Across The Niger
Kanayo O. Kanayo, Chiwetalu Agu, Segun Arinze, Rekia Atta, Ireti Doyle, Pete Edochie, Chinedu Ikedieze, Ramsey Nouah, Charles Awurum
Major Dubem is a prince from the east and a soldier who serves in the northern part of Nigeria before the war between them started. And while in the north, he married Habiba who is a northerner. Dubem's life is threatened in the north so he left with his wife to the east. His father, the king, and the elders of the village, refused to accept Habiba as one of them even though she is pregnant for him. A wife has been arranged for him from their own part and he has to marry her. His uncle, on the other hand, who is a traitor and a cheat, sells his people out of their enemies.
The movie, Across the Niger, has only one part
Izu Ojukwu
Izu Ojukwu, Kingsley Ogoro
Kabat Esosa Egbon
2006
Historical!
-Story: [4 out of 5] As many know, NR usually only reviews movies made 2007-post 2007 but today is Nigeria’s 52nd Independence day (Happy Independence Day) so an exception has been made. The reason for this time bracket on the reviews is to enable fairness because movies made post the date given did not have the same resources available to them to make movies with an equivalent standard. The only reason why an exception can be made for this movie is because 1) It’s an Izu Ojukwu movie and 2) It’s an Izu Ojukwu movie.
The movie is an embodiment of what is meant when people (/I) say that Nigeria has so many untold stories that it makes no sense for us to keep repeating the same recycled Royal/Love storylines we find in every other movie these days. There were one or two moments within the movie where the sequence seemed a bit over dramatic (i.e the scene where the soldier spoke of the “Red River”)
-Originality: [4 out of 5] One of the many many amazing things about Izu Ojukwu movies is that one can rest assured that he/she is getting something different when purchasing the DVD. Izu tells stories that others have chosen to ignore (other Izu Ojukwu movies on NR)
-Predictability: [4 out of 5] I wouldn’t say that I could see the end coming in general, however, the predictability lies within the little aspects of the movie.
-Directing/Editing: [4 out of 5] Amazing cinematography for the time (and even to a certain extent, for today). It has been said that Izu likes taking risks and is as daring a director as Nollywood has ever had (a trait which has shown true in Laviva, in this movie, and will hopefully show true in “Lions of ’76“). In as much as I did try to ignore many things taking into consideration the year of production, some things still stood out. For instance, once in a while the camera would be angled in such a way that was unflattering to the actors (i.e made them look fat); not all the ‘Igbo’ spoken in this movie was subtitled (and in some cases the subtitles were simply a summary of what was actually spoken as opposed to a point for point interpretation). I was impressed with the fact that there was an underwater scene/shot (even though the angle for that was also unflattering)
-Acting quality: [4 out of 5] Ghen! Ghen!! Now presenting… Across the Niger, starring Charles Awurum as Sylvester Stallone, the human bulletproof. 20 shots to the chest and he’s still shooting the enemy (Ihe n’eme – something is happening). Guest appearance by Segun Arinze and Ramsey Noah (I also did see Maureen Solomon and Oge Okoye in the mix of the crowd although they were uncredited). I thought Kanayo did a decent job carrying his role (which is what he did… “carry” his role). Chiwetalu Agu… doing the usual Chiwetalu Agu thing… being a general itibolibo (I’m sorry, I don’t know what this translates to literally. Igbo readers? Do you know) Rekia did a great job. Outstanding performance by Ireti Doyle… dayummm… Madam needs to return to the big screens though. Pete, Chinedu and everyone else did their roles justice
-Setting: [4 out of 5] On point
-Costume/Make-Up: [4 out of 5] Well done
-Props and Graphics: [3 out of 5] Fire shooting out of guns though? Even for 2006… I’m sorry but no
-Video Quality: [4 out of 5] Fair… can actually see in the night scene which was beyond impressive for a 2006 movie
-Audio Quality [4 out of 5] Good
-Soundtrack: [4 out of 5] Loved it
-Musical Score: [4 out of 5] Nicely done
Even then, d philosophy did not hold… We had d ejiro brothers, lancelot, amata brothers, teco benson etc
Valid Point.
i disagree with u, even back then, the quality of movies produced by the names u just listed weren’t as good as that of across the niger period.
U r just an ardent fan of izu ojukwu, I believe at one point u said all our directors and producers put 2geda do not measure up to him… U sure love dis dude… Been seeing ur works though and I love it… Nollywood fan
At one point, yes! I did sincerely believe that. Bt with the amount of progress in the industry these days, I believe that philosophy won’t be able to hold water anymore
Props and graphics 4 of 5 and yet fire was coming out of the gun… Hmmm na u sha o… Mr flint u certainly watch a lot of opening credits hahaha but kudos man, ure gud… Ireti doyle shud def come back and itibolibo means a great dunce
Again, I will remind you that it is a 2006 movie and the technology available to Nollywood today was not available to Nollywood in 2006. If this movie was made today, the review would obviously be different.
Why punish a movie for things beyond its control?
Props and graphics 4 of 5 and yet fire was coming out of the gun… Hmmm na u sha o… Mr flint u certainly watch a lot of opening credits hahaha but kudos man, ure gud… Ireti doyle shud def come back and itibolibo means a great dunce
anonymous so do u mean to tell me that u can’t figure out all the corrections i made by just watching the movie or any other movie for that matter, does one have to be an insider in nollywood to notice such things, is it differentiating maureen solomon from maureen ihua or pointing out the very much obvious which is the opening crdits where it clearly states that kingsley ogoro wrote the story and Kabat Esosa Egbon did the screenplay, is it now rocket science figuring out all these things when the filmmakers pratically spoon feeds the viewers with such information. my dear anonymous do u mean to tell me u can’t tell maureen solomon from maureen ihua or that u can’t understand or read opening credits of a movie, i sincerely hope the answer is a big fat NO!!!
How do you know all these if you arent from Nollywood,this Flint am suspecting you Lol,are you sure you arent a producer or Director?
i forgot to add that the story was written by kinsley ogoro, while the screenplay was by Kabat Esosa Egbon.
thanks nolly for putting up the review,however i think u were being too picky on the movie, but overall nice review, by the way that was maureen solomon not maureen ihua.
Thanks for the correction!