IJE the Journey
Genevieve Nnaji, Omotola Jolade-Ekehinde, Clem Ohameze, Odalys Garcia, Ulrich Que, Jeff Swarthout
IJE tells a tale of Chioma, a child growing up in the Nigerian countryside, who warned her restless sister, Anya, about the trappings of the American Dream. Now ten years later, Anya is accused of killing three men in a Hollywood Hills mansion--one of them her record producer-husband. Chioma travels from Nigeria to Los Angeles, and with the help of a young, unproven attorney.
"Once a woman is raped, no man will ever touch her again" - Genevieve Nnaji (as Chioma Opara) "In my country there are no queens, only kings. A woman does not take a husband, she is given to him" - Omotola J. Ekehinde (as Anya Opara)
Chineze Anyaene
Chineze Anyaene, Paula Moreno
Chineze Anyaene, Samuel Tilsen
2010
Amazing lead cast. Interesting story. Impressive production
Some weak actors here and there
-Story: [5 out of 5] It took approximately four years to get to most of us. Most of us have/had given up on it (myself inclusive). Why would a movie take that long to be released to the masses? I mean for what now? Even if you’re Titanic. Infact, at a certain point I had rewatched the trailer and lost all prior excitement. Actually, I had dared to compare it to a Nollywood USA movie (actually now thinking back on it, may that tongue that compared this movie to a JJ Bunny mockery roll back a thousand times). To state it simply, it was worth the wait. Every single second of it, every single minute of it…. simply amazing!
There are many amazing things about the story. First of all the story on its own is phenomenal, but more than the story I was impressed by the social issues being raised in the background of the movie. How Chineze was able to touch on everything from racism to social stigma associated with rape victims to the conflicts in the Northern parts of Nigeria between the Igbos and the Hausas to illegal immigration to the pursuit of the American dream to the force of one’s desire to please ‘papa’. I really…. I really… *breathes out*… words can’t do this movie justice.
-Originality: [5 out of 5] Loved loved loved… absolutely adored the storyline, and…
-Predictability: [5 out of 5] …the way it ended? Not exactly what I had expected (because it was much much better).
-Directing/Editing: [4 out of 5] Pascal Atuma describes Chineze, in his own words “Chineze is action. Not talk talk talk talk”. If all Nollywood USA movies were of this calibre, made-in-asaba movies would have been long extinct. Absolutely amazing cinematography, editing, just generally amazing work all round. A couple Igbo dialogues here and there were without subtitles but besides that this was immaculate
-Acting quality: [4 out of 5] Genevieve and Omotola in one movie. We’re all probably thinking the same thing… killer combo. And they both held true to what they stand for… ‘acting’. Actual acting. Actual acting at its best.
To me, both ladies had outstanding performances but as Omotola’s character required more depth and a wealth of emotions, and the fact that she delivered each emotion line for line, tear for tear, word for word… ah! Omosexy was murderous.
Lest I underestimate the tremendous skill it takes to bring tears to the viewers eyes by doing nothing other than orally narrating a scenario… Genevieve killed it!
Extremely… extremely… extremely impressed by Ulrich Que (who plays Barr. Turner), did an amazing job. Generally speaking, all the extras were amazing. I loved that Chineze actually sought out real talent (as opposed to randomly picking any white man from the streets and putting him in front of a camera because his skin color matches the bill). Safe for some scenes were the extras could have been stronger, the acting in this movie was amazing.
-Setting: [5 out of 5] A job beyond well done
-Costume/Make-Up: [5 out of 5] On point. Especially loved Genevieve’s trad/english combos.
-Props and Graphics: [5 out of 5] Amazing
-Video Quality: [4 out of 5] On point
-Audio Quality [4 out of 5] Good
-Soundtrack: [4 out of 5] I am looking for a link to download/buy the soundtrack… Listen to the full song here
-Musical Score: [5 out of 5] At some parts of the movie, I had to mute it (partly because I’m chicken but mostly…) because the score did such an amazing job building tension that even I myself was scared for the characters on screen.
Pot of Life
King Akabueze
what is the name of the sound track??
Unfortunately I do not know
when will mrs chineze ayaene direct her next film,seriously we need more of this quality films and directors in nigeria,we need them to movie nollywood and our actors forward,our actors need to be challenged….
Omotola is the reason to watch this flick. Genevieve struggled and I could not understand why. She keeps doing the same thing and it is becoming boring. There is no growth in her acting skills
You guys still don’t get that genevieve was the main cast of this movie, she did not struggle, it was carried out well, not to negate omotola’s role, I think nny is d reason to watch this flick
Genevieve in no way struggled in this movie. No way. She was absolutely great. Her role didnt need too much high moments. She was sad and worried in the movie and that she executed pretty well. omotola was also beautiful. this movie to me is the answer to the age long debate of who is better between both of them…The answer is NONE. They are both great in their ways. You can’t compare Sandra Bullock and Julia Roberts. You will remain there for the whole day
I loved the soundtrack as well! By all means do, and when you do let us know what you thought 🙂
Can’t believe i haven’t watched this movie…will do soon though.,loving the soundtrack
http://www.somewhereinmoscow.blogspot.com
No wahala, Now watching Ije for the 2nd time. hehe
The link to the Amazon movie was on top where it says “you can watch the movie online HERE” but I’ll tweet a link at you.
Sorry about not being able to use LPS although you could have used LPS as your sign up name along side your email. Had to remove blogger commenting because I couldn’t remove the Anonymous commenting option and way too many people take advantage of the Anonymous cover to insult and personally attack actors.
Still don’t get why I can’t comment as LPS…really annoying. Anyways can you send the link to watch this on Amazon please. Can’t wait any longer.
Thank God! Finally, a Nollywood movie that you like 🙂
So to the call, Atala and I saw this on Amazon just now, and will be reviewing it soon. It was amazing, worth the wait 🙂
Damn you haven’t been here in a while huh? Lol but thanks Dianah and you definitely should
heard so much about Ije, really should see it this December. Love the new look btw.