MCM221 EXAM QUESTION 1

 

23BE033016

MCM221 EXAM QUESTION 1

LIONHEART HAS SOMETHING TO SAY AND IT’S TIME TO LISTEN

·       INTRODUCTION:

Genevieve Nnaji’s Lionheart (2018) was Nigeria’s first original feature on Netflix and remains relevant due to its commentary on gender inequality in the nation and the challenges women face regardless of societal standing. The film follows Adaeze in her efforts to prove herself as a capable leader in her father’s company in his absence, our first introduction to Adaeze is her standing up to drivers for the company who are threatening passengers in effort to get money they feel they are owed by the company, this encounter shows us everything we need to know about Ada, she’s confident, determined and a go-getter, someone who finds a way when there is seemingly none. Throughout the film, all her skills and resolve are put to the test as everything seemingly goes against her, firstly, her father suffers a heart attack and installs her uncle as his stand-in until his return despite her seemingly being the most qualified then, her and her uncle have to deal with the debts her father brought upon the company and are faced with disappointment and embarrassment at every turn, finally, they visit Ada’s ex Arinze for a solution, he seems to be their saving grace until he requests she sleep with him for the funds, she escapes before things go too far. Seemingly at rock bottom, they attempt a hail mary by traveling to kano to propose a merger to a wealthy mogul and thanks to a combination of good fortune and Ada’s pitch, the merger is completed, and the company is saved, and Ada’s efforts are rewarded through her father installing her as the new head of the company after the merger. Today, I will be breaking Lionheart down and analyzing it as a film and through the lenses of Male Gaze, Marxist Critique and Oppositional Gaze.

·       SECTION A:

The film is saturated in a style emphasizing all the colors on screen, the film itself is quite colorful, from the characters’ dressing to the locations, colors are just popping all over. The lionheart office in particular stands out, the walls are painted in a deep but bright green that captures the viewer’s attention instantly or at the beginning when the setting sun is used to bring out the color on Ada’s green dress and the characters’ skin. The camera is wide and leaves enough room to capture all the characters on screen along with the backgrounds, for example, when Ada and her father have a heart-to-heart towards the end, the two are in focus while the pool illuminates the background, each shot takes care to ensure we are close enough to the characters to build a sense of intimacy but not to close to be claustrophobic. I’ve gone on enough about the camera, we must continue on what occupies these scenes, firstly, the characters’ attire is a mix between traditional and modern dress, when at the office characters are seen either in corporate wear such as suits complete with a tie and plain dresses with light ornaments or native wear mainly by men. The dressing reflects the characters social standing, for example, the drivers at the start are dressed in seeming makeshift clothes while the chiefs and alhajis reflect their title by dressing elaborately, Chief Obiagu, Ada’s father, in particular is regularly seen with a fan even when in his casual dress, reminding everyone of his title. All recurring locations continue the trend of modernity mixed with tradition, for instance, the Obiagu household contains tvs, a pool and cars galore but is decorated in bits and pieces of the family’s culture.

As a film, Lionheart is serviceable, no huge flaws but no outstanding achievements in it’s structure, editing, sound or performance, it’s just fine. The narrative is simple and straightforward with no real complex characters or twists in the tale, the editing is done well enough to not make a viewer nauseous from too many camera cuts or a disjointed narrative, it does it’s job and the same can be said for the sound, it doesn’t really play a part in the narrative other than being clear and audible. Finally, the performances, Genevieve does well as the lead to bring Adaeze Obiagu to life but so do the other actors, like everything else, there’s no glaring faults but also nothing groundbreaking, it’s all simple and straightforward and that’s okay.

·       SECTION B: MALE GAZE

Lionheart doesn’t go out of it’s way to sexualize Adaeze, as a matter of fact, she’s never once presented as the object of someone else’s desire or loses her agency in her presentation of self, she consistently presents as confident and beautiful but never in an overtly sexual manner though several men imprint this on her, from the bank manager gazing at her barely exposed cleavage in the middle of a serious meeting prompting her uncle to block her with a newspaper or when the manager paid off by Igwe Pascal lists Ada as his price, earning a punch from her uncle or when Arinze is willing to help her only in exchange for sex. These incidents are framed in a comedic light and seem too comical to be real. However, they paint an uncomfortable picture about how even in corporate buttoned all the way up, a woman can still be some complete stranger’s object of desire.

·       SECTION C: MARXIST CRITIQUE

The film does little in critiquing capital, one can say it glorifies it, from the opulence of the main characters to their stories of building wealth from scratch, it is honestly an accurate reflection of how Nigeria views acquiring and keeping vast wealth and capital as not something grotesque and harmful but something worth aspiring to regardless of what it takes to get there.

·       SECTION D: OPPOSITIONAL GAZE

To be born a dark-skinned black woman is to be born into a world that has decided your narrative for you, a world ready to fetishize or villainize you at any moment, a world where your story is not yours. Lionheart bucks this by presenting Adaeze as an assured, hard-working woman who is tender or stern when needed, she is the main character in its entirety, she goes against the stereotypes and maintains her agency and autonomy and triumphs at the end without compromising to a world ready to use and abuse her.

·       CONCLUSION

In conclusion, Lionheart tells a simple but heartwarming story about a woman overcoming the obstacles laid in her path through her own effort and grit and just a bit of luck to earn her spot on top of the mountain, sending the message that women don’t have to bend to a world that seeks to break them to succeed.