Is Anikulapo worth the Euphoria?
Akintunde E.BNow that the long independence holiday is almost over, let’s talk about how I spent mine in the world of Kunle Afolayan’s Saro alasho ofi; in the movie titled Anikulapo.
As is with many Nigerian narratives, there’s always a moral to walk home with. For Anikulapo, the moral of the story is somewhere inbetween greed and contentment. In the narrative sense however, I see Anikulapo as more of a documentary, docudrama, of the Yoruba cultural heritage rather than a movie. Or if I choose to go the Rob Hardy approach, it is a film and not exactly a movie. Let’s get to it!
One thing that was pretty obvious from the get-go of Anikulapo is the art direction. It’s not a question if it was great or not, it’s a question of… how does it compare to Kunle Afolayan’s previous movies. Kunle Afo is in a world of his own as far as his composition for his films are concerned and the only valid rating will be against his own standard, against films like October 1, CEO, Citation, among many others; a victim of his own success.
On a scale of 1 to 10, against his own antecedence, art direction is a 15. I haven’t seen many Nigerian movies that had to build such a complex set to sell the story. Then again, I doubt there has ever been any movie or film with its kind of budget. The set designs and art direction are a schooling for me, a yoruba in and out, I can’t even imagine what it will be for the rest of the world. Let’s summarise the story a bit.
Warning, spoilers ahead.
Anikulapo, which literally means one that has death in his pocket, is set out in the 17th century during the Oyo empire, when a mystery man named Saro, Kunle Remi, walked into Oyo town with nothing but his shoulder bag. Luck found him as he settled among his new welcoming community, working his way up both his financial status and nobility until he desired the youngest wife of the Alaafin of Oyo, Arolake. Saro and secret lover Arolake, played by Bimbo Ademoye, were outed by another secret admirer of Saro, and our-dear-lover boy Saro was beaten to death and left to rot in the forest.
The mystical yoruba mythological bird called Akala, believed to restore life to victims of untimely death, visited Saro and gave him a second chance at life… but Akala left something behind in the process; what will give Saro the supernatural ability to raise any died himself. Without given out any more spoilers, Saro would migrate to another settlement and like in Oyo, he would want too much and that would lead to his untimely death again. Like before, Akala paid him another visit.
Is that not a movie?
Again a film rather than a movie. Read here to see why I subscribed to the Rob Hardy debate: filmmakerfreedom.com
I feel the pacing could have been better though… because it took too long to get going. The first thirty minutes or so was simply showing off the amazing set constructed by the KAP team. And as a sort of personal preference, I’m of the opinion that a little bit of teal film look might have complimented the narrative. It felt like the setting was in an arid region for most part of the movie rather the tropical southwestern Nigeria the empire is supposedly situated. But then, what do I know; just my personal preference. It’s not to take anything away from the brilliant work of the cinematographer Jonathan Kovel, whom I met at film school once and it was an encounter I’ll keep with me for a while. I remember himself responding to a question in film school that:
“windows guys, it’s either too small or tinted. There’s absolutely no way to light properly from windows in Nigerian houses and/or cars. I don’t understand it guys.”
Gosh!
Alright, let’s get back to Anikulapo.
Kunle Remi is a beast of a man, it was like the story was written for him. I can’t think of a better actor for Saro honestly. However I’m most impressed with the character arc of Arolake by Bimbo Ademoye; from the reserved Olori to the loveydovey runaway princess, to the brutal cunning huntress. Shola Dada, the writer, did her bit but Bimbo is the life. I hope Bimbo won you over as a fan as she did me.
How do I talk about Hakeem Kae-kazim without giving out any more spoilers? Let’s just say he was in there and it’s refreshing to see Kunle put him in such a role. Other actors in the star studded film include Sola Sobowale, Taiwo Hassan, Dele Odule, Fathia Balogun, among others.
The directorial style is typical Kunle Afo. Starts steady, introduce the character, add some pacing, then slow down, branch at a twist, check if the audience is following, then navigate a turn, then check his audience again, then kill off some likeable characters at near midpoint of the story, then slow the pacing again, then check the audience and before they realise it, he throws a baton at them and leave them to figure out the rest of the story beyond the end credit.
See!! That wasn’t so bad after all.
It’s reported online the film is worth a reported 150million box. That’s practically one of the most expensive Nigerian movie ever made. Is it worth that much is the next question?
I’ll say you better put in all those veterans if I’m giving you that much to make a movie and it better be timeless. I believe Anikulapo tick both boxes.
What box it didn’t tick for me would be the vfx. The Akala bird wasn’t terribly good and the overexposed floating-shadowless skeleton at the start of the film gave me stare-bumps. I can’t really tell what percentage of the budget goes into advertisement because that’s one area that takes lot of funds but the vfx generally could have been better.
Beyond the vfx, I think the post-production is fantastic. It’s probably impossible to have a bad edit when you have footages from a cinematographer like Jonathan Kovel. Compositions are exquisite, sound is memorable and I believe this film should be a serious contender for Oscar awards.
Oh wait, I heard it doesn’t qualify for the Oscars already. I’m tempted to ask, who made those rules? Anyways, let’s tidy up this review.
Is there a need to mention Hakeem Effect’s sfx? I better see on bellanaija he now rides a Lamborghini soon.
Is it worth watching a second time?
If I analyse this from the film perspective, it’s worth watching every weekend until it leaves cinema. Even if you’re not a native yoruba speaker which is the only language spoken in the movie, there’s enough on screen to keep you glued even if you chose to mute the audio. From the perspective of a movie, it’s worth watching every other weekend. Still confused about film and movie debate, again read Rob Hardy’s article.
What’s my verdict?
I’ll give my rating when I see the film again this coming weekend. Sorry guys, it’s a tough call at the moment. In the main time however, let’s head over to twitter and respond to the poll on Anikulapo @mellywoodurban.
PS: Rating… 8/10