Change Your Image
mediamonds2006
Reviews
Half of a Yellow Sun (2013)
A noble effort despite certain aesthetic considerations
This movie is one that captured and then diminished my interest,but then captured it again. I have seen many movies that aim to depict the struggle of a people. Often they are tainted by Hollywood-style productions, which tend to dilute the emotional power they would otherwise have.Unfortunately, there was some of this here. However. Perhaps the majority of its viewers are fully aware of the tragic history of Nigeria in this era, including the formation of Biafra and the horrors in the aftermath of independence. For those who are, I would imagine that the telling of the story would be as gratefully appreciated as would food to the hungry. We in the west have not been graced with most of that history, because, unlike the Middle East and Eastern Europe, it has not been deemed relevant to our historical consciousness. So you might say that rating this movie could be guided by the need for bread, rather than the quest for bon-bons. I do not think the acting was bad, though it was not great. The level of trauma endured by those in the focus of the movie ( both the citizens generally and the main characters) puts in perspective what first world people have difficulty grasping, and lends insight into the reality that within every crisis there are still choices of conduct, and how these matter. I would have liked more linking of the role of the U.S. and Europe, specifically England, to the misfortunes of Nigeria- perhaps that was beyond the movie's scope. The footage in any case showed the cold, calculating mentality of the Royal Family as well as the English media in their involvement.The debate within political circles, and especially around the issue of 'the revolutionary', casts light on how misplaced optimism is so easily generated when change is desired. The ending, an update on the lives of the family,saved the viewers from the final insult of these lives being entirely frustrated by the debacle. Maybe that's a sentimental observation, but that's how it felt to me. I have seen Nigerian films that are nothing but soap operas, though even these have their merits, despite the protests of the high art crowd. I have seen movies such as 'Missing' by the noted director Costa-Gavras, that did not measurably exceed this in transcending Hollywood to tell an important story. So, you might say that this is a promising start for a new director. As an aside, and in conclusion, the name Nigeria comes up in a spell check, but not Biafra.