
‘Mami Wata’ is a fusion of fable and thriller coming from Benin, captured in black and white and set in a town by the sea called Iyi. It spells wonder and dread from the start. This is aided by C.J. ‘Fiery’ Obasi’s decision to begin the film with a shot of the ocean at night while the crashing surf is blurred to almost abstraction. The crash of the waves indeed adds to the aesthetic of dread as the constant black screen only showed water. The dunked in darkness ocean clip adds a feeling of sentiment to the movie.
Obasi achieves all this by manipulating the viewer’s expectations in combination with the rhythm of the movie. The rhythm is unbalancing, making the viewer feel detached from their preconceived notions of the movie. What is expected from most movies is not present in Mami Wata, it can be defined by anything but predictability. The film casts a spell, and the spell persists to the end.
Within “Mami Wata” is a rather backward society where all women and men impersonate dressing in ancient attire. The title refers to the Nigerian goddess of water, wealth, and health, who has dominion over all the people’s lives. It is primarily a matriarchal society. Mama Efe (Rita Edochie) is the priestess of Mami Wata and serves as the village’s problem-solver.
Though Mama Ere is a dominant figure, some of her subjects view her with suspicion for losing her ties with the goddess or becoming too old-fashioned to understand that the village needs modernization to thrive. Although she has two biological children, her daughter Zine (Uzoamaka Aniunoh) and the adopted daughter Prisca (Evelyne Ily Juhen), adult Prisca is mentally removed from Mama Efe’s influence for various reasons. She is not the only dissatisfied villager, there are many reasons that could be blamed within culture and everyone who tends to think blood can define bonds. Whereas more loyal Zinwe has come to terms with these ties, it does leave her with many questions.
She craves for confirmation that it was done the right way, that the mystique is intact, and that sovereignty will be hers.
However, her mother has lost her grip. The determining incident at the beginning of the plot is the death of a young boy who was gravely ill. Mama Efe had tried to heal him with spells and pouring some sort of potion which was supposed to be a magic ritual. They fail and citizens begin to question the ritual. Her old neighbors had removed all taboos and publicly began questioning her. Why don’t they have a doctor in the village? Or even the basic tools of modern civilization police, fire station, and electricity? In some cases, a rebellion may stem from this.
Eventually, a young man makes an appearance out of nowhere, as if obeying a curse or prophecy. He is Jasper (Emeka Amakeze). Jasper possesses that Hollywood ‘rebel’ actor kind of brute charm, filled with self assurance and suave magnetism, which Brando and Paul Newman were famous for. After his entrance, the story changes pace. The film transforms into a political metaphor, sprinkled with moments of art house film noir and low budget crime thrillers, that were full of extravagant minimalism.
Echoes of the Past: Wanting and Not Wanting was helped enormously by the great craftsmanship of the cinematographer, Lilis Soares. For her work on this film, Soares was awarded a prize this year at the Sundance Film Festival.
The film appeals to reality in itself, meaning it does not abide by the laws of plausibility. It is a dream come true in some other sort of way. An individual, location, or an object in the film has its own set meaning and inspiration to perceive, giving it more reasons to exist outside of the core purpose it serves.
This movie is not what you’d call self explanatory. Though, it doesn’t need explanation. The images, performances, and sounds tell it all. The film’s dialogue is delivered in pidgin English, but the calculating acting, writing, and direction may lead to forgetting to read the subtitles, even on the first go. These characters’ intentions are clear and relatable to the audience, allowing a vivid experience of reality.
According to Obasi, the film needed to achieve a certain quality where it feels like a dream while watching it. He and his colleagues have achieved that and then some. David Lynch, Jane Campion, especially ‘The Piano’ and ‘Power of the Dog’, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Jim Jarmusch’s ‘Dead Man’, and in some of the dialogue scene framing Yasujirō Ozu’s Tokyo Story are all inspirations for the film. However, the film possesses its own undisputed vitality. In fact, there’s so much confidence that if you are tuned into the film’s wavelength, you will be entirely focused on what is happening currently, rather than attempting to ask what is going to happen next. For instance, the people in the bar dancing and flirting, the villagers fully distressed or the sisters at night on the beach arguing, their faces and bodies illuminated with white light, portraying the feeling of modernity being reintroduced to nature. You only need the moon to see.
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