Africine Films presents, Richard Mofi Damijo (Henry), Genevieve Nnaji (Tessy), Segun Arinze (Boss), Gbenga Richards (Debo), Kalu Ikeagu (Chidi), Gentle Jack (Tuvl), Uche Jombo (Alex), Emeka Ani (Chief Okonkwo). Story/Screenplay, Felix Odion; Director of Photography, Isaac Martins; Producer, Emem Isong; Director, Ifeanyi Onyeabor. C2004,
A remarkable Nollywood crime thriller I stumble upon yet. It has all the perks and trimmings of a significant crime film. Watching Secrets of the Night reminds me of the Hollywood big hits like The Public Enemy (1931), The White Hit (1949), and Goodfellas (1990). If The Public Enemy was a caricature of the 1920s Chicago’s criminal gangs, Secrets of the Night is a story about the violent armed robberies and the band of thieves that were prevalent in the 90s Nigeria. In Secrets of the Night, the Gang is out to get their share of the loots, big shots in public positions can steal from the national coffers and enrich themselves.
The Public Enemy is a story about small-time neighborhood kids who grow up from being pick-pockets to big-time gangsters in the post-war, industrial Chicago city. War had ended, Chicago industry wasn’t hiring, and it was hardship everywhere. The idle youths who couldn’t find jobs and wanted to make life better for themselves embarked on crime. The broad-shouldered gang of criminals in Secrets of the Night are well-matured fellas, who take arms against the well to do politicians who they feel have committed robbery as well against the poor taxpayers in the country. The Gang, as they refer to themselves, are only getting their shares of the loot from wealthy politicians, and in the process, they murder most of the victims.
The Gang consists of Henry (Richard Mofe Damijo), Boss (Segun Arinze), Debo (Gbenga Richards) Chidi (Kalu Ikeangu), and Tuvl (Gentle Jack). Among the Gang, both Chidi and Henry share the same soft approach to crime than Tuvl, Debo, and Boss. They both never share the callousness of the other partners, and that causes a fault line in the Gang. In other words, what is Tommy Devito (Joe Pesci), James Conway (Robert De Nero), and Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) in Goodfellas, is what is Boss, Debo, and Tuvl in Secrets of the Night.
Synopsis of Secrets of the Night: The Gang pulls a heist, during which they kill several people, they gather back in their den with $20 million in a briefcase. Henry is tired of killing innocent people during these robberies and decides he’s quitting the gang. Boss and the Gang members talk to him not to abandon them because they fear he might snitch on them. The Gang sends Chidi as an emissary to speak to Henry but takes the negative answer back to the Gang. Boss calls Henry and gives him an ultimatum which he needs the response from Henry in forty-eight hours. To emphasize the seriousness of the condition Henry is in, the Gang temporarily kidnap but release his beloved daughter.
Henry is easily convinced to take part in another $40 million heist that the Gang had already staked out outside Lagos on the conditions that this will be his last, and nobody dies. Agreed. Henry’s wife Tessy (Genevieve Nnaji) is reluctant to let her husband go on this quick two-day business trip to Kaduna. Meanwhile, Tessy’s best friend who’s wedding is about to come up, decides to make one crucial visit to her Governor uncle in the same house where the Gang is going to rob. After a successful robbery, Alex (Uche Jombo) wonders from sleep into the living room, and the first person she lays her eyes on is Henry. Bang! Bang! Henry shoots her, and she falls. Well, the Gang avoids leaving witnesses behind, and they kill everyone in the room.
Alex survives. Henry and the Gang are in a panic and wants to get rid of Alex before she starts talking. They attempt to kill her, but that Alex is the only ace in the government’s card, the securities on her is tight. Being that they can’t get to Alex, and Henry is the only known face to Alex, and therefore proves to be a risk, the Gang decides to eliminate him. Chidi secretly calls Henry and warns him about the plot against him and that he should take his family and skip town. Tuvl catches Chidi on the phone and ‘evaporates’ him. Henry confesses to his wife Tessy about him shooting Alex in a robbery gone wrong, and the mess he’s in with the Gang, which is out to kill him and his family. He invites the police to his house. At his home during a confrontation with the Gang, police gets there and Tuvl and Debo get killed, Henry and Boss survived the shootout, but the police arrest them both.
In analyzing the Gang by members, Henry is the type referred to by criminal gangs as yellow. He’s the only member of the Gang married to the beautiful and loving wife, Tessy, and both have a daughter for which Henry has every reason to be careful as not to lose them or hurt them and their happiness. It is the reason he wants to take leave of the Gang so he can launder his loot into a legitimate business and settle down. The Gang won’t let him:
Henry, “I’ve done my last. One more will be a burden. You can beat me, maim me, but nothing will make me change my mind.”
Boss, “It’s not about you, it’s about your family.”
Henry (moves in on Boss), “If you so much lay your finger on any member of my family, I will send you to your early grave.”
Boss, “…give you forty-eight hours. You heard me. I’m giving you forty-eight hours.”
Boss is the boss and won’t take ‘no’ for an answer from Henry. He and all the other members know, Henry is a serious and resolute person when it comes to business and that his presence among them is essential and therefore letting him go could be a risk to their criminal enterprise. Boss isn’t married; he has no known cares for which he would want to be careful, and he’s greedy and very callous. The two capons, Debo and Tuvl, makes him arrogant.
Both Debo and Tuvl are always trigger happy and impatient. Tuvl’s face tweaks and Debo continuously chews on his cigarette, and that shows that they are often in panic or jittery. Their aggressive characters get Tuvl first in a fight at Henry’s home, and Henry throws him into the pool. Debo out of fear and panic shoots Chidi in the bathroom as he is on the phone telling Henry their plot to come to get him.
Chidi is not made out to be a hardcore criminal. Among them, he portrays gentleness and seems to care for Henry. But he has a goddam fear for the Boss and his two sidekicks, Debo and Tuvl. He is miserable as to who to please, either the Gang or Henry and therefore he is the first victim among this gang of thieves to die. Chidi brings an intellectual approach to legitimize and validate their crimes. To Henry on a mission to convince him not to abandon the Gang:
Chidi, “Why are you leaving?”
Henry, “The guy’s killing too many people.”
Chidi, “Yeah, but they all deserve to die.”
Henry, “Innocent people are getting killed in the process.”
Chudi, “Bad guys use good people to shield themselves and…”
Henry, ” But they do not deserve to die.”
Chudi, “We all die someday, Henry…you’re giving me the impression that you are confused.”
Henry, “My question is, how long does this killing have to go on. How long?”
Chudi, “I don’t know. But I do know they deserve to die. We are fighting a just cause. We are eliminating those who are dragging our nation in the mud, by stealing from our national treasury. They don’t deserve to live.”
The relationship between Tessy and her husband, Henry give meaning to the metaphoric title of the movie, Secrets of the Night. Indeed, the nights holds lots of secrets. As innocent as a lamb, Tessy is clueless about the kind of husband she is married to for seven years. Not a whim, not a single suspicion she has ever had about the man she calls a loving husband. This Metaphorical title about secrets and nights only tells of the dark life of Henry for all these years, pretending to be a legitimate business tycoon, holding meetings with board members (Gang of thieves) and going on business trips (heists). Henry disappoints her after his confession and decides to leave him even as Alex from her hospital bed tells her best friend that, “He needs you, Tessy. Now is the best time you should stand by him.”
Secrets…. has all the elements of a gangster movie: The Gang has five broad shoulder-men, quite larger than life and knows how to use their guns. Among the group, three are callous and greedy: Boss, Debo, and Tuvl. Henry and Chidi are yellow, and of course, this is expectant of any crime drama. Both form the weak link of the Gang, but Chidi is seemingly confused as to whose side he should be on, between his friend, Henry who brought him into the gang, or the Gang. Hence he’s the first to die. By making Henry’s character, a family person with a lovely wife and kid add juice to the drama. Being married is the string that pulls Henry back. Then too, Alex as a personal and beloved friend of Tessy rounds up the story, which did not only pour gasoline into the drama, but her presence brings a catastrophic end to all. Good crime thriller.