Somewhere in Africa
Genre: Mixed Genre
(Drama, Tragedy)
Actors: Majid Michel,
Eddie Nartey, Martha Ankomah, Roselyn Ngissah, Kofi Adjorlolo, David Dontoh
Director: Frank Arase
Duration: 1: 59
After the texts at the beginning, I guessed the story was
going to be set in the 1980’s, and after the first few scenes, it was clear
that the filmmaker meant to communicate an era of Afro hair popularity (1970’s and 80’s, and early 1990’s too). Mid way through the movie, Majid Michel (General Mumbasa) made a statement: “Mobutu is king of Zaire,” and that was
between 1965 and 1997.
We therefore can see the intent of the filmmaker: a film set
somewhere in Africa between 1970 and 1990.
Every film is made up of elements: photography, sound, art
direction etc.
Somewhere in Africa is no exception and I will like to talk
about the element that made the strongest contribution to the film and the
element that failed.
In my opinion, sound was the major element that drove the
film forward. The film itself is story driven and the sound did justice to it.
Dialogues were spot on and made lots of sense. It was less poetic, and unlike
films we have seen from the same producers, you won’t have to sit and analyze
each word. Right combination of words at the right time. Sound effects were
also not exaggerated: just the right amount.
The cuts on dialogue and preceding scenes with
one or two seconds of sound from that scene in previous ones made them
more dramatic and interesting. Change in image sizes did not affect the quality
of sound and that is commendable.
Pascal Amanfo proved himself again as one of the finest
screenplay writers.
The music used was also good; African. The singing by the
cast, especially the students were supposed to be digetic, however, most of it was
non-digetic but the lip sync was spot on hence less reason to complain. (Sorry, I’m being a little technical here)
Films from this part of the world lack research. Its simply
pathetic and unpardonable. Art direction failed completely in carrying out the
storyteller’s intent. From costuming, make-up, props to set decoration didn’t
do justice to the setting. I will go ahead and list parts of the film which had
these problems.
It was great to see special number plates for all the major
cars used and the use of old cars, which communicates the era. These were
however overshadowed by the car Ebi Bright came in with. A Toyota Matrix? With
a Ghanaian number plate? The car itself was out of place and the number plate
made it worse. The next shot of the same car now had the number plate changed
which means it wasn’t deliberate, but someone didn’t do his work.
The home of Mrs Achipon (not too sure about the spelling)
gave us the impression of an elite family of early 1990’s but something could
have been done about the chairs. They are too modern. And the home of the
Defense Minister? Sofa, plasma and joy tv? Okay lets move on.
Costuming and makeup had their own problems. Frank (Majid)
was in converse. I don’t know how popular the “all star” was at that time. And
after his change of identity why the use paper as clerical collar? But what is shocking is the fact that his
wife was wearing a Mohawk; YES! A dyed Mohawk!
Short skirts, tight jeans sleeveless tops worn by Nivera
(Martha Ankomah) and friends could have been better.
After the coup d’état and Mumbasa (Majid) was addressing the
state, the microphone covers from the tv stations there was just not good.
Writing on paper with markers and using them as microphone covers for a film of
this standard is just not good.
Was Majid drinking a Smirnoff green apple when Mrs Achipon
visited? Grand Metropolitan and Guinness hadn’t merged until 1997 to launch the
new spirits so why Smirnoff? It was simply out of place.
Photography was great until a chase sequence which we see in
slow motion; the picture was blurry. You can’t do a chase sequence with low
shutter speed and expect the image to look good.
Acting was spot on; i only had problems with the Defense Minister and his daughter's acting, but it didn't take anything away from the overall performance. Majid Michel and Eddie Nartey did
exceptionally with the accent. It is no surprise that the movie earned Majid
the best actor in leading role as well as best supporting actor in the Ghana Movie Awards.
Having one person play two major roles is a great
achievement for the director and the actor.
The film however and reminds us of the difficult times in
Africa and can be called an educational piece. It passes for a great source of entertainment too.
