The story of Efunsetan Aniwura is perhaps one of the most motivating thrillers in Yoruba political history and being a typical Yoruba man, you can imagine my excitement when another remake of the movie of the great Egba woman was slated to be dropped.
Aside from being of the same tribe with the epic Iyalode Ibadan, I’m deeply rooted in her origin as an Egba man too.
I don’t watch movies for the fun of it. Ever since I decided to pick up a pen to be an oversight in the Nigerian movie industry, I always try to be as objective as possible.
The story of Efunseitan Aniwura, the daughter of Ogunrin from Egba Oke Ona, an ancient town in Abeokuta, is a story that defined the place of women in the Yoruba political history.
Many storytellers have in the past tried to bring to life what transpired in the 1800s but none yet to beat the late Olusola Ogunsola’s version and as directed by the veteran lens wizard, Tunde Kelani, when a good storyline, casting and scripting are considered, even with less technology.
The latest attempt by Funmi Holder and directed by Joshua Ojo, is nothing to write home about.
Few seconds into the movie, I kept wondering whether it was meant to be a comedy or the director is just unserious!
Efunsetan was a story of a lone Yoruba woman in the 1800s when slave trade was still in fashion to fight for the right of the womenfolk in a male dominated world. And this she started right from a tender age. But as life would have it, everything and everyone she could call hers died earlier than they should.
From Funmi Holder’s version, her parents died the same day, and after she also lost her husband. As if that wasn’t enough, she lost something else which was believed to be instrumental in turning her into a beast. You may need to see the movie so I don’t add too much spoilers.
As for me, the aftertaste of the movie is sour as I kept asking myself how on earth would anyone feature Clarion Chukwura as lead for such role, and …Continue reading here.
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