By Adedayo Odulaja
When anything is as much-talked about as a new Nollywood effort titled Mirror Boy, a feeling of skepticism begins to creep in sometimes even before coming across such. And when it is a movie initiating a discourse in a manner, especially in this part of the world where a revival of sorts is being witnessed in the movie sector, you have to be extra prepared to read between the lines but that task is made much easier by the Obi Emenlonye-produced effort.
Mirror Boy packs a punch of fantastic picture, impressive storyline, moving acting and a panoply of positive sorts to stand firmly in the comity of Nollywood’s best efforts so far.
The tale, as seen from the perspective of Tijan (Edward Kagutuzi), a Gambian boy in his teens as he begins by telling the audience about himself as a peace-loving teenager and about Tanya, whom he considers “the most beautiful girl in his class”. But his sweet feeling of peace and love is soon interrupted as he is assaulted by Rodney, a white bully who attacks him while he is coming back from school along with his beloved Tanya. Trying to avoid trouble, Tijan moves away but Rodney would not let him be, repeatedly calling him African boy and left with no choice, Tijan fights back, getting the white boy down on his face and forcing him to retract all Rodney says about him. But the highlight of that encounter is that of the young Tijan telling the white boy to repeatedly call his real name which is Tijan and not 'African boy'.
Although it is good for Tijan to have reacted, putting the bully in his place, the incident is as well a symbolic representation of Tijan's rejection of his African roots especially as he says he holds a British passport and only his parents are from Gambia.
With the backlash of threats coming from Rodney's mother accusing Tijan of beating up her son, Teena (Genevieve Nnaji) soon decides Tijan would be leaving for Africa, The Gambia in particular with her. The young boy is crushed, so is his friend, Tanya but although peeved about going to Africa, Tijan keeps wondering why his mother hates questions about his father whom he has never met. They arrive in Africa to a warm welcome from his mother's side where everyone wants to touch him but images about a boy holding a mirror soon begin to disturb Tijan. At first, it is thought to be an issue of hallucination but the constant nature of the appearance is underscored when Tijan is left confused in a crowded place in The Gambia. With his mother hurrying away and hardly looking back, he is lost and the only choice available to him is to follow the unnamed mirror boy (Osita Iheme) beckoning to him.
The mirror boy operates in a world far beyond the physical and his enchanting grip on Tijan is overpowering as he continues to tell him "I have come to take you home."
As laid out, the story is elegant as Tijan, on his own, mainly because his guide is only visible to him, battles for survival, with the infinite sensation of his struggles enveloping the audience as story moves on in its breathtaking storm. The tale of his homecoming, although one that does not come on a platter of gold, leads him into affirming that he is an African boy later on.
Mirror Boy, produced and directed by Obi Emelonye, provides a fitting tale of remarkable insight into life in Africa which is at the same time anchored on the universality of the human experience anywhere. This throws up themes of love, survival, betrayal, greed in setting about a journey of impact. Some of the stereotypical exist: human beings still sacrificed to gods, policemen saying there is no petrol in patrol vehicles and receiving bribes among others. But according to the producer and director of the movie, these things are mirrored not to play up such but simply as a reflection of the society being portrayed and you would wonder why people are often touchy about this as such are portrayed of the west in films of the west also.
When it concerns humour, you would find plenty in Mirror Boy also with Rodney, the white boy's mother getting mad at her son as she is flabbergasted a skinny boy of small frame like Tijan is responsible for Rodney's injury and bruises. The matter of fact manner in which Tijan's mother tells him "Black out, darling. Welcome to Africa" when there is a power cut is another and how about Tijan's consideration of the lavish gifts Teena gives out as pretentions of an ordinarily poor woman in London. This is not to talk of many humourous moments created between Tijan and his mirror boy guide in their long and intriguing journey to discovery.
The didactic and proverbial sayings make a huge impact too in the movie and the subtitling of Osita Iheme’s problematic accent is an indication that the producers take care of everything, well almost everything. But it is not for nothing that Mirror Boy is the biggest and highest-grossing African movie in both the United Kingdom and Ghana and the several recognitions that dot its path is a testimony to it all.
Apart from Mirror Boy being an engaging and purposeful in terms of entertainment, it gives Nigerians especially, the privilege of seeing Osita Iheme alone in a convincing and moving role and it is a win-win situation for all. Mirror Boy will soon debut at the cinemas on August 5, giving Nigerians a rich taste of what other countries have had and you would be biting your finger later if you don’t grab a piece of it. I can bet.
No comments:
Post a Comment