No one fears a farmer
Continuing my trip up The Guardian's top 50 films of 2022
#44 : The Woman King
Stirring period epic starring Viola Davis as the leader of the Agojie, a brigade of female warriors in west Africa who are attempting to see off threats from the Oyo empire as well as from slave-buying colonialists.
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I've heard this is good, and I can assure you there would have been no chance of me watching it under any normal circumstances. I'm imagining it will be impressive and educational without being, for me, overly engaging.
Hmmm. Whilst watching this, I was trying to decide the best way to describe it - and then I saw The Guardian had got it exactly right in its first three words with "stirring period epic". It's the sort of thing that comes in and out of favour from time to time, but, for a change, it's got mostly women and people of colour this time around (think African Gladiator). The Guardian is accurate with the rest of its description as well, although it's odd that it doesn't mention that it's set in Dahomey - which wasn't a place I'd ever heard of (although that isn't overly surprising given that it's now part of Benin, and I've barely heard of that). And, to be honest, that's probably all you need to know at this time.
The historical setting is impressive (I'll assume it's accurate, but have no real idea whether it is) and it has an interesting enough story to tell (ditto), although it does somewhat pepper it with more character backstories, arcs, journeys and life lessons than feel to be strictly necessary. Obviously it's a personal preference thang, but unfortunately, for me, the whole thing fell somewhat between being a Hollywood blockbuster and an African historical/art house movie - trying to satisfy everyone but failing overall. If pushed, I preferred the African historical/art house side of things - there's more cinematic skill in those scenes for me, although the battle scenes are done well, and are surprisingly brutal (but not gory) at times. Having said all that, the "romance" element is particularly nonsense - it felt like a total test audience addition that I have no time for (but it doesn't go totally overboard, so I'll forgive the film somewhat).
But the backstories, arcs, journeys and life lessons are all well acted - the main characters are played by Viola Davis (last seen in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom), Lashanna Lynch (who's had a strong couple of years with No Time To Die, Doctor Strange's Multiverse, this and Matilda) and Thuso Mbedu (who I'd never heard of, but I did see briefly in The Underground Railroad) and they all do a great job (I wouldn't mess with any of them!). John Boyega as the king is surprisingly underused - he's obviously good (because he's ALWAYS good, but surprisingly this is the first time we've met him) but he's not asked to stretch his artistic skills here.
Wikipedia has an interesting controversies section on the film, particularly regarding Lupita Nyong'o initial involvement in the film - she recorded a documentary about the Ahosi, as they were actually known and who inspired her Black Panther character. The documentary started with her siding with them but, as her knowledge of their participation in the slave trade grew (and it sounds like it was quite the involvement), her sympathies somewhat dwindled - there's no official confirmation that this resulted in her dropping out of the film, but it seems like a bit of a coincidence if it's not related.
I have sympathies with both sides - you can't expect to make a 100% historically accurate film to satisfy audiences, but if you're going to present it all as the truth then you need to expect some push back if it turns out you're just telling a story. And telling a story is what this film does well - even if it's not a story that I was particularly engaged with. If you like a historical epic and you're looking for something slightly different, then this may well be your thing - at the time of writing, it's available to rent or buy at all the usual places. But, to be honest, I'm not sure why you would.
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