Tatu

We have heard of character driven movies and we have also heard of plot driven movies, well this movie felt like an art driven movie.

In Tatu, a mother gives birth to a child who is destined to give her life up for her people on her 21st birthday. To avert this, she gives her child over to a priest in order to help her escape from this destiny. The high priest of the village is not too thrilled about this decision and sets out on a quest to bring back the child – Tatu.

You know that common nollywood syndrome of being unable to give one hundred percent, one hundred percent of the time? That was ever present in this movie. First off, the movie starts off without any sound for the first two minutes; and I can’t tell whether that’s on the movie or just on irokotv but that’s beside the point. In those silent two minutes your eyes are introduced to the visual feast that is the cinematography of the film.

Then this scene is followed by possibly the most beautiful scene in the entire movie (and the number one reason to see the movie), the childbirth scene. The choreography of this scene was truly amazing. Against my better judgement, this scene sky-rocketed my expectations so imagine my shock when I find myself struggling to pay attention halfway through the movie.

The first parts of the movie are possibly the best parts (and by first parts I mean the first few minutes) because after that it becomes a lot of anticipation built for very little reward. This reward dwindles all the way until the end of the movie when you are met with a very unsatisfactory ending.

However, one thing that is not unsatisfactory is the picture. Forty to sixty percent of the time, the harmony between the picture, lighting and shots was pure magic. The other times? It was confused and uninspiring. I was especially uninspired in the third to last scene where light skinned Toyin Aimakhu walks out of a hut surrounded by black skinned men; but, instead of the lighting to complement the skin of these men, it made them all look blue in the light of day. I hesitate to ask, but if black men can’t light appropriately for dark skin then who will?

The story in its original form must have been a page turner, but the story in the film form was hardly fascinating. Story wise there were a lot of holes present and a lot of things built-up that were left without delivery by the end.

But let’s talk about the performances. The second most important reason why anyone should watch this movie is for Gabriel Afolayan. If not for anything, the scene near the end where is running and screaming cusses while being chased by the little men, is worth multiple views. In one scene early in the movie, Hafiz Oyetoro has a cameo alongside Frank Dunga. The less informed viewer might have though this would be all the comic relief there was but he/she would be wrong because Gabriel is coming in the future. His comic timing and delivery in this movie is perfect and is the only thing that keeps us going as the second half of the film drags to an unexciting end.

The performances by everyone else is also strong. Even Stephen Damien was far from underwhelming in this movie and managed to convince in his role from start to finish. Then there was Funlola Aofiyebi-Raimi as the aptly named Mother Superior. She executes her role with such ease, unfettered by the ridiculousness of the costume she is clad in.

In the end, Tatu serves as a slight nudge to audiences about what future nollywood is capable of carrying out while still being chained down by current nollywood’s inability to commit one hundred percent and be as thorough in all parts of the production of the movie.