Behind a smile

Movie Title : Behind A Smile
Starring : Majid Michael, Jim Iyke, Nadia Buari, Omoni Onoboli
Directed by : Frank Rajah Arase
NFVCB rating : 18
Genre(s) : Romance, Drama


Lets step in to the Time portal and travel through time and space back to the Elizabethan era. An epoch referred to as the golden age in English history where the ‘peak of Literature’ was attained through outstanding literary works produced by literary pundits /eagles (William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe) and a host of others. Enjoy the days of nobles, knights, witty politicians and observe the oppression of the peasants. Take a quick peek in to the fashion world in London and admire the women’s dresses beautifully ornamented with brocades, velvet, gold and silver embroidery, with fitted bodice and lovely snoods on their heads. Observe the men wearing jerkins laden with silky/velvety trimmings. Of course, you’re a bit confused with the Elizabethan language being spoken. Visit the English Renaissance Theatre prior to its closure in 1642 and be mesmerized by the richly inspiring theatrical performances. Step in to the time portal once more and make your way back to the present.

Mentally delete the Elizabethan setting and substitute with the modern one, theatrical performances for the scenes performed by actors before hi-tech cameras handled by the film crew and viewed by a massive population. Then juxtapose the English language with elements of poetically inspired Shakespearian lines in the conversation between two on screen actors and what do you have ? You’ve got Majid Michael and Nadia Buari reeling out such lines like… “life is not so kind at all, sitting down and watching time slip by making numb the decisions of our heart is nothing, nothing but cowardice”… “ your words mystify my senses and I cannot make meaning of them”.

I guess that caught my attention in the first place, even Majid (Jim Iyke) in one of the scenes was amazed at the level of poetic, Shakespearian attitude Fred had suddenly adopted.

Fred Adams ( Majid Michael) works as the Brand Manager in Pinnacle Industries. He’s in a romantic relationship with Stacey (Omoni Oboli) who incidentally is the daughter of the wealthy heavy hitter, Chief Damaji (Jibola Dabo). Stacey adores him and swims happily in the sea of love, oblivious of the changing romantic tide that is set to draw her into the murky waters of emotional trauma and heart break. Fred re-unites with his best friend Majid (Jim Iyke) who spent six months without a job in Spain and involuntarily returned to the country consequent upon an expired visa. “I’m a hustler baby, I make it big or I die trying” he says to Fred. Majid is a head strong , cold hearted brute who often times wears an inscrutable look. He sets Fred up as he leaves the bank with money ( N5 million Company funds and N200,000 personal funds) in his brief case. The pursuit begins as Fred escapes into a house with the main gate somewhat left open. Marah , the victim of a Kidney failure, who’s home alone ( based on the car crash that claimed her parents lives) protects him from the robbers. He later looses the money based on an insider’s information (obviously Majid) after being mercilessly beaten. Sweet Stacey comes to his rescue and re-imburses the stolen amount.

Fred finds himself being emotionally magnetized to Marah, falls in love with her and willingly donates his Kidney and the N2.3 million needed for the surgery. Marah has a second chance at life and reciprocates his love… or so it seems. Majid has his eyes also on Marah. There appears to be a ‘kill before the storm’ until the bubble burst leaving altar bound Stacey emotionally ship wrecked and Marah emotionally re- energised. An unprecedented incident takes place which sets the stage for the fireworks to begin. Envy, betrayal, threats, fury, thunder struck relationships uncover the real intentions behind the smiles.

Majid Michael at the moment happens to be the most sought after Ghanaian actor gracing our flicks edging out his fellow compatriot Van Vicker from the top spot. He’s sent Nollywood a message “Don’t underestimate the acting dexterity of Ghanaian actors”. His meteoric rise and rating in Nollywood has even earned him Top billing during the rolling of the opening credits in Behind a smile. He visually fed us with rich emotional cakes and served us with glasses of refreshing poetic wine…and oh! he amazingly makes a swift 200metres dash to save his life (Ghana Athletics Federation, your athlete awaits you for the 2012 London Summer Olympics). He interpreted his role as the “lean on me ideal partner”. Jim Iyke played the cold, insensitive, deceitful friend. He scored on points with his cold stare, illogical argument based on irrational, shallow thinking and selfish hard core player’s attitude. These actors stood out from the cast and consoled us as we continued to plod along the movie’s path.

The movie suffers from the lack of suspense nutritional elements and creative story line. From the onset viewers already knew Fred had been set up by Majid which wrong move seemingly high jacked our peaceful movie flight. The main gate that was left open which Fred ran through to gain access to Marah’s house whilst fleeing from the robbers, was what ? co-incidental ? It’s amazing that Marah who moves about in a wheel chair left the gate open, for whom? The lady that comes to help her… or did the lady forget to shut it? We’ve watched movies of such nature, “a break in” would have been ideal.

Marah’s friendly attitude to Fred was down right unrealistic, and imagine the robbers who were after the money in the brief case, coincidentally sensing he’d gone in to the house, and not finding him there graciously advising her to keep the door locked! They were certainly ‘good robbers’, we all know what they’re capable of doing, irrespective of the fact that she was on a wheel chair. Marah plays the good host to Fred offering to keep his briefcase and even informs him of a safer route to his car … whether Fred was dressed in a suit or not , being a total stranger would have set her on edge, watching his every move with fright and not wanting to get mixed up with whatever he was involved in. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s ‘Running man’, ‘Commando’ and a host of other movies clearly spells it out… ‘women do not help strangers in questionable circumstances!’

The Editor should have paid attention to details for eg Fred and Marah set off to the beach with Marah dressed in a white/black stripped dress. The next scene she’s dressed differently (not in a beach wear) and the next she’s back to the initial dress she wore. The hospital scene during the advanced stages of the movie was to say the least unconvincing.
Behind a smile is another romantic tale thrown at us but despite its short fall, I still liked the poetic flow… “wishes are for dreamers and fantasists and life is not so kind as to let have the things we wish for”…., “…the answer I get stifles my soul with fright” , a bit of the special make up effects on Fred following the mishap and the thematic content. When next someone gives you an innocent, sheepish, sweet, cold smile… there just might be something behind the smile!


Point’s Rating for Behind a smile : 2
Points Rating Guide
5 points : Classic
4 points : Very good
3 points : Good
2 points : Fair
1 point : An apology

The Figurine,araromire

Movie Title : THE FIGURINE, Araromire
Starring : Kunle Afolayan, Ramsey Nouah, Omoni Oboli, Funlola Aofiyebi- Raimi, Tosin Sido
Directed by : Kunle Afolayan
Genre : Drama

How would you react if you were told that the seemingly harmless carved wooden statuette in your home has an enigma of pitfalls trailing its historical antecedents and is responsible for the bombarding catastrophic events forcefully rocking your family’s boat? You could react in two ways. “Freak out”, or “wave it aside as mere superstition”. Kunle Afolayan’s, “The Figurine, araromire” surely brings it home. The thrilling movie was produced for N 50 Million and was shot for almost 80 days in Osun and Lagos states, with the entire production culminating in about seven months of hard work.

The establishing shot reveals the genesis of an old folk tale in the ancient village of Araromire in 1908, with the chief priest loyal to araromire “goddess of fortune and luck”, granting her desire to come to the earth through one avenue. He carves with dexterity the cursed bark of a tree to bring forth the end product, “The Figurine”. The deity blesses all those who come in contact with her, (through the figurine) and the villagers prosper for seven years. After the seven years of plenty comes an unprecedented rapid sweep of calamity and death over the land, no thanks to the goddess! Aggrieved youths storm her shrine and set the figurine ablaze, ending the rule of the deity over their land, but hey! it’s just an old folk tale.

Almost a Century later, three NYSC Corpers , Sola Fajure (kunle Afolayan), a third class Archaeology graduate, Mona (Omoni Oboli), Femi Kalejaye( Ramsey Nouah) are posted to Araromire. Sola’s wavy relationship with Mona back in College days culminates in to her being pregnant and she accepts his marital proposal, much to Femi’s dismay. He’s in love with her and time seems to have momentarily stopped as he swallows the bitter pill of emotional agony for loosing the one he loves to an unworthy opponent “his fun loving best friend”. The ruthless pounding of the emotional imbalance and psychological torture on his heart initiates the breaking process, leaving him with a ‘heart break’. Strange eerie sounds ring out from the village’s direction, while the Corpers are being drilled by the Platoon’s military instructor (Wale Adebayo) on the parade ground. Femi’s asthmatic attack causes him to lag behind during an out door activity, and Sola insists on staying with him. Certain events lead them to the mysterious ill-omened Figurine. Sola takes it with a get rich scheme brewing in his mind and then the seven years bounty extravaganza begins. Misfortunes, ill luck, sicknesses, hustling, lack, gives way to prosperity in all fronts for Sola and Femi. Mona learns about the old folk tale with the 7 years of plenty and 7 years disastrous principles but her fears and views are waved aside by Sola, who has the figurine in his house. When the hellish game spun around macabre events begins, they realize it’s not just a mere folk tale and Mona begins to seek for a solution to stop araromire from further unleashing her fury. Were the calamities the acts of the goddess araromire or was it an act of a human being gone berserk? The Figurine, araromire gives you the answer.

The N 50 Million movie certainly produced the desired effect. Beautiful shots of the lovely water falls (Erin Ijesha water falls in Osun state) sceneries in Lagos, the Miccom Golf course (Osun) compact tree lines showing the rich forest vegetation were projected through good cinematography. I liked the visually convincing bee- hived NYSC orientation camp, with the parade, field work, platoon military instructor’s interactive sessions with the Corpers which made the scene lively and realistic (those who have served will concur). The encapsulation of suspense, pulsating scenes, good sound /visual / convincing special effects, rich voiceover, non – defective subtitling, good lighting, flash backs , under cranking techniques birthed the quality production.

Kunle Afolayan, who triggered off his acting career with Tunde Kelani’s “Saworide” has over time grown to professionally discharge his dual duties as an actor and outstanding film maker. He incontrovertibly interpreted and played his role of the ladies man, a libertine, living and loving life to the fullest, very convincingly. His facial expressions constantly revealed his lack of zest to conquer new lands, projected irritable moments, and a non- chalant, complacent attitude, with roving eyes that lustfully trailed the women’s back view, capped it all. Ramsey Noah also pulled of his role with the introverted disposition, though his fluency in the Yoruba language was slightly marred by the subtle imperfect Yoruba intonations (at least he tried). His character interpretation projected in Femi’s asthmatic attacks scored on points, invoking massive sympathy votes from viewers touched by his plight. Funlola Aofeyebi-Rimi’s role as the desperate, frustrated, matured spinster (Linda Chukwu) attracted to Femi, with her relentless, dogged attitude in applying every trick in the book of “how to lure him to the altar” causes one to break in to smiles now and again. Omoni Oboli played the good wifely role, though i wasn’t bought over by the fainting and night mare after shock scenes. I loved in particular the traditional theme song. The use of traditional drum beats, rich male voices, created a sensational rhythmic effect, causing my eyes to stay riveted on the big screen waiting enthusiastically to visually devour the rich contents of the various succeeding scenes. Amazingly, the theme song wasn’t sung in the Yoruba dialect (though it sounded like it), it was simply sheer creativity!

The movie does not however fly the flawless flag. The director in my view ought to have taken advantage of the ‘fear instilling outlook of the figurine’, “the carved image” to complement the sound effects and also inject grand doses of special effects around it to invoke a greater depth of mystery, and a little scare about the figurine. (There was a scene Mona stood looking at the figurine transfixed, a subtle tone of an evil voice and special effect created around the figurine would have scored on points), and wouldn’t have robbed the twisty plot idea. The discovery of the figurine in the abandoned hut was rather easy, and lacked the dramatic, suspense filled, spine chilling moments. I mean an abandoned hut would have a few creatures creeping here and there to startle them which would have pumped up our adrenalin. The sudden sound interference stemming from the honking by motorists on the street during Mona’s conversation with Femi while at the Public park in Lagos didn’t work for me. Such should have been anticipated, the scene could have been shot in a less noisy environment. The story started on a promising note jumping in quick succession over various scene hurdles and was poised to hit the bull’s eye. However, the over ambitious desire to create a twisty plot line in the advanced stages with the “what do you believe” words starring at me left a rather slightly de-sweetened taste in my mouth.

Despite its short comings “The Figurine- araromire” proves that Kunle Afolayan means business and has come out smoking hot, surpassing Irapadas’s production and i’m sure with time its record. He has raised the Movie production bar in Nollywood once again. Do I recommend the movie, Y-E-S ! and with certitude he’s poised to cart away another round of prestigious awards!

Point’s Rating for The Figurine, araromire : 4

Points rating guide
5 points : Classic
4 points : Very good
3 points : Good
2 points : Fair
1 point : An apology

Omo Iya Kan

Movie Title : Omo Iya Kan
Starring : Doris Simeon Ademinokan, Funke Akindele, Yinka Quadri,
Femi Adebayo
Directed by : Daniel Ademinokan
Screen writer : Pascal Amanfo
Genre : Drama
NFVCB rating : 18

Well, if you’re a movie enthusiast with a knack for the intermittent unleashing of chaotic fury, pitchy emotional vibes, invective powered missiles launched in rapid succession at the target during verbal battles, the deadly strike from the venom of rivalry, betrayal, invoked by the Twins effect, then you’d most likely opt to be visually fed by “Omo Iya Kan”.

High flying movie star “Seun Adebayo Martins’ (Doris Simeon Ademinokan, Most outstanding actress, Indigenous, AMAA 2008) is certainly living her dreams. Her multitudinous fans love her, while producers clamour to have her take the lead roles in their movies. Her face on the movie posters is a copper bottomed guarantee of rapid sales and of course great returns for their investments. The press, paparazzi delightfully obtain snippets of information about her private dealings.

She’s down with the celebrity fever, basking in the euphoria of fame and fortune with its attendant glitz, glamour, razzmatazz and flamboyant life style. Seun is classy, sassy, but is rather bellicose and recalcitrant to the production team ( same as Omotola Jalade Ekehinde in ‘The Celebrity’), portraying herself as a demi-god with unparalleled acting dexterity. Her bosom friend Bola ( Funke Akindele of the Jenifa fame) sticks on her like a leech, constantly applying the eulogizing formula through unreserved encomiums and fluid ear pleasing appraisals. She’s content to tag along with her celebrity friend and constantly declares “ore mi seun superstar”.

Seun’s set to marry the equally talented movie star Alex Bucknor ( Enitan Olaniyan) and her role in a N 100 Million movie project invested by an American company to be filmed in Nigeria is poised to turbo charge her career on to the International circuit. What more could she ask for?
However, a car crash shatters her dreams and she’s been sentenced for life on a wheel chair. This snag halts the shooting of the multi million naira movie and with his boss threatening hail and brimstone for the resumption of its shooting, Pascal (Saidi Balogun) turns to her twin, Seyi, (also Doris Simeon Ademinokan) who returns from ‘the States’ to mop up the mess. Seyi pulls it off and fully embraces acting much to her twin’s dismay. Spurred on by Bola’s counsel, antipathy for her scene stealing twin, and the fall from grace to grass disease affecting her sensibilities, Seun does the unthinkable…

Doris Simeon Ademinokan plays dual roles as the Twins. She staggers at a point beneath its weighty load. However, the professionalism surge from the swiftly coordinated acting dexterity bails her out. I admired Funke Akindele’s leechy roles in the movie. Her facial expressions, body language, gesticulations, reactory time and fleeting sardonic dispositions scored on points. Small wonder she clinched AMAA’s Best actress 2009. Daniel Ademinokan (Black Friday) is gradually carving a name for himself in the directing sphere and is also known as Da Bishop, courtesy of his Box office TV programme. Oh! he’s Doris Simeon’s husband as well just in case you never knew. He has spiced up the movie with creative shots and effects flavours. Even Tade Ogidan (Dangerous twins) will tell you that directing/producing a movie revolving around twins is not as easy as taking a walk in the park, especially when they have to appear together on screen. (Twins effect have overtime been created through movie- matte photography, popular green screen technique, split screen, motion controlled cameras and rotoscoping) and Daniel did a good job pulling it off.

Omo Iya Kan is refreshingly different from the plethora of movies flung in our faces. However, it did not escape the bites of the flaw bug. For one, the screen writer should have been more creative in the scene where Alex pops the big question to Seun. A Celebrity with class, poise and affluence bringing out a ‘diamond ring’ from his blazer without its case (in the absence of creative concepts which viewers have seen in other flicks) to say the least was a blunder. Even my young teenager friend couldn’t help but laugh as well. I guess he left it in one of his father’s numerous private guest houses!
The fact that we already knew from the dialogue way ahead of time that Seun had a twin sister “mercilessly butchered the surprise/suspense moves and set the movie’s pace to an anti-climax one with the predictability gear set to overdrive”.

The aftermath of the accident wasn’t well projected in one of the hospital scenes. For one her broken leg ought to have been suspended in the usual, realistic, mid air POP style ( taking a good cue from Majid Michael’s accident in the movie ‘Behind a smile’). I saw her initially sleeping peacefully on the bed… and was that a bandage on her wrist ? She awakes later on, sheds a few tears and says “ I have accepted my fate!” gosh! when your world comes crashing down, that’s the last thing you realistically say !. Besides, the emotional bridge which linked the viewers to her was blown up to the high heavens by the shelling of ‘non- heart rending bombs’. The viewers ought to have been emotionally connected to her, felt her pain, the anguish and cries from a helpless being at that point. The screen writer ought to have further leveraged on another well creative poignant scene where Seun would have adopted a sombre mood, experienced flashbacks of her stardomic lifestyle viz a viz her present status and momentarily lapsed in to an emotional tantrum throwing state amidst a backdrop of good sound effects / track. It certainly would have endeared viewers more to the movie.

The co-incidental scene where Seun arrives home with Pascal suddenly having a brain wave in solving the looming re-shooting problem on realizing both were twins falls far from the ingenuity mark. Rotimi’s role ( Femi Adebayo) was more of the silent, subtle, one, two liners role until the second half of the movie. Prior to that time I’d asked myself why and what on earth he was doing in the movie?(of course you get to know why much later in the movie). The non- clarity of his relationship with Seyi, initially kept him in the shadows of others.

I had a bit of problem with the crew who shot the multi million naira movie powered by an American company. It was the same crew at the onset of the movie who expressed their displeasure over her absence at the Lekki shooting, that we see taking up the American project (not that it was wrong), but an American company will not invest N 100 million and we simply see the same set of microscopic crew, cast and equipments (what happened to the cranes, dolly). A good number of extras should have been brought on set, more crew members, two or three more scenes (not restricted to the track and interior scenes we saw which later popped up as the movie trailer). The presence of whites of occidental origin during shooting would have brought it home. The Impressive way Seyi initially took up her twin’s role during the resumed shooting was commendable. Wrong! it was simply ludicrous. No slips, no re-takes, no initial frustrating comments and looks of disapproval on the production team’s faces based on the initial performance from a rookie! It was simply a mere powder puff. In the excitement of producing a good movie the team did not pay attention to a few details. Alex Bucknor in a scene said his father was the Special adviser to the Vice president, on what may i ask ?, besides the ‘Day for night’ shot in one of the confrontational scenes the twins had wasn’t properly executed.

Notwithstanding the flaws, you could tell from the non sound clashes with the dialogue, good sound effects, tracks (Nene – Temidara, 9ice- street credibility) and music score, use of entertainment magazines and celebrity’s comments (the way Kel’s video of ‘too fine’ was shot), over cranking and under cranking techniques (giving us the prison break visual feeling), good subtitling, good picture quality, that Omo Iya kan “was not produced by charlatans in the industry”.

It’s a movie that leaves a deep impression of a good non- uptight movie in your mind, and you can catch a glimpse of the behind the scenes shots during the rolling of the closing credits. Is Omo Iya kan good enough for you to buy or watch ? Yes… and i have this funny feeling it’ll make the AMAA 2010 nominees list and wouldn’t be surprised when it wins.

Points Rating for Omo Iya Kan : 3

Points rating guide
5 points : Classic
4 points : Very good
3 points : Good
2 points : Fair
1 point : An apology