Dear Nollywood Movies, What Have You Lost?

[dropcap]O[/dropcap]nce upon a time, watching a nollywood movie used to be exciting. Sitting down to press play after manually rewinding the VHS with your finger, because the last person who rented it did not have the courtesy to rewind before returning, was a thrill. Or pressing stop on the movie, getting that bright blue screen and hitting rewind x2 because that is faster than rewinding while the movie is playing.

[pullquote_left]and you get that Joseph’s-coat-of-many-colors screen[/pullquote_left]

And then you press play on the movie and you get that Joseph’s-coat-of-many-colors screen which is simply a generous warning that you need to turn down your volume, if you haven’t already, because the next sound will blow your speakers. Then it’s 3… 2… 1… and the first commercial for a movie that you can purchase at 51 Iweka road, Onitsha or 5 Pound road Aba.

Those were arguably the “good times”! When sitting for a nollywood movie, no matter how long, was sure to leave you feeling one way or the other at the end. With emotions ranging from hate for Patience Ozokwor, pity for Nkiru Sylvanus, ire for Kanayo O. Kanayo or simply lust for Ramsey Nouah. At those times, a movie would have part 1 and 2 or maybe part 3 also but you would not feel like it was a commitment sitting from scene to scene.

[pullquote_right]We have quality movies made with high quality cameras that literally need to be shipped as their own cargo from place to place.[/pullquote_right]

Now nollywood has gotten “better”! We have “options”! There are things like new nollywood, home videos, kannywood, and everything in between. We have quality movies made with high quality cameras that literally need to be shipped as their own cargo from place to place. Our scripts are discovering originality and pretty much every topic under the sun is fair game – from a day in the life of a business man waiting on a meeting to a young girl falling in love with an older man and not even because of his money.

So… why does it feel like something is lost?

Personally, I watch a lot of movies from a lot of eras from many different continents. When I watch an American movie, I expect it to be high on superficiality (or external things) and low on the feelings (it is a general expectation). When I get more, I am grateful; when I get less, oh well. When I watch an European flick, I expect it to be low on flashy-flashy, and high on the intellectual (I literally expect to come out of the cinema not sure if the meaning I got was the actual meaning of the movie). Again, when I get more, I am grateful; when I get less, oh well.

[pullquote_left]just checking boxes on the recipe for a great movie[/pullquote_left]

It used to be that when you watch a nollywood movie you expect a world of emotions and connections (not necessarily being relatable but just in connecting with the characters), but it seems not so much these days. We make really high budget movies with really pretty people with really popular names. The movies have songs that should make you cry and visuals that should agitate your tear glands but most of the times they fall flat.

Of course this does not apply to every movie, but many nollywood movies these days are just checking boxes on the recipe for a great movie but at the end they create no connection. You see many of our reviews go “it was a really nice movie, a lot of things were done right, but I don’t think I’ll ever watch it again”.

What is the difference between a movie you watch again and a movie you don’t?

Is it the educational level of the director? Shebi na the grammar wey the actors dey blow? Is it the pretty colors, cast and crew? Or is it the intense music? I hold that if I want to see degrees I would go to a college, if na grammar dey worry me I’ll relocate to England, if it is about pretty things I’ll go to a garden and is it about the music? Hello Pandora!

[pullquote_right]the movie will more than likely be forgotten like 140 characters[/pullquote_right]

There is a difference between a movie and a collection of checked boxes. If these things don’t all add together to create an experience for the viewer, the movie will more than likely be forgotten like 140 characters. It is ironic that even though we are making all these great advancements with new nollywood, when people want a real story they still go to Asaba movies.

Half of the year 2015 is gone and thus far I’ve seen a sizable amount of nollywood movies. Of the bunch only four are memorable and out of that four (you want to know what four?), only one was a cinema movie. So maybe we are focusing on the wrong things in new nollywood. Maybe we should start making movies because we have a story to tell and stop making movies because we have the budget.