The beginning of Bonnywood
Nollywood meets Hollywood in Etolue’s “Through the Fire”
M. O. ENE
New Jersey, USA
Sunday, September 9, 2001
There is nothing special about the latest 1001 movies released recently by Nollywood this year. The usual recycling of so-called “selling” actors continues in movies sponsored by popular marketers (distributors). Scripts are getting weaker, and no one is bothering with existing books... well, except now that "From the belly of the Gods" is rising to emerge in living colors. Nollywood cannot copy Hollywood in actor-selling; it should also sell plots that educate and entertain, from which new actors should emerge. The marriage of Nollywood and African literature is only a matter of time; it shall come to pass.
Recently I watched a Nigerianized version of the Ghanaian hit (Darkness of Sorrow) repackaged as Wind of Glory (1,2 &3) (with Desmond Elliot & Genevieve Nnaji). There are now hundreds of smaller distributors, who zoom in and out before you know it, and leave the residual for the pirates I call “digital vultures” to devour the rest of the kill. Regardless, once in a while, one is tempted to buy and watch a clean copy of a new release. This was how I first saw Chinny Ahaneku in Alice My First Lady, thanks to the indomitable Patience Ozokwor (“Mama G”)
It has happened again with Mama G. This time, the trend of US-based actors writing and directing movies in Nigeria for sale in the US has been taken to a new height. This time, the plot starts in Nigeria and ends up in Maryland, USA. This therefore signals the beginning of Nollywood meeting Hollywood in what I am tentatively tagging “Dollywood.”
Chuks Etolue’s “Through the Fire” (Parts 1 & 2) dwells on a popular theme among many African nations: the intractable issue of childless couples. In this case, it is not even for lack of trying or the desire not to raise a family; it is simply a case of ill-luck, of supposed low quality of healthcare delivery, and of Africa’s “God knows best” mentality. The husband understands this belief, especially with his wife pregnant again. Alas, he has an impatient mother who lays all the blames on her daughter-in-law, forcing the son to do something drastic about it.
Such is the familiar plot. The problem is filling the gaps. Enter Patience Ozokwor to play the mother of the man, Iyke (Chuks Etolue). Ozokwor is her usual self, pushing and acting effortlessly to convey the seriousness of the situation and even raising hell where none is absolutely necessary. At the end of her constant push and pull, Iyke decides to sponge all his life’s savings and take his wife Chika (Malaika Njinjoh) to America. Without any fanfare, the couple came to the United States and face-to-face with the immigrant’s American nightmare.
What follows is a familiar case of an immigrant family trying to navigate the system of a shark-infested society, where the majority is swimming past you for all they can get. Iyke finds himself in a very trying situation after the safe but sad delivery of the child; sad because the doctor revealed that a genetic disorder has contributed to an operable condition that probably caused the supposed mysterious deaths of their previous two children. A surgical intervention is recommended, failing which the child will die. Haunted by the taunting of his mother, Iyke makes desperate decisions, but the love of his wife Chika, his simplicity, and his decency as a human being persist. Eventually, the friendship of a street-smart Ghanaian coworker Kofi (Manfred Tambe) saved the day… sort of.
The main character passes “Through the Fire” indeed; the hollow but harrowing huddles that many immigrants pass through to settle into the American life legally are all-too-familiar. There have been worst cases, but Iyke’s is driven not necessarily by economic imperatives but by the desire to take home a son to his mother, who believes the daughter-in-law is some kind of witch that devours children in her womb.
Patience Ozokwor’s great performance is expected; she does not disappoint. As a wicked mother-in-law or as an understanding but maneuvering mother, Ozokwor has become a legend of Nollywood with her now familiar “wicked-woman” roles. In “Through the Fire,” she gave the movie a memorable Nollywood touch and set the ball rolling into new things and new actors in a new land.
Chuks Etolue is too laid-back for an average Nigerian with some means. His quiet demeanor attracts and dares the viewer to bet on his losing his cool at the next scene. He does not. His devotion to his wife and his carriage are commendable. If the movie intends to portray a quiet gentleman who can do no harm, it succeeds. However, it appears there is more of the actor’s nature than the writer’s intention. Then again, the movie is written, directed, and edited by Chuks Etolue.
The casting of Malaika Njinjoh as “Chika” and as a hitherto unknown name takes Nollywood to non-Nigerian audience that is now definitely on the driving seat in the popularity of Nollywood in America. [Many Nigerian veteran viewers are no longer challenged.] Alas, the film does not yet thrust Malaika to the center of the stage. For some reason, the movie leaves her by the wayside as Keisha (Kimelia Weather) takes over and brings a downtown spice to the film as it wades through one surprise or another.
The movie is captivating in most parts. The excessive use of flashbacks to remind us of Iyke’s mother's curse is unnecessary. It probably takes up the space needed to follow up on some loose ends. For example, the viewers would have been brought along to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos or Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja, or, even better, the Baltimore/Washington International Airport. A critical viewer will like to know what a thoughtful Iyke does to help out with his father’s funeral rites back in Nigeria; how does Malaika react to the death of a father-in-law (C. O. C. Nze) that loved her, and how does the death affect his rabblerousing mother (Ozokwor).
The movie ends as most Nigerian movie with the triumph of good over evil. Alas, after all those flashbacks and haunting of his mother’s curse, one would have expected to be taken back to Nigeria for a surprising finale. It does not. We could only imagine what happened or even guess. You see, the operation is not guaranteed to grant the wish of Iyke and Chika to have a baby; it only gives the baby a 60-40 chance. If that is the case, does the operation succeed; if so, do they leave America together or alone? These are classical ingredients for a sequel, a part-three or even four.
If, as the director Chuks Etolue tells me, Part Three is not in the works, it means that Iyke’s mother is spared the eating of her words. That’s not very Nollywood-like. The ending should have shot while the Nigerians scenes were in the works. That’s typical Nollywood. On the whole, Chuks Etolue did a marvelous job. As I have noted, when one person takes so much on his plate, he does not always do the food justice. There are some typographical errors that should have picked up by a third eye.
“Through the Fire” is probably the first true crossbreed featuring Nollywood stars in Nigeria and US-based albeit not-yet Hollywood actors in America. In This America (2005) -- written by Oliver O. Mbamara and directed by Bethels Agomuoh, we see a movie made for American-Africa audience using US-based aspiring actors. In Strange Ransom, Tai Balofin deploys such Nollywood stars as Jide Kosoko, Toyin Adegbola, Ayinde Barrister, and US-based Floxy Bee in an American-based movie for American-African audience. In a soon-to-be release Far from Home featuring Ramsey Noah, Jr., Regina Askia, and Ejike Okoye, Pennsylvania-based George Kalu also brings in Nollywood to feature in Hollywood for a movie meant for America-African audience and hopefully African too. On the contrary, Nneka Onyekuru takes off to Nollywood, makes her trilogy featuring herself with select Nollywood stars and markets the products (Broken Taboo/Blames of Memories, Governor’s Wife and Whey Envy Lies to American Africans. In Through the Fire, Chuks Etolue brings a different perspective to Nollywood meets Hollywood in what is an emerging domain I am tempted to dub the dawn of “Dollywood.”
Another “–wood”? Oh yes, an emerging world of “–wood,” the movie-making moniker that started with America’s Hollywood to India’s Bollywood and then Nigeria’s Nollywood. And now we return to the dawn of Dollywood.
Dolly….? No, it has nothing directly to with Dolly Parton. Yes, she has her own Dollywood. Here I am referencing to the concept of cloning, of reproducing a life from another life. I will explain: We have Hollywood in America, the physical and the concept, yet we are cloning Nollywood in America as a faster way of movie making without the constraints of big screen Hollywood. In essence, the new US-based moviemakers are using what exists in Nigeria and the popularity of such setup to recreate a new form of entertainment into which, I bet, the Indians, will soon dabble.
Why Dolly? You still ask? Remember Dolly, Dolly the sheep (July 5, 1996 – February 14, 2003)? Dolly and her first-born lamb, Bonnie, were the first mammalian clone produced from an adult from fully differentiated adult mammary cells using a technique called somatic cell nuclear transfer. According to legend, the sheep was named Dolly after Dolly Parton because it was cloned from a mammary cell… and Dolly Parton is noted for her big breasts. Now you know the rest of the story or, maybe, just maybe, we should call the new genre Bonnywood!
Through
the Fire
A NigerAmerica Film
Starring: Patience Ozokwor, Chuks Etolue, Malaika Njinjoh, Manfred Tambe, Kimelia Weathers, C. O. C. Nze, Kenneth Chukwu, and others.
Story: Chuks Etolue
Story/Screen play: Chuks Etolue
Customier/Make-up: Pamela Olisa
Editor: Chuks Etolue
Production Manager: Ken-Gold Nwakunor
Director of Photography: Lucky Eromosele, Ian Bloom, Gemal Woods, Chuks Etolue
Producer: Chuks Etolue
Director: Chuks Etolue
For clean copies of THROUGH THE FIRE
Contact an African market near you or email kwenu@aol.com for further details.