The spectacular commercial success of EbonyLife Film’s Wedding Party appears to have presented a eureka moment to some Nigerian filmmakers given the now fairly common adoption of some of the characteristics of that film.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge spoke about the willing suspension of disbelief, something which this film sprinkled on its audience in abundance, draping them in the labyrinth of what you could call the aspirations of most Nigerians.
In the wake of this spectacular audience reception, the most prominent thematic concerns of Wedding Party, have become of serious attraction to a lot of filmmakers. These tendencies include: exposing the hitherto exclusive lives of the wealthy, the hypocrisy in their relationships, the follies in their exaggerated wisdom and the obscenities of their extravagance.
And that is somewhat understandable. When you ply your trade in difficult terrains where there are no clear studies on what tickle audiences like Nigeria’s, latching onto the evident success of one isn’t necessarily wrong, especially with the injection of distinct creativity.
Bolanle Austen-Peter’s Bling Lagosians, follows in this same trail of revealing the behind-the-scene activities of the high and mighty and the narcissistic spirit that governs their every move.
In this debut effort as a film director, Austen-Peters who is more known as a stage director and film producer fixes her eyes on the legendary gregariousness of the true Lagosian and gives the audience enough revelry.
While the film lasts, the audience savours the pleasure of that elaborate ‘owambe’ party and the luxury they aspire for from the filmmaker’s peeps into the otherwise impenetrable walls of the fantastically wealthy. It reveals loads of sweat and sour in the lives of the rich and leaves the audience wallowing between hope to one day attain and a sadistic gratification for fall of the one who has mismanaged his fortunes.
In Bling Lagosians, Akin Holloway (Gbenga Titiloye) is the spendthrift heir to a long-standing legacy of wealth, respectability and business sagacity.
Unfortunately, this particularly Holloway takes nothing after his ancestors other than the name. To compound his woe, he his married to a Mopelola (Elvina Ibru) who is more interested in outclassing her friends by throwing party after party than in the family’s very obvious financial misfortune.
Mrs Holloway is so preoccupied with side-talks amongst her frenemies and getting the first-grade shindig for her 51st birthday that she does not notice the trouble in Demidun (Osas Ighodaro-Ajibade), her first daughter’s marriage or Tokunbo (Sharon Ooja), her second daughter’s wobbly career.
And at the end the day, all things work together for the inglorious end predicted for Holloway by the wise Iya Oloja, who happens to be a long acquaintance of the Holloway family and mother of the State Governor.
Bling Lagosian had the prospects of being a compelling story but it’s doubtful that the storyteller was conscious of this possibility. As a result, it ends up trivialising the sub-plots capable of elevating the already commonplace stories of the idiosyncrasies of the rich.
For instance, while giving Holloway another lease of life after the already foretold crash of his business may have been the filmmaker’s preachment on resilience, you would be forced to wonder what happens to all the crimes he committed while struggling to hold on to the company? Holloway is just made to accept his loss in good faith and then move on!
In addition, nearly every event in Bling Lagosians also seem so apparent and predictable. And nothing dampens enthusiasm about a movie more. You could tell how Holloway would end up, it was obvious that his friend was after his position as chairman of the company even as one could guess that this same friend already had an inkling of his wife’s dalliance with Akin Holloway. And neither sound nor camera does much to set this film apart.
Although it parades an enviable cast of A-listers, acting in this film could have been way better. None of the actors, possibly except for Alex Ekubo, (who as Nnamdi, the Igbo film merchant, goes out of his comfort zone, although he tries too hard to convince with his Igbo accent), faces any challenge that reveals capacities hitherto unseen. And it gets worse in the case of comedians Helen Paul and Broda Shaggi, whose roles as house helps (another discomforting stereotype in Nollywood) evokes no laughter.
Overall, Bling Lagosians succeeds in depicting the ostentation and resilience of the people of Lagos as well as the possibilities within city. It however fiddles with the opportunity to tell an outstanding story capable of raising the bar of filmmaking in Nigeria.
3.5