ELESIN OBA: A BEAUTIFUL MALADAPTATION?
Synopsis/Summary
In the Old Oyo Kingdom, 30 days after the king’s death and as his body waits to be buried, the King’s Horseman must commit ritual suicide to see off the king’s spirit into the ancestral world. The chieftain addicted to the merriment that comes with his office, parties away “the life of his head” on the set day of his departure from earth. He gets swayed by the beauty of a virgin girl set to wed her groom and plugs his heart to pleasure his hoe with a virgin land before he performs his destined duty to this land and race one last time. However, his lustful desires set him up for doom and a confrontation with the British District Officer, who would stop at nothing to prevent the activation of the people’s culture and tradition, not minding the devastating consequences.
Ebony Life TV’s new release Elesin Oba is an “adaptation” of Nobel Laurette Wole Soyinka’s 1975 play, “Death and the King’s Horseman“, which is also an adaptation of Duro Ladipo’s 1946 play, “Oba Waja” Both are based on real events. I am sure you saw that I wrote the first adaptation in a quote. Insinuating, no, saying with my full chest that I do not think this supposedly cinematic work is an adaptation of the original work. I mean, this is English 101, or let’s consult the Merriam-Webster’s English Dictionary, which states that adaptation is “specifically a composition rewritten into a new form…changing circumstances…modification of an organism or its parts that makes it more fit for existence under the conditions of its (new) environment”. A stage play is an art medium; cinema is another with its own rules and method of execution. It is important to state from this introduction that this review is focused on the movie “adaptation” and its efforts and will not digress at no point to the source, except when making references where necessary. Written and directed by the late Biyi Bandele, the movie stars and features Odunlade Adekola, Bello Shaffy, Omowunmi Dada, Deyemi Okanlawon, Jide Kosoko, Olawale ‘Brymo’ Olofooro, Mark Elderkin, Langley Kirkwood, Joke Silva, Taiwo Ajai-Lycett and executively produced by Mo Abudu.
CDP
The spine of this story which does not, at the end of the day, make up a driving force, is Elesin Oba’s ‘divine-purposed’ duty to his family, community, and race – to carry out a ritual suicide to escort the dead king to the ancestral realm of the spirit world, just as his ancestors have done in time past. This is made known in the expository conversation between himself and Olohun Iyo at the market – “My mind is made up, and nothing will stop me from going to the afterlife tonight”. Meanwhile, the District Officer representing the white race or the western world finds this cultural practice barbaric and a criminal offence under the British law governing the Oyo Kingdom at this time. So, the film story does not change any letter from the CDP of the stage play it tries to adapt from. News flash: this is not the only element that does not change.
One clear message from Elesin Oba – The King’s Horseman is how lustful desires can distract one man from his duty and destiny while another man, despite having his desires, is obsessed with fulfilling his mandated duty to his race.
Plot/Sub-plot/Plants
Elesin Oba – The King’s Horseman’s plot is almost a literary copy and paste from the source material. It almost feels like a documentary. A strong-willed Elesin Oba, interpreted as the king Horseman (Odunlade Adekola), one of the most honourable and celebrated chiefs in the community, is set to perform a ritual sacrifice that involves him killing himself to complete the burial rite of the king who had died 30 days ago. This is important to preserve the spirit of harmony in his community. He is so strong-willed that he disowns his son for abandoning his village for the white man’s ‘visa lottery’. His strong will also pushes him into the loins of a virgin bride (Omowunmi Dada) despite being told she is already at the entrance of her husband-to-be. Elesin Oba, who has an insatiable appetite for pleasure and women, begins his last day on earth partying among tons of women and young ladies, some of them stark naked, eating the life of his head. As he steps into the market, he is accompanied and greeted with drums and songs, wine and splendour, pride and honour. Everyone is aware of his ceremonial fate and duty, even the children. Except for the district officer, Simon, and his wife, Jane, whom the Native Administration Police Officer immediately informs, Amusa (Jide Kosoko), “a prominent chief is to commit a death tonight as a result of native custom”. Simon, who would not allow any spiritual ritual of the “savages” to get in his way of impressing the prince with his masquerade costumes at the ball, sends a notice to Amusa to get Elesin Oba arrested, not minding the potential riot. He does not care if the people poison themselves or throw themselves off some cliff in the name of “some barbaric custom”.
Meanwhile, Olunde (Deyemi Okanlawon), Elesin Oba’s first and only son who had been sponsored by The Pilkings on a medical education adventure in Britain, sneaks into the community with the sole purpose of burying his father and taking over his spiritual position as the next Elesin Oba to the next king. This shocks The Pilkings, who thought their mentee should have been purged of his cultural and traditional beliefs and values.
After Elesin Oba satisfactorily fills his sexual lust with the blood of the virgin bride and then the king’s pet dog is slaughtered at Ogun’s shrine, he steps out to perform his self-sacrificial rite only to be greeted by the chains of the white man’s police officers.
Screenplay
“…your greatest art is the art of survival. But at least have the humility to let others survive in their way”. I am not sure the screenplay of Elesin Oba – The King’s Horseman is written to ‘survive’ in its own way. You cannot create an adaptation from any source material without adapting it to fit into the cinematic medium.
One must applaud the screenwriter for choosing to convey the dialogue in Yoruba, as you cannot honestly tell the original story of a people without doing it in their own language. Although, those in the know reveal this idea was solely to target Oscar nomination eligibility. Why not? But that is about the only element the screenplay gains partial independence from. Biyi Bandele, with this screenplay, was too afraid to leave the shadows of Wole Soyinka, the source material writer, because the whole screenwriting feels so much like playwriting. As I stated in my intro, this is solely a review of the movie, not its source material.
So, from the first page, the screenplay sets up Elesin Oba as a pleasure-hungry chief who enjoys basking in the sea of women, parties, and public adulations. We soon realise why he wants to choke himself with variants of this pleasure on this day. It is the very day he has lived his whole life for – the very purpose of his office as The King’s Horseman. He must perform the ritual suicide to prevent the king’s spirit from roaming around the spirit world and the kingdom from racial doom. This duty is noble as we see the community greet him with the utmost respect as they celebrate his last day on earth. So, can we move on now that the screenplay has established the main character, his problem (need), goal, and mission? No! We are stuck with repetitive fillers that are very tiring to sit through. If anyone boasts of sitting through the 96 boring minutes of this movie without being caressed to sleep or slipping off, such a human deserves an award.
Finally, without an inciting incident, we finally cross what looks like a threshold (from a familiar environment or situation into an unfamiliar one) into the supposed second act when Elesin Oba is arrested, chained, and thrown in the cell by Simon. He struggles to adapt and react to his new reality, confronting the District Officer. Unfortunately, 90% of this screenplay is just expository dialogue, too wordy and not worthy of the cinema.
Meanwhile, the conflict is between Elesin, representing the Yoruba custom, and Simon, standing in for the western culture. The white man, with his saviour complex, set up to save the ‘lesser race’ from their “barbaric” cultures and customs.
We do not need to sit with science textbooks to enjoy Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi movies. Veteran Tunde Kilani has also served us entertaining adaptations like Oleku, Thunderbolt, and Dazzling Mirage, and we did not need to study Aristotle’s or the 45 theories of literature to enjoy and understand the message.
Character and Characterisation
The characterisation of this movie is inherited from its source material. The principal characters are representations of people, customs, and philosophical beliefs. Elesin Oba, who represents the Yoruba race (if you like, the African identity), their tradition, and culture, has a duty to keep up the spiritual cycle of the three worlds – the living, the dead, and the unborn. The District Officer stands in for the culture of the colonial masters who see their ways of life as superior to the blacks in every sense. They find the African culture and customs barbaric while they celebrate aspects of theirs that share the same ideologies. While Elesin Oba lets his desires get in the way of his duty to his people, the white man does not care if he kills many people to prevent one man from performing a ‘ceremonial suicide’ (illegal according to British law) as that is his duty to the Queen.
Odunlade Adekola, who plays Elesin Oba and Shaffy Bello, who plays Iyaloja, shine in this work, despite a total lack of dimension in their characters. Other characters and the actors appear like caricatures.
Cinematography
The cinematography has nothing worthy of note except its clear pictures, functional and expository shots, and angling. Maybe I missed it when I dosed off.
Directorial Prowess/Production Design/Post-production
This is a low score for the late Biyi Bandele’s directorial prowess, as the blocking and staging feel like one is sitting through a stage play on screen. Maybe he could have explained the experiment he was carrying out with this execution. The actors are poorly blocked, making them appear to be trying not to back the audience. You can almost bet they brought a stage to the location, mounted the camera, pressed the record, and told the actors to start acting the script.
However, the production design of this movie is a beauty to behold. The venue of the British ball reminds me of “Grand Budapest Hotel”. The makeup of Elesin Oba’s beard is, however, a misfortune, a sad distraction from the character’s reality. That makeup is a disaster.
The music score by Brymo is also so satisfying to the soul of the story. Meanwhile, maybe a different director will convince me Brymo can act; until then, he should be banned from any movie set.
Lesson Learnt
One clear message from Elesin Oba – The King’s Horseman is how lustful desires can distract one man from his duty and destiny while another man, despite having his desires, is obsessed with fulfilling his mandated duty to his race.
Another strong message this story also plays out well is the cultural and racial dynamics and how our sentimental understanding, or lack of it, can create tragic complexities.
Conclusion
Elesin Oba – The King’s Horseman is not an adaptation but a stage play on screen. It is almost basic knowledge that the primary job of a film is to entertain. By entertainment, I do not mean slamming the plot with slapstick comedies and funny situations here and there. Entertainment is the vehicle that your creative message and the whole essence of the film story must travel through, accompanied by style. We do not need to sit with science textbooks to enjoy Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi movies. Veteran Tunde Kilani has also served us entertaining adaptations like Oleku, Thunderbolt, and Dazzling Mirage, and we did not need to study Aristotle’s or the 45 theories of literature to enjoy and understand the message.
Verdict
Elesin Oba deserves a 30/100- Please, return to a film school.
Shoots.ng Score Guide
Every Item is 10 marks and 100% in all.
71- 100%= you are the bomb, be ready for Oscar
51-70%= thank you for ‘repping’ quality
31- 50%= you can do better, up your game
11-30%= Return to film school
01- 10%= Filming is not for you, look for another job
Picture credits- Internet
