Review of Family Album

Production House: SILVERLINE

Title: FAMILY ALBUM

Year of production: 2014

Director: Pascal Amanfo

Producer: Nabil Meizongo

Executive Producer: Hajia Meizongo

Cast

Christabel Ekeh - Opera

Majid Michel - Greg

Kafui Danku - Mercedes

Ebi Bright - Candy

Eddy Watson- Josiah

Kalsoum Sinare - Regina

Kofi Adjorlolo - Lucas 

SYNOPSIS
After a beautiful marriage between Opera Holbrook (Christabel Ekeh) and Josiah Hayford (Eddie Watson), the worst in the history of marriages takes place at their exceptional reception. With all the charm and glare little did they know that the happiest day in their life could be their worst.

Smiles filled the faces of loved ones, friends and relatives who were present at the beautiful occasion to share in their joy. As the celebration went on, a little action triggered the lock of the Pandora’s Box. Like fuel to the flame, every secret in the lives of the newlyweds and the Holbrook’s family resurfaces. Surprisingly, Regina (Kalsoume Sinare), the mother of Opera, and Lucas (Kofi Adjorlolo), her father, were planning a divorce; and this was revealed when Greg (Majid Michel), Opera's brother, caught Regina making out with Kwame, her ex-lover. Opera on the other hand is also pregnant with Kwame's baby since he thought he could soothe his broken heart by falling for his lover's daughter. Josiah was also having an affair with Opera's best friend, Mercedes.

With all this at hand, both families decide to resolve this by granting Opera her wish of divorcing Josiah since she had no feeling for him.

It may be a writer's imagination, but every family has a secret. What's yours?


The film's statement?

Family Album preaches forgiveness.

This is made evident in Opera’s statement – “it’s hard to forgive, but it’s even harder to hate”.

Lucas forgave his wife despite her infidelity; in the same manner Opera forgave Mercedes and Josiah. 

The central message however is love. 

The film explores the power of love as a means of keeping a successful family. 

Family Album; a success?
Family album is a film set in the home of the Holbrook’s. To sustain interest for that long (screen time) in just that location, the filmmakers deserve commendation.

The message is clear – “family above everything”.


StrengthDialogue made the film. Family Album is a dramatic film and the drama genre depends on dialogue to thrive hence we at Ghana Cinema Review doffing our hats to the scriptwriter. Amidst the tension in the home of the Holbrook’s, the filmmakers found a way of making the audience laugh with the conversation between the gay couple and the obese ladies. Ghanaian filmmakers are getting better with drama and it’s encouraging because I believe that is what we are good at. In a long while, we didn't hear ‘wanna’, ‘gonna’ and the unnecessary slangs; practical dialogues.

Sound was interesting. The music from the live band was great ambience. It helped create the mood as well. It has its problems however; ambience went dead when Greg spoke at the party. It sounded like an untreated ADR. I hope it gets mixed well before it hits the market.

Characterization was on point (minus Eddie Watson- I will address that in a bit). 

Majid Michel never gets it wrong; maybe the roles are no more challenging. I however feel he looked older than the role (playing Christabel Ekeh’s younger brother) and some make up could have fixed that. 

EBI BRIGHT! She has improved tremendously. She was simply amazing: a great improvement from the character we saw in Somewhere in Africa.

FlawsEddie Watson… Not impressive. His facial expression doesn't trigger any emotions whatsoever. Maybe he should consider stage (audience will be too far and his body language will be just fine).

Basics of editing – you don’t cut from a medium shot to another medium shot. A number of jump cuts were visually unpleasant.

And the cinematography! At some point, I asked if it was a ‘depth of field’ practice (I guess the cameraman was experimenting with the focus). The cinematographer took every opportunity to rack focus and it took way too long for the dominant figure to get into focus. It wasn't necessary. Too many out of focus shots.

Kwame’s beard. At some point, it looked as though it had been glued to his face.

The film could have ended when Greg took the picture of the family. The last shot didn’t bring any new information.

Conclusion

All the same, Family Album is a very interesting film – great screenplay, nice costumes, beautiful location and excellent delivery. 

Imagine Kofi Adjorlolo pleading with a lady; priceless moment.

Its message is a positive one; preaching forgiveness and the importance of family.

GCR Rating: 70.5%