ZR-7 (The Red House Seven)

Thinking back now, I wonder what would have happened if I’d ever stood up to them, the seniors I mean. If we’d ever just said “no, we’re not kneeling down” or “fetch your own water”, wetin for happen?

I guess that can only be a thought now because none of us 10-13 year old JSS1 students would ever conceive of upstaging the tormenting seniors.

ZR-7 is a movie about seven JS1 students and their exploits in secondary school. Anyone who went to secondary school would be immediately attracted to this movie because it promises to bring back memories. The movie’s tagline goes something like “the first boarding house movie in Nollywood? or Nigeria?” and like most other Nollywood movies that claim firsts, it’s really not much of a first. There was another movie called “my school mother” back in 2005 that also explored the topic of secondary school students in boarding houses (there was also “college girls” late last year, but the world would be a better place if we ignored that movie).

It probably wouldn’t be fair to compare “My school mother” with “ZR7” because the former explores boarding houses from the female perspective, and the latter from the male perspective. But generally speaking, I think ‘my school mother’ was a more enjoyable movie.

The movie ZR7, being the AMAA award nominee that it is, probably didn’t win the award because it’s not a very well developed story. There are lapses in the storyline and obvious glitches (like the film stealing scene) that we choose to ignore because we just like the storyline. Yet, the fact that we ignore them doesn’t mean they’re not there.

I loved the movie because it brought the experience of boarding house back, and the entire feeling was almost fresh. However, I didn’t love the movie, I loved the feeling, I loved the memories it brought back. Looking at the movie alone, there were many spots that could have been filled in better, where music could have been used to create emotion better.

The advertising for this movie is a bit misleading, the advertising sells “a boarding house story, come and revisit secondary school days” but the movie is not about a boarding house, it’s not about the Saturday morning chores, the fetching water or the ruthless seniors. It’s about a band of boys, ZR7, and their exploits. And if you don’t realize this from the onset, you’ll leave this movie feeling very disappointed. On the flip side, if you realize this and accept this then you can enjoy the movie for what it is.

For those like me who were looking to reminisce, then probably watch ‘my school mother’.

This movie didn’t really have a parade of renowned actors except two: Nobert Young and Adeyemi Okanlawon. Most people recognize Nobert Young, and Mr. Okanlawon is new on the scene. He was in the short film “Blink” and he is also in Ndani TV’s web series “Gidi Up“. And both of them, the only two actually bringing any intense acting to the screen, were only in about one and two scenes respectively. Like I said earlier, the movie was filled with a bunch of freshers (for the most part), the adults were good enough actors in that they were just ok and some of the kids were ok and the rest not so much. Nigerian movies really do need to work on our kid talent, being a kid is no longer an excuse.

One thing I would have changed about this movie would definitely be the music. Music wasn’t used right, music wasn’t incorporated enough. There were too many moments of silence and paper shuffling, and not the kind of soundless scenes like in “Ties that bind“, those had an effect but these ones felt empty like something was missing.

The video was fuzzy for me on widescreen and clear on a mobile device, so I don’t know if that’s widespread or just me and the audio was a bit shifty. But except for the things listed, this was a fairly good movie. Must commend them for going straight to the point and I have no doubt that on second try they probably will make an even more intense film.

Trailer:

Available now on amazon VOD: http://amzn.to/V85YJA

and DVD: http://amzn.to/SvTRat[/tab][/tabgroup]