Lincoln Shevy - Shine (EP)
Koma: Beyond Awakening shocked me a few minutes into the movie due to the display of b**bs by girls. The Nollywood film is centred on the culture of an ethnic group living on the border between Nigeria and Cameroon, specifically in Adamawa. The ethnic group, which I had never heard of till I saw this movie, maintains an ancient lifestyle and keeps away from the modern world.
Koma: Beyond Awakening tells the story of Goriba, a member of the Koma ethnicity, who desires to marry a beautiful girl in the village. His desire propels him to greatness, becoming a chief in the village and earning the right to have the girl’s hand in marriage. While everything goes on smoothly like a fairytale, a horrible incident forces him to commit a village taboo, leading him to incur a curse in the process.
The movie stars Ian Wordi, Bolanle Ninalowo, Eso Dike, Lolade Okusanya, Tomi Ojo and was directed by Kunle Awonusi.
A Little Spoiler
There are three Goribas in the movie, and each has a significant section of the movie dedicated to them. The first Goriba was portrayed by Ian Wordi, who was a chief. His own period in the movie took place in the 1950s and was set in a village. His part had village girls walking without tops to cover their b**bs. At first, I only saw three girls in that form; later, I saw a group of ladies and older women also dressed in the same manner. I was shocked. I was like, ‘When did Nollywood start showing bare-breasted women?’. I mean, we’ve seen Nollywood movies where prosthetic (fake) b**bs were on display, e.g Anikulapo. But this movie had real b**bs in hundreds on display. Since the opening of the movie, which said it is based on real events, I had to Google to find out that an ethnic group known as Koma exists in Nigeria and that they actually dress like that to this day.
The first Goriba’s part was mild and promising. However, it dragged on for so long that I almost thought the movie would be about that setting alone. Lovely mountains were used as locations, and I enjoyed the sights of waterfalls and greenery, including the amazing huts. The setting really depicted people who just wanted to be away from the rest of the world.
Koma: Beyond Awakening – Bolanle Ninalowo
The second Goriba, who is Sugo, the son of the first Goriba, was portrayed by Bolanle Ninalowo. His section of the movie brought life, action, drama; it made me relax and feel like I was having a good time. Ninalowo’s acting as the grown Sugo was top-notch. Sugo is a tough guy who is feared in his neighbourhood in Lagos. Behind that tough look is a burden he’s trying to break free from. His section features Lolade Okusanya as a sex worker named Feyi, a role she killed. Their period was set in 1991.
The third Goriba is Abidemi, Sugo’s son, portrayed by Eso Dike. His section of the movie was set in the present day. After watching the Sugo’s section and all the drama it came with, I was really let down seeing the third Goriba’s section. I was bored by the pushed drama and the overacting that came with it. However, I was hooked on the emotional part, especially the breakthrough.
Koma: Beyond Awakening
On technicalities. Koma: Beyond Awakening had instances where background noise was evident. An example was the scene where Feyi was complaining to a fellow sex worker that Sugo wasn’t giving her attention. They were inside a room, but I could hear the ambient noise of life going on outside. Perhaps that was why most of the movie was accompanied by a soundtrack, possibly to cover the noise.
Colour grading would have been perfect if the 50s section and the 90s section of the movie were given a unique colour cast to make them look old school. If not for the inclusion of some old-school cars and subtle details, the ’90s section of the movie could have been mistaken for a modern-day setting.
The voice narrating the story was very annoying to me. The directors should have kept the narration brief and allowed viewers to figure out the movie on their own. It was as if the directors thought we were not from this world and therefore couldn’t understand the movie, so they added a voice to narrate what we were already seeing to us. It became like a parent reading a bedtime storybook to a kid.
Anyway, is Koma: Beyond Awakening recommendable? It is, for those whose religious beliefs won’t restrict them from seeing so much b*oobs on display. It gets a 6/10.
