A movie that has life in it and brings out a very silent killer most people are not aware of is the fantastic movie titled, This Lady Called Life. Directed by one of Nollywood’s talented directors, Kayode Kasum goes all on this one.
The movie features A-list actors such as Bisola Aiyeola, Tina Mba, Jemima Osunde, Efa Iwara, Lota Chukwu, and Wale Ojo.
Shedding light on a mistake most parents make but are not aware of which include, negligence and lack of love.
This film focuses on the protagonist, Aiyetide (meaning life has come). Aiyetide gets pregnant and is chased out of the house by her mother. How this young girl grows up to be a strong and caring mother and an elite chef, her challenges and, pain is what this film is about.
The lead character Aiye played by Bisola Aiyeola indeed had depth to an extent but one thing was obvious which was the fact that this is one of the first times she is playing such a role.
In terms of the graph of her characterization, the emotional scenes like when she was telling the Obinna played Efa Iwara her story did not really hit it.
This can be penned down to the fact that it is one of her first. But scenes where she was being playful or sarcastic definitely shot up the graph because these are her strong points.
In all, she won’t get a 70% because this is not her forte in terms of characterization, the effort to lifts certain parts of the character were there but it just didn’t hit it.
One person who is a professional at playing little sister is Jemima Osunde and she was the perfect little sister.
Efa Iwara as Obinna’s character, in terms of chemistry, himself and Aiye didn’t really kill it in the chemistry department but were able to hit average, which to an extent is good.
One downside of the movie is the fact that it’s like you can count all the actors in the movie and some characters were not well defined like their use was just not justified.
Like the guy that kept on antagonizing Aiye during the competition. We just have to ask, please what is your purpose!
There are movies that the characters were not up to seven and it was not obvious because the storyline and placement made up and covered this hole but this film leaves it all bare. Now speaking of the storyline, it surely has a strong theme of family and parental love but its execution leaves loopholes.
Especially at the end, like the chef competition, we still don’t know if she won, we still sit to wonder how her mother would have sent her from the house and when the father came back he couldn’t bring her back to the house. We also wonder how the given address wasn’t the chef’s house but the chef drove in at that moment.
Come on, it seems like some parts of the storyline are okay in the head but in execution, it just doesn’t make sense. There is just a wide gap between some scenes that leaves the audience hanging.
In terms of the directing, it was good but not superb because some of these loopholes surely have to have been seen and adjusted by the director.
A plus for this film is the make-up and costume. Though they weren’t big on the costume.
It depicted the normal everyday life of a struggling single mother which was very good. The makeup was on point, just perfect.
Again, the cinematography and photography were very good. There was that seamless flow from one scene to another and clear pictures.
The movie could have been better if some characters were tweaked or replaced. But it is not a bad movie either.
In terms of the musicality, it was just okay, some scenes would have been brought to life if better music was used and then exaggerated to portray more the mood of that scene.
The effort and fact that its message was strong enough to serve as a wake-up call to some parents out there who is harsh is the key to training a child.
Although there was the absence of catharsis because to start with there was to an extent no raising of emotions to start with.
Final Thoughts
This Lady Called Life definitely hit average in terms of performance and could have been better if some of the cast members were replaced. A big plus for this film comes from the message of the storyline. We see a very bitter truth of forgiveness, which is something fast leaving society today. Overall, a beautiful piece, we must say.