I just finished consuming Elesin Oba: The King Horseman, and I can say the movie is one of the new Yoruba movies which show that the technology to make a quality picture is now fully in Nigeria. If Yoruba movies can continue like this, they might end up as the go-to movies when it comes to non-English African movies. With time, the makers of mediocre Yoruba movies will fade off. The best part is that the new crop of Yoruba movie directors now prefer to dig into history to come up with epic stories.
To give a brief preview, this latest movie on Netflix involves a chief who was supposed to die to enable the spirit of a kingdom’s dead king to find rest. Of course, the chief was eager to die as he had enjoyed a lot due to him holding the title that required his death upon the king’s death. Sadly, at the point he was supposed to die, event almost denied him the duty.
There are many things about the Elesin Oba movie which has Odunlade Adekola as Elesin Oba. The acting was great and the lightning awesome. Costumes were superb and there was nothing extraordinary about them to make one lament that they went too far in trying to impress. The soundtrack did go with the movie and didn’t sound modern which would have betrayed the epic story being depicted. The movie also did well in blending western and Yoruba cultures. However, there were some things I didn’t like about the movie.
Girls dancing n*de in Elesin Oba
I do know why the new Yoruba movies of high quality now promote nudity. Just a few minutes into Elesin Oba movie, a scene showed Odunlade in bed with many half clad women. I could almost count 15 of them who were later joined by two bare-chested ladies who revealed their b**bs before the camera. I think the directors of the movie went to that extreme to show that Elesin really enjoyed in his lifetime, which was why he didn’t object when it was time to fulfill the death duty. But hey, 15 women was extreme enough and there was really no need to introduce n*dity. I think the n*de part was just an attempt at showing that Nigeria can now display immorality like Hollywood. Same thing was done in Anikulapo movie which I complained about.
Joke Sylva scenes
I really don’t see why Joke Sylva starred in the movie. She only appeared in about three scenes and hardly said more than five words. When I first saw her in the movie, I looked forward to the role she was going to play. Sadly, it turned out to be a wakapass role. That’s too sad for a veteran actress. Even the few scenes she apprared in didn’t hold any mean. It was as if her scenes were done just to fill up space.
Jail scene between Pilkings and Elesin
An interpreter should have been used in the conversation between Pilkings and Elesin. It was rather strange to see Elesin speak Yoruba to Mr Pilkings who responded in English which was comprehended by Elesin. I understand that it would have been quite tiring to involve an interpreter in their lengthy conversation. However, an interpreter should have been introduced at the start of their conversation. That way, when things progressed without the interpreter, no one would question how Pilkings and Elesin got to understand themselves despite speaking two different languages.
Racism
One of the scenes had Odunlade calling Pilkings an Albino. It felt awkward and unnecessary. The movie wasn’t about racism to warrant such racial slur. It’s the same as having a white man call a black man n”gger. It made no sense and was not needed.
Elesin Oba has cheap ending
Elesin was prevented from dying by Pilkings who thought it was against the law for him to commit suicide to please his dead king. Elesin later committed suicide in cell. The movie tried to show why Whites should never interfere in other people’s culture. It got to a point where it seem as if both western and local culture were about to clash. This was because Pilkings didn’t allow Elesin to die in the normal way he was destined to simply because he didn’t believe in such. However, I think the directors ought to have allowed some spiritual calamity befall the town and also the colonial officers which would eventually brought Pilkings to his knees and out of his disbelief in their culture. The entire movie felt like the first episode of a series movie. The movie felt like it was still being introduced as I kept anticipating when it was going to jump off. At the end, the movie left no taste in my mouth. I see no reason to watch it a second time. If you feel the same or different, kindly drop a comment below.
