Gina Prince-Bythewood’s “The Woman King”
The Woman King (2022)
An entertaining action epic which frames African history from a long overdue perspective with a terrific cast and pacy script
For all the criticism levelled at the Marvel cinematic universe, it’s unlikely we would have seen this film were it not for the success of “Black Panther”. Being in development since 2015, studios either turned it down considering it unlikely to be profitable or pushing for a light-skinned actress but over time and the aforementioned success of “Black Panther”, the film was greenlit in 2018.
Going in, it’s important to understand that this is first and foremost an action film in the vein of “Last of the Mohicans” or “Gladiator”. Liberties are taken with historical accuracy, but no more so than most historic films in Europe, American or Asia and these deviations from the history we know on the whole is benign. For example, Viola Davis’ character, General Nanisca isn’t based on a single individual who existed.
The core controversy comes from the representation of tribes as pro or anti slavery in the form of selling their captured enemies to Portuguese slavers and it’s a valid point, but the very fact that this film has opened the conversation on the topic is an achievement in and of itself. Shining a light on aspects of African history which we’ve never seen particularly from the perspective of native-Africans and women to boot is a great thing even if flawed.
From the start, the film is beautiful to look at and gives us visibility of sights we’ve never seen before of African civilisation. The scenery, the clothing, art, architecture and even the soil are so vibrant and Polly Morgan’s cinematography is restrained allowing the film to remain grounded. Terence Blanchard’s urgent soundtrack is like an animal lurking in the shadows until key moments. In addition to Viola Davis, we also get strong performances from Lashana Lynch’s Izogie, Sheila Atim as Amenza and John Boyega as a suitably regal King Ghezo. Leading the thread of the narrative is young Thuso Mbedu as Nawi, a headstrong young woman facing a servile life as the wife of a rich landowner.
As mentioned earlier, this is an action epic and the battle scenes in this are filmed really well with cuts kept to a minimum so it’s clear to follow what’s happening and there’s a nice crunch to these conflicts. Like any good popcorn film, this has several punch in the air moments and satisfying twists to hold attention in addition to the likeable characters that are the central to the story.
This is very much a Hollywood historic and doesn’t sell itself as anything more but is buttressed by the groundbreaking subject matter to which I hope it opens the door to future films from other African perspectives.
