, Nigerian films also have strong
points, which Ghanaian filmmakers should learn from.
Nigerian filmmakers know how to construct a good plot and write a good
story line for their films.
They know how to introduce dramatic conflict almost right from the
beginning so that the attention of the viewer is riveted to the screen. You
keep asking how the conflict will be resolved.
Will the son or daughter marry the person of his or her dreams against
parental objections? Will the plan to rob the bank fail or succeed? How
will that person fare after consulting the fetish priest? How will a falsely
accused person establish his innocence?
Nigerian actors and actresses are generally very good, one has to admit
this.
Over the years, Nigerian filmmakers have learnt to put actors and
actresses in roles that seem to match their temperament or character.
Peter Edochie, Charles Okafor, Segun Arinze, Tony Umez and Zack Orji
are only a few of the large number of actors who have established
themselves.
Among the females are Patience Orzorko, Genevieve Nnaji, Elizabeth
Benson, Hilda Dokubo, Sandra Achums and Florence Onuma. There are
many more.
Nigerian actors and actresses are able to depict emotional scenes so
effectively that one can get lost in the outpouring of the emotions and
forget that it is just a film.
We also have great actors and actresses here. The problem, to me, is with
the plot and the story line or screenplay.
Most of the Ghanaian filmmakers do not have a consistent story line. The
action therefore tends to be episodic. There is often no organic
connection between one event and another.
Again, there is too much of the “Concert Party” flavour or farce in a
number of Ghanaian films.
Ghanaian film makers do not seem to decide from the beginning what
language they intend to use in the film. You find two people, depicted as
perfectly able to use English, mix up the language.
That is, Kofi speaks English to Kojo, who replies in Twi. The next
moment, Kojo is heard speaking English. It is astonishing and irritating
at the same time.
I have voted the Ghanaian film, Who Killed Nancy, as an example of the
Ghanaian films that can hold their own against the best from Nigeria. It
has superb acting, romance, conflict, intrigue, tragedy, human strengths
and weaknesses. Only such films can help stem the Nigerian tide.
Will Ghanaian filmmakers rise to the challenge instead of crying?
Source: Culled from “The Ghanaian Chronicle”22/03/04
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