There are so many great  movies coming out of Africa in our own traditional languages and starting next month, a review will be written on at least one of those movies.  In my sojourn into the world of movies, I have come across movies in Yoruba, Igbo, Efik, Hausa,  Twi, so look out for that.  This month, a review will be done on a movie that came out in 2011 called spiritual lovers.  This movie features heavy weight actors and actresses like  Tonto Dikeh, Benita Nzeribe, Yul Edochie etc.

Cast
Helen - Tonto Dikeh
Sophia - Benita Nzeribe
Bright - emeka okoro
Ronald -  ugezu
Newton - Yul Edochie
Ray - Ken Erics

Setting:
One of the cities in modern day Nigeria.

How:
irokotv.com

Plot
An overly curious female overhears a conversation about an extremely  powerful sorcerer.  She seeks out that sorcerer using investigative skills.  When she meets him, she gets a prophesy that two men will visit her and she  should urgently choose the one that she considers ‘the man’.  She is excited about this prophesy and goes back home.

She eventually gets two visitors, one that is wealthy looking, posh and very handsome (Bright) and a second one who is very rural looking, fat, ugly and can’t speak properly (Ronald).  She is instantly attracted to the wealthier one, has sex with him and gets pregnant.  Unbeknown to her, he isn't really a man but rather a monkey in human form.  The question becomes what happens next? Will she give birth to an ape child?  You have to watch the movie to find out.

My thoughts:
Being African, I am quite familiar with the story of the rich princess who marries a ghost in human form because of his beauty and had to be rescued by the hunter.  This movie is quite similar to that story though it is a modern retelling of this old tale.  Offering poignant morals and proverbs that get us to think this movie was quite one to watch.  Unlike a lot of movies that often will stick to Judeo Christian themes, this movie doesn't focus on that, rather it highlights these themes without hitting you over the head with it.  It was done with class.

Some interesting sayings from the movie are, “the devil exposes itself for me to see is prefered to a saint that is calm and unpredictable”. “No one gives anyone the right to kill the man who has done nothing wrong”. The essence of life is existence and existence alone”.  These sayings were like tough meat that you have to chew slowly in order to get the full flavor of its meanings.  

Beyond these sayings, this movie offered a very important lesson on the power of appearance.  Helen who has sex with the ape in human form  was so focused on the external that she did not give Ronald who dressed in a traditional outfit with a Manchester united winter hat to go to the club the time of the day.  We eventually learn that Ronald is actually the wealthy one while Bright is poor.  Don’t judge a person based on their looks because that can be very deceitful.

The story was very fast paced and fortunately, the director did not spend a lot of time on each scene.  He knew exactly what he wanted and he did not beat around the bush.  We thank you for that.

The main caveat of the movie is that it doesn't really go into Ronald’s (the rich man’s) background.  Why does Ronald have magical powers?  Is he human? Is he a lion or an ape?  Who is he really?  That makes it kind of scary because yes, we learn about the power of appearance and judging a book by its cover but we are left with the question of what if we don’t judge a book by its cover and we end up with a cunning snake.  It is quite scary that Helen's friend Sophia (Benita Nzeribe) gets into a relationship with him. Ipijipes.

Another lesser caveat lay in the fact that Ronald’s character wasn't really heart warming.  He wasn't a tubby sweetheart that you just want to hug.  He seemed like an egomaniac, always knows what is right and a braggart.  The kind of man that an obviously thinking woman will be scared of getting married to.  But, then what do I know?

Another disappointing theme can be found in the lesson that the movie was supposed to teach.  When Helen found out that she was pregnant with a possible non human, she went back to the sorcerer who told her that it was all her fault for being curious and setting out to find out information without the protection of men.  I wanted to shout out, in this day and age, we still think this way.  Seriously.  The world of science is made up of people who were not comfortable with the status quo.  People who sought answers and got them.  One should not use gender as a predetermining factor for seeking knowledge.  This mind set can explain why Africa might be moving at slower rate if women are not encouraged to be bold, to seek answers and to be curious.  So for that sub theme, this movie gets a fail.

Should you watch it?
If you love African stories and movies that get you think - most definitely . But, if you have strong feminist or womanised principles stay away from this movie, you might throw your pop corn at the television screen.

ps