Being Mrs Elliott’s Half of a Yellow Sun

By Tosyn Bucknor

I recently went for the premiere of ‘Being Mrs Elliott’, a movie directed by Omoni Oboli. And just a week or two before then, I saw ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’.

1. The ‘Being Mrs Eliott’ premiere was a fun, well-attended one with Omoni looking very elegant in her monochrome look. It was nice to see AY in a monochrome look as well, almost like it was planned

2. Speaking of AY, he was in the movie, playing one of the supporting lead roles actually. I thought he gave a good account of himself and was one of the highlights of the movie.

3. Another highlight of the movie for me was the comedy, especially one provided by Miss Oru… When you watch the movie, watch out for the girl with Lepacious Bose; she almost stole the show.

4. A big scene-stealer was Omoni Oboli herself who is a fantastic actress, sometimes let down by her co-actors. I felt Majid Michel was flat and her best friends in the movie overacted.

5. Generally, ‘Being Mrs Elliott’ was interesting movie to watch; I liked the premise, and how it was explored. I would like to see a television series based on ‘Being Mrs Elliott’ actually.

Before I saw ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’, I had read the reviews and had to be persuaded to go see it, to be honest, I did not think I would like it.

6. But I did. It was interesting, had its’ high and low points, but was generally beautiful to watch.

7. My stand out performances were by Chiwetel Ejiofor, Onyeka Onwenu and Anika Rose. I felt the others were a bit one dimensional but Anika just shone. Speaking of Anika, I keep bumping into other movies she has been in. I wonder why she never really became a break out star.

8. I can understand why the Nigerian cast were given more of supporting than real roles. We may need to send a lot of our thespians to film and acting schools to teach them how to break out of their skin and play different characters differently.

9. It was nice to see history on the screen and truth is, we hardly tell our own stories. The debate was, is this love story set in a time of war or a war story told via a love story? This question was never satisfactorily answered.

10. I find that there is also a divide between those who read the book and those who hadn’t. I had not so I saw the movie without any comparisms. My friend who HAD read the book was not happy, it felt to him like being promised a three course meal and getting fast food instead.

Should you watch these movies?

I think it is important to promote our theatre and movies, especially when they tell all sorts of stories from Nigeria. The issues with plot development; acting and more will be corrected as we grow. And it really is time to grow!

– Premise

– AY

– The non-speaking actress that practically stole the show

– Comedy or Drama? Comedy won

– Omoni is a fantastic actress, her co-stars let her down a little (Majid, a lot)

‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ has been spoken about a lot and I was glad to see it with a friend.

– Anika Rose

– Pretty average deliveries with Chiwetel, Anika and Onyeka as standouts

– Clear why the Nigerian actors were given bit roles

– History must be told and it was good to see

– Is it history being told with a love story in between or a love story set in history?