Underbelly

Femi Abedayo stars in this period drama about culture, lust, and how fear and envy can quickly fuel aggression in inter-tribal relations. He plays Ojo, a Yoruba man, who has settled in the North to work in a textile factory with his friend Afang (Smart Conrad), from the south south. Ojo wants to attend the FESTAC 1977, and that is the drive behind his hustle, but this motive is ultimately irrelevant to the story, unless of course to set the movie in a place in time. 

So the year is presumably 1976, and the film’s costume and set director must be commended for the work they did in selling this piece of the narrative. This is aided greatly by the film’s simplistic nature—the producers know the budget they work with and they never venture to make big spectacles that may reveal gaffes in their set design. Instead, they build a few sets that intimately convey the feel of mid 70s Northern Nigeria—the factory Ojo and Afang work, their minimalistic home, the bar where Afang and a few other workers go to unwind after work, where a friendly owner, Chigbo (Stan Nze), serves palm wine from a wooden jug. 

And this bar, though a third space for the factory workers, is where almost all the tension builds between the indigenes and settlers, and where the scuffles eventually happen when these reach boiling point. Ojo and Afang are strangers in a new land and in want of female companionship, but they approach this need, just like they do the village itself, in starkly different ways. Ojo is sceptical of the town he is in and is keen not to upset their sensibilities, Afang is carefree to the point of being careless. When Afang’s philandering stretches to include married women as well, the relationship between guests and their hosts strains, and when it snaps, there will be casualties on both sides. 

Femi Adebayo is the star cast member here, but the film is written to give Afang a much bigger share of the story. Smart Conrad, the actor, is ill-equipped to handle it. His portrayal of Afang as the cheerful guy quickly becomes overdone, and he cannot properly depict other aspects of Afang’s personality outside his ever-present wide-toothed grin. Adebayo himself is severely underused, but he smartly handles what he is given. Stan Nze takes on Chigbo expertly, especially in scenes with or concerning his sister, Munachi, who he clearly cares for. Other members of the cast, like Kunle Coker as head of the factory and Wale Wasui, a fellow worker, put in good shifts as supporting characters in the factory. 

There is an ingenious premise at the heart of Underbelly, and plenty of lessons to learn from it, but how well it is actually translated to a story rests on the quality of writers. Here Smart Conrad puts in a better shift than with his acting, but still he does not nail down some of the intricacies of the story. There was potential to properly explore conflict between Ojo and Afang when they clash over Sofia (Deni Faleye), a beautiful woman that lives in the town, but it is not properly treated, which is a shame because of how much she affected the dynamics between the friends. 

The entire side story between Munachi and Afang is also not properly executed, and even by the end of the film it is not clear what exactly happened to her. Chigbo’s reaction to it too, is badly done. The story around theft/ selling of illicit drugs at the textile factory is shoddily put together, and it is another instance of a plot point that you keep thinking will be properly explained at some point but never is. So there are gaps in the story that you will have to fill with your best guess of what transpired. At least some of this blame should sit with the director, Toka McBaror, especially in the scenes towards the end when a certain character goes on a rampage and it is hard to ascertain what exactly is happening in each scene, or why. 

A microscope applied closely to Underbelly’s story will reveal sore areas like these that could be done a lot better, but on the outside, it remains a spectacle in sight and sound. Large plains of arid lands that stretch to the horizon, the occasional camel or two, beautiful and authentic music from hand-played instruments of Northern Nigeria all serenade the senses. It is clear that a lot of effort has been put in to make it as immersive an experience as possible, so that any flaws with story and continuity are easier to forgive. 

So while you may forget the finer details of the movie’s plot a few days after seeing it, images like the above are burned in your memory. And that is a win for its cinematography. There is a lot to improve on in the future, but Toka McBaror will be happy to have transcribed into film a splendid slice of Northern Nigeria.