Tech progress report: I’m watching this via Amazon Prime (+ HDMI dongle etc), but the novel thing this time is that I downloaded the film before viewing. And this time there were no glitches! So the problem experienced the last time is apparently not because of the HDMI dongle thing, but because of the streaming.
If that’s the case, that’s pretty weak. The Amazon app could have been buffering more, couldn’t it?
Anyway: Yay.
(It’s not exactly DVD quality, though. It’s kinda grainy and artifacty, but not disturbingly so. Most of the time.)
Oh! The film!
I found this film really confusing. The first fifteen minutes I thought is was a parody of a British period film: It’s extremely professionally filmed, acted and edited, but it’s so lifeless and trite that I thought it had to be a satire of sorts.
But then I remembered: Nigeria is, like, the Bollywood of Africa? “Nollywood” and all that. Then it made more sense: This is just a really, really bad film.
It’s very competent in all the wrong ways. Some of the actors are kinda enjoyable to watch, though.
This film is mostly about the Biafran secession from Nigeria, which is something that I extremely vaguely remember from my childhood. Googling it now, it brings back the memories: It was a horrible catastrophy (millions died) and it became the start of Norway’s foreign aid activism, which is probably why I still remember it. (I was two when the war was over.)
This film is so anodyne. It portrays the entire thing as (at most) a slight inconvenience for some rich people in Nigeria.
Half of a Yellow Sun. Biyi Bandele. 2013. Nigeria.
Super Simple Summer Punch
- 1 part vodka
- 2 parts cranberry juice
- 2 parts mango juice
- 1 part soda water
- raspberries
- orange slices
Moddle the orange slices and the raspberries with the vodka in a highball glass. Add ice and stir until cold. Add the juices and stir further. Top off with the soda water and stir lightly.
This post is part of the World of Films and Cocktails series. Explore the map.
