First, I got the wind about The Brave One, a 1997 film from Warner Bros from this review on the NVS. It was the casting & performance of Ene Oloja that spurred Mr. Omoruyi’s piece. I only managed to see it last night...

The film starts out, a blurry blend of landscape– most likely New York, where the story is set - and a range of evocative colours. Immediately, one is immediately moved into a session of poetic narrative which is to climax at the very end.

The production style is simple & direct; short scenes and rapidly developed characters. But the intricate nature of the themes being dramatized, is good enough to engage even the ‘easily uninterested’ of minds.

The main character, Erica Bain, played by Jodie Foster , loses her boyfriend in a random street mugging but she survives, after being rescued... The use of strictly visual communication technique at this point shines.

You sense the unfolding story is about to fall into the easy trap of being predictable – “this is another one about Revenge” – but it had nicely mixed plots that makes for quite a gripping, if not edge-of-the-seat watch.

Ene Oloja features as Erica’s neighbour, but her scenes were notably ancillary to the drift of the drama. 

Nevertheless, she arguably won one of the most important prize achievable in a deep creative story that explores the fine line, if any line at all, between justice, judgement & morality, crimes & human behaviour, societal breakdown, crisis of interest, organised crime and more importantly, the endless implication & complexity of “love” among many others with the simplicity, if matured, character she played.

 Acting as Josai, Ene is portrayed as totally disconnected from the depth of Erica’s troubles. Attitudinally, it was as though Josai feels, to put it in my old grandma’s phraseology “kí-lo-sì-rí-tí-0-fé-pa-ara-e-sí?” – clearly a function of her character’s setup as the African immigrant, who survived a typical home-war, and as such, has “found a way to live”... 

You have to agree with Omoruyi’s assessment. Ene’s characterization was terrific. 

But, it is important to highlight the creative excellence of the screenplay, in comparison to the deficiencies of Nollywood’s junkyard of DVDs.

The writers of this flick did an incredible job of carving out a near real-world portrayal, of life on the dangerous corners of New York; yet they succeed, even in the fabricated medium of a thriller. That is what sets this industry apart.

Nollywood is easily dismissed by commentators, for its shortcomings -boring ( is it overused?) themes, bland genre; Even the brand-name “Nollywood” suggests a pathetic deficit of identity & self-believe but one is forced to suspect that the root cause of our repetitive screenplay is another manifestation of the Nigerian dilemma.

Everyday-Nigerian-life is chaotic and unpredictable. Our society is right there on the fringes of collapse. Add that to the cultural limitations of things that are real on the streets, but not “screen-able” and you get a feel for how and why the writers of The brave One, did a sterling job. But I digress.

The Brave one concludes, with a poetic commentary on the reality of irreversible psychological change, that one may undergo, when there is a loss of a loved one, arising from the insane display of madness or wanton carelessness from others. On this front, one wonders how it must feel to be, say a Bola Ige’s son. 

One wonders how the families of otherwise Nigerian heroes - the Saro wiwas, the Rewanes, the Giwas, the Abiolas, even those of mere Nigerians dying of treatable illnesses in and around motherland - must feel about the rest of us, and Nigeria and that is just a snapshot of the many inequalities....

The narrative & dialogue of this movie was bravely mixed; the productions’ choice of soundtrack, varied use of fluctuating volume, low pitched tunes and well marshalled chopping-of-visuals make for an entertaining watch.

 I particularly found the different viewpoints, reeled out by callers when Erica switched the format of her radio show to allow for phone-ins quite instructive. The responses illuminate many of the problems facing our troubled world today.....

It is a movie, you should see on a Saturday, when you have that 2hours to yourself, but you will need a sizeable deal of attention for the substance of the show, to taste well.

You’ll not go wrong if you bring someone around too...See it.

‘Dapo Osewa.

London.

Robot  # 1 | 24.09.2008 02:43

First, I got the wind about The Brave One, a 1997 film from Warner Bros from this ...Read the full article.