Review of 'Ties that Bind' - Ghana Cinema Review

TITLE: Ties that Bind
GENRE: Drama
DIRECTOR: Leila Djansi
STORY/SCREENPLAY: Leila Djansi
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Dave Harper
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Wes Cardino
EDITED BY: Avril Beukes
STARRING: Kimberly Elise, Randall Bukinkoff, Omotola Jalade-Ekehinde, Ama K. Abebrese, Ebbe Bassey, David Dontoh, John Dumelo, Kofi Adjorlolo, Eddie Nartey, Kofi Middleton-Mends, Fiifi Coleman, Fred Amugi, and many others.
DURATION: 110mins

It has been my very wish to write reviews of our own locally produced films for my fellow Africans and the world at large; but, when asked to begin with that of my favorite director/writer, Leila Djansi's 'Ties that Bind', it was a big blow. As my favorite director/writer, I hope my review is as good as her writing skills. 

The film is surrounded on the lives of three beautiful ladies: Theresa Harper (Kimberly Elise), Buki Ocansey (Ama K. Abebrese) and Adobea Odija (Omotola Jalade-Ekehinde), who are bound by their emotional need for a child and loss of a child. It shows the many struggle they go through as separated, single and married women respectively. As a man watching this beautiful art, it only sent the word 'empowerment' through my head, and that I think is the reason we need more female directors and writers in this field. As the saying goes, "the African story can only be told best by an African"; and so are the many issues of women which can only be voiced out best by WOMEN. For this I congratulate Leila Djansi, Good work done.

Many will surely expect me to start 'blasting' the movie from the angle of it being an adaptation (Is this an adaptation of 'For Colored Girls'?); to tell you the truth, even if it was an adaptation, we can then call her the "Queen of Adaptation" in Ghana. Many movies have been adapted by many of our directors but not well told in our cultural and ethical perspective, and that has been done so well by Leila Djansi. Watching the film closely from the beginning, i was amazed at the first scene; A corn mill is surely a place to find a typical traditional Ga woman who will not be ready to joke with her daily porridge (koko), kenkey, and corn related meals. And here you find Adobea at the mill grinding her pan of corn. The emotional bit which can be termed as a set-up was her want to touch the feet of the baby even though she was pregnant; this showed her eagerness to have a child, as the many African women who are also eager to have a child of their own right after marriage. The scene (corn mill) has been used by some local directors but the peculiar nature of this can be attributed to the professional act of these actors (it is the director that makes the scene and not the actors as we think always). The mixture of languages (Krobo, Ga, Fante and twi) was so practical of a Ghanaian community and that showed how we lived in unity no matter the ethnic group. Omotola is surely a talented actress but, was she taught the local dialect the day of the shoot or seconds to the "take"? Her (Omotola's) opening greeting with Abrebese was a total disaster. I will ignore that of Abrebese as she portrayed a modern African who is far educated, has acquired a different tongue which has disfigured that of the mother's. Even though she is a Ghanaian, her characterization had no problem with her speech but that of Omotola's was an issue. Many international actors take up that language or activity for months for perfection; and that was needed here to convince the viewer to enjoy the world created. We know she is a Nigerian but, there are many award winning films where the actors are taught the language and the intonation just to acquire the make-believe feel of the film. Africans may have respect and fear for ghosts but I have never witnessed an occasion where a building is abandoned in the community without the chief or elders consulting the gods for a possible solution (or 'remedy' as used most in our locally produced films). Africans are never afraid of ghosts as Leila portrayed, we only give them the needed attention considering the fact that they appear to inform or inquire of humans some help. What impressed myself and some friends was the shot of the rat when Abrebese entered the ruined hospital. Could it be for a fact that most or all African men do not care about their wives but think about themselves only? Imagine David Dontoh sleeping so deep and carelessly enough to ignore his sick wife. An uncle of mine would have sacked his wife in the name of she making noise in the room. The scene at Kimberly's office was kind of copied and funny; as jealous as African women are, how many times do you find them sharing their issues with their peers? What made me have interest in the scene was the breakdown of some traditional ideologies in and about marriage in Africa; especially the issue of child birth in our traditional homes. For some issues raised in this scene, i believe the Ghanaian or African community as a whole has learnt a lot from modernization: "we no more shun barren women as we used to", "husbands of barren women are free to adopt", "in-laws no longer interfere in the issues of the couples" and many others. I think this issue of product placement should be well addressed as it is becoming an issue in our movies: "how much money or support do they give to these movies when we actually give them this advertisement?" Unless i am wrong, i never noticed an appreciation to Voltic but there was a Voltic product in the movie; if they are not ready to help, why help them then? I can conclude that the actors were not given the needed training in their respective language since it was an issue for Ebbe Bassey also; she sometimes forget she is acting like a Ghanaian and begin to use her Nigerian accent. I loved the scene where Omotola stripped off her dress but thinking we would not notice the complexion and body change was a big mistake on the part of the director. The issue of prophets or prayer camps being a doctor or hospital respectively is one thing i think needs a massive discussion. I may be proved wrong if i am given empirical evidence to prove that newly born babies have grown hair like that of the child born at the church (hmmm...wonders in Africa). Why are newly born babies kept in the room for a week?, for a newly born baby to be brought out amidst celebrations and 'noise', i may need some light on the "wonders of Africa". Is there an issue with males having females as friends in Africa? The other problem i had with the scene was the negative side of women empowerment where they believe without a man they can surely live and make it alone (Why then should God create women?). I would clearly say that Leila really used her platform to dissect the both sides of women empowerment. The use of abusive words by Ebbe on her husband can be seen as a stereotyped belief of Ga women being controlling when that isn't the case. I may want to accept the characterization of David Dontoh as he was very much like that of every African man who will wait for a problem before acting as a man; an example can be when he "man-ed up" after the incident where his mother pushed his wife. The scene where  Buki was sitting naked in the bathhouse wasn't needed unless it was to mean she was more than distressed; even that wouldn't make it necessary for her to be naked. Nudity may be a costume in film making but that doesn't make it a necessity in the medium. What i did not understand was the statement made by the leader of the gang when about to burn Ebbe's husband, "this be Africana, this is justice, this man for die". This is not our form of punishment and we do respect our security agencies (even though the corruption is massive). The funny bit of the police arrival was when a police man was rather being followed by some of the townspeople. The scene was more comical than serious as it was suppose to look. I also congratulate Ebbe on her act when she was confronting her husband after the townspeople were chased off by the police force; she sounded really like an angry African woman than an actress reciting her lines like the many do. For Okyeame Kwame, he can try the film industry since his act was the best; his few minutes kept me smiling actually. 

To conclude, paying for this movie wouldn't be a waste of time or money. We at Ghana Cinema Review give it a 9/10 score for a work well done. This surely makes it clear that the industry is truly growing with the like of good directors and writers like Leila Djansi. Thumbs up my newly crowned "Queen of Adaptation"!