Golden Effects Pictures Studio presents Eniola Akinbo (Tolani), Ijeoma Grace Agu (Rose Adamson), Kelvin Ikeduba (OC), Kehinde Segun Remi (Mr. Lamidi Salako), Eniola Akanni (Young Tolani), Deyemi Okanlawon (Sanwo), Offiong Edet Anthony (Johnny) Kunle Afolayan (Pastor Fred) Kayaode Olaiya (Ajao). Director of Photography, Jonathan Kovel; Director, Executive Producer. Producer, Kunle Afolayan; Screenplay, Kunle Afolayan, Sefi Atta. © 2021
I want to pay attention for the first time to Kunle Afolayan’s Golden Effects Pictures Studio Emblem. Remarkable. If emblems are a unique way an entity could package their institution and map out a sense of direction, Golden Effects kills it. In the short life of Nollywood, I have seen studio emblems come and go, especially ones named after the publishers. Golden Effects since 2005 still holds its own. To stage a Robotic and bearded Afolayan walking into the camera and the Yoruba woman with traditional marks on her chick, dancing; are creative. The crew setting up for a shoot, all done in graphics, entails readiness for serious business enthralls me. Golden Effects by the quality of productions must have longevity in its DNA.
Metro Golden Mayer has a roaring lion. Growing up, I always sat securely in my seat at cinemas waiting for the lion to appear and roar, more like saying Bon Appetit. Once the lion roars, I know MGM will take care of me. Warner Brothers have an emblem fit for a conservative private college jacket lapel. The four brothers, Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack Warner, in 1923 established the studio to serve the community with multinational stories but eventually waded into animation. I wonder Kunle is thinking about going big on ‘animations’ because I view his Studio emblem as a harbinger for things to come. Fascinating!
Upfront, I’m not good at swallowing. That’s an ever controversy between my wife and me at the dinner table whenever she cooks fufu. She wants me to swallow, but I can’t. I can’t help but masticate the last bit of any solid in the morsel in my mouth and chew the damn thing to splintering jelly. She’ll be looking sideways at my munching face as if I was committing the most grievous table manners. “Babe, one has to swallow, not chew!” She’ll instruct me again and again. I can’t swallow. I have seen people choked on fishbones in the process of eating, and most people at the dinner table don’t have throats as extensive as the Alaska Gas pipelines.
True story. A friend I once worked with was once a swallower. He’s dead now, but I still can’t disclose his country of origin and ethnicity. Dead people are subject to shame. He was a courier of drugs from his home country to Europe, chiefly Germany. He told me one never drinks nor eats until one gets to your destination and extricates oneself. One’s abdomen would be on fire throughout the trip. I asked him one day, “What if you were stopped and interrogated by an authority or a storm that could delay your flight?” His face went blank, with a renewed fear as if he recurred the awe-inspiring trip across the world with such chemicals lodged in his stomach.
Afolayan’s characters are not so much about swallowing than about the two opposite worlds they emerged. The two characters, Rose Adamson (Ijeoma Grace Agu) and Tolani (Eniola Akinbo), represent different characters with backgrounds. They differ in many aspects of life for Nigeria going through the 80s economic crunch. There were hardships and poverty everywhere. The weak hearts took the path of crime, and most turned to corner-store churches for prayers and salvation.
Their paths cross as workmates for a bank and roommates. Rose gets fired for said insubordination under Salaku (Mr. Kehinde Segun Remi), but Tolani takes Rose’s place. Yet, Tolani never lasted in the new position as the office boss Salaku sexually assaulted her as he did Rose. In such dire conditions, It is easy for Rose to fall in love with OC (Kelvin Okeduba), a shady character. OC buys her over when he volunteers to pay for her shoes. That same evening she visits him in his apartment, and a rocky love relationship starts between them. When one day she sees a box full of money with OC and confesses to her his line of job, she says she’s in, despite warnings by Tolani. On her maiden trip to England with a belly full of drugs, the chemicals burst in her stomach, and she dies en route.
What makes Tolani different from Rose is their names. Rose is Christian by name and anxious to make money to gets out of the dirt. She has no family leanage to fall on for advice. At one point, in a rage, she yells at Tolani, “Nobody cares about Rose. Everyman wants to use Rose!” OC doesn’t love you, Rose,” Tolani warned. “Don’t tell me that. I know what I’m doing! A mistake is someone who can walk around thinking the world would change because of them.” Rose has no moral compass in her life to go on. All she wants is to get rich.
On the other hand, Tolani isn’t streetwise. Very cultural. She’s country and uses the intermittent lectures both her mother and father gave her when growing up. Her father teaches her the essence of the Yoruba deities, Osun, Sango, Ogun, Yemoja, the Deities for compassion, courage, fertility, and strength. And throughout the story, she exercised each of the philosophies of the goddesses in interacting with her neighbors. The most excellent show of courage is when she stands to Salaku in the office. And her mother, on the one hand, teaches her about humility, honesty, and self-respect, virtue. These are qualities absent in Rose, and that is why she is short-lived.
The makeup of the film and its design mimics the 80s. Period movies are hard to produce. Imagine the wardrobe, location, and even the usage at the time. Pastor Fred (Kunle Afolayan) has a jet-black afro in his corner-store church. Tolani’s sideboard is seemingly not fashionable but falls in the 80s. OC’s Joint with all the cassette decks and standing fans are looked upon today as passe. What of his afro? It may not be excellent, but Golden Effects strived to present us with the period in the history of Nigeria.