“What a Journey it Was!”: Nollywood Film Club Discusses ‘Oloture’ Series

After WKMUp’s break in July, we return to recapping the thoughts of the self-professed professional yappers of Nollywood. 

In July, Nollywood Film Club discussed Kenneth Gyang’s Oloture: The Journey, Uche Jombo’s Onye Egwu, Bolanle Austen-Peters’ House of Ga’a and did a half year review.

The Biggest Questions Around The Past and Present of Nollywood Male Characters According to Nollywood Film Club

Here’s a summary of the club’s brief session on Oloture: The Journey, a sequel series that left everyone with questions!

1. Firstly, everyone had questions!
2. Chinweke appreciated the groundbreaking technical stuff in Nollywood that added a gritty feel to the series. Vanessa, who thinks it might be mean to say she doesn’t like everything about the series, found some scenes visually pleasing, while Mr. C admired the desert scenes and the efforts that must have gone into the execution.
3. Ikechwuku Onunaku was praised as a “fantastic actor” by Vanessa. Mrs. C admired Bukola Oladipupo’s beauty as Beauty, and Mr. C thought Bucci Franklin did a commendable job despite his brief appearance. Did we mention those positive comments about Omoni Oboli’s eyeballs? 
4. Olanna liked the use of artwork in Tony’s office and the incorporation of Ankara fabric in the series. She also appreciated the brief runtime of the series.
5. Uchenna found the first episode promising and was glad the problematic journalism storyline was quickly resolved.
6. Chinweke criticized the misallocation of efforts, feeling the story was neglected despite the impressive scale of the production. Mr. C echoed this sentiment, noting the series tried to be bigger but lacked thoughtful writing.
7. Many speakers, including Nollywood Must Change and Olanna, felt the plot was disjointed, with characters making illogical decisions and a gang war that lacked coherence.
8. Vanessa and Mr. C both questioned the point of the series, seeing it as a repetitive and less cohesive retread of the original film. Olanna even compared it to the poorly received Chief Daddy 2, another infamous EbonyLife project.
9. Otas and Mrs. C expressed frustration over the lack of clear motives for key characters, leading to a series filled with unanswered questions and confusing story arcs.
10. Cynthia suggested that the series might have fared better as a mockumentary. Do we smell mockery? 
11. Several speakers, including Nollywood Must Change and Mrs. C, compared the sequel unfavourably to the first film, seeing it as a rehash of Oloture 1 with similar mistakes and less cohesion.
12. Everyone likely still has questions!

My key lesson: our incapacity is always on full display when we decide to go bigger. The original film was equally bad. But thematic projects like this usually fall within most viewers’ blind spots. 

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