The Woman King (2022) Review : Mirror of Unity in Diversity

 

Work Identity

Title: The Woman King

Genre: Laga, Drama

Director: Gina Prince-Bythewood

Producer: Cathy Schulman, Viola Davis, Julius Tennon, Maria Bello

Writer: Maria Bello, Dana Stevens

Cinematography: Polly Morgan

Starring: Viola Davis, Thuso Mbedu, Lashana Lynch, Sheila Atim, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, John Boyega

Production companies: TriStar Pictures, Entertainment One, TSG Entertainment II, JuVee Productions, Welle Entertainment

Distributor: Sony Pictures Releasing

Release date: 9 September 2022 (TIFF); 16 September 2022 (United States); 5 Oktober 2022 (Indonesia); 

Duration: 135 minutes (2 hours 15 minutes)

The Woman King (2022) is a film directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood and written by Dana Stevens and Maria Bello. The film won the major best film award from the African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) Best Films of 2022 and placed fourth on the American Film Institute (AFI)'s 10 Movies of the Year. The film is set in the 1820's Africa. To be more precise, the Kingdom of Dahomey, a kingdom that once actually stood there, has now become the country of Benin.

This film tells the story of Agojie, a troop of female warriors from the Dahomey Kingdom who fight against national slavery. Agojie, honored warriors whose strength is feared throughout Africa. The legendary troop is headed by Nanisca, the Miganon.

Nawi, the main character of this film, is a tough and stubborn girl. Since childhood, she had always wanted to become an Agojie member. She really dreamed herself to be one of the women who stood strong at the forefront of Dahomey. However, expectations will never be a reality.

When Nawi returned home, she found herself being betrothed to a rich merchant by his parents. Of course she balked at their plan, which earned her a slap on cheek. Because of the rejection, her father became enraged and dragged Nawi to the Dahomey Kingdom's palace. "Go to war then. You will understand what pain is," said the father.

Nawi underwent rigorous military training there along with other new Agojie members. The obstinate girl eventually realized the significance of following the rules and what a pain actually meant. Nawi even discovered her dearest buddies in this same female soldier environment. Including Izogie, one of the Agojie veterans, who, although ignorant, continues to support Nawi's development. 

Meanwhile, out there Oba Ade and his Oyo warriors were still roaming around. The Oyo Empire was a large nation that was Dahomey's main opponent, with their side constantly demanding absurd amounts of tribute, if not for slaves by the Dahomey Kingdom.

In the midst of their process releasing Dahomey from slavery, Oyo was still haunting Dahomey with their tribute requests. They demanded 40 female Agojie slaves, but the King of Dahomey only offered to provide 20. The Agojie personels were sent there with the plan to destroy Oyo's slave trading port.

When the riots started, Santo Ferreira, one of the Portuguese agents for the slave trade in Africa, panicked. His efforts to ship the African slaves to Portugal kept him quite busy. He wasn't even aware that his (now former) colleague, Malik, who finally sided with Dahomey, had betrayed him. 

Nanisca's daring move, which ultimately enabled her to exact her personal retribution against Oba Ade, brought an end to the war that raged last night. The Agojie were greeted with applause at the victory party and Nanisca's inauguration as Woman King when they arrived back in Dahomey.

Scenes that depict the relationships of fellow Agojie help us understand what solidarity is. Their tale absolutely twisted my emotions inside out. The scene where Nawi and Izogie are in one frame, even when they are only talking, is, in my opinion, the most memorable scene in this movie. The chemistry is excellent beyond belief! I enjoy seeing Izogie's character, who is like Nawi's big sister.

My favorite dialogue in this film is where King Ghezo said, "The Europeans and the Americans have seen if you want to hold a people in chains, one must first convince them that they are meant to be bound. We joined them in becoming our own oppressor. But no more. No more. We are a warrior people! And there is power in our mind, in our unity, in our culture. If we understand that power, we will be limitless. My people, this is a vision I will lead. It is a vision that is shared."

You can learn leadership, tolerance and humility from Nanisca's personality. Some of her subordinates came from other African countries, but she considered them all equal. There is neither low nor high. All the same. Ultimately, it comes down to how you treat each other. 

The Woman King (2022)'s downside is that it has multiple plot holes and a dangling ending. Malik, a Dahomean mulatto of Portuguese descent, played a major role in the one-night standoff. He took part in brawls and sailed on Santo Ferreira with African slaves. But where did he go after that? After this scene, suddenly it jumped to Nanisca's coronation scene. Malik is nowhere to be seen! 

Did he then become a citizen of Dahomey, or did he return to Portugal after dawn? Or did he join other white slave traders, where did the European slave traders go? Did they manage to escape to their home country? Or are they burning with their business glory? Or are they hiding somewhere in Africa? These things are still a mystery to me. 

It's not historically accurate, but it doesn't make the movie a bad movie. Historical facts aside, I think this movie is really well put together. The acting of the actors, the action scenes and the cinematography are excellent. Also, the action scenes are well-choreographed so that it didn't looked awkward at all. Overall, this movie is very interesting to watch. Don't waste your time. 

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 'The Story of Paga'  Shortly Retold by Shinadara

Menceritakan Ulang The Story of Paga

Rangkuman Cerita Fiksi The Story of Paga

______________

     Long time ago, there was a young man called Paga. He had a keen eyes, although his body was small and thin. He was a dauntless man. How unfortunate, such a man had no land to cultivate with him.

One day, Paga heard that there was a thick forest nearby a village, untouched by human's hands. The forest was said inhabited by frightening creatures, but the young man had no enough fear to be afraid by such a thing. He intended to clear the forest, so that it might be farmed.

While cutting trees, Paga accidentally found out that the forest was in fact a criminal headquarters. The myths were all nothing. A group of robbers lived there.

Hearing about the criminals' plan to rob the village, Paga was grateful that they did not know the villagers had moved along with their belongings to a safer next village.

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Ophelia (2018) Honest Review: An Awkward Hamlet Reimagining

OPHELIA (2018) Honest Review:

An Awkward Hamlet Reimagining

Work Identity 

Movie Title: Ophelia 

Film Type: Historical, romance, drama 

Director: Claire McCarthy 

Producers: Daniel Bobker, Sarah Curtis, Ehren Kruger, Paul Hanson 

Author: Semi Chellas 

Cast: Daisy Ridley, Naomi Watts, Clive Owen, George MacKay, Tom Felton, Devon Terrell 

Release Date: January 22, 2018 (Sundance) ; June 28, 2019 (United States) ; 22 November 2019 (United Kingdom) 

Duration: 107 minutes

Review

Ophelia (2018), is a Netflix movie directed by Claire McCarthy. The movie is adapted from William Shakespeare’s legendary play, Hamlet, that is set in the 14th century Denmark. Although actually, Ophelia, a young adult historical fiction novel by Lisa Klein, is the source material for this movie. It stars Daisy Ridley as the lead role alongside Naomi Watts, Clive Owen, George MacKay, Tom Felton, Devon Terrell, and Dominic Mafham.

Ophelia (2018) has 6,5/10 review in IMDb, which is not that bad for a Netflix produced movie. And that is the reason I’m curious to watch and review this movie. 

Ophelia (2018) is an another reimagine of William Shakespeare's Hamlet, originally written by Lisa Klein. Told in the lenses of Ophelia.

The story begins with the appearance of Ophelia, who is the daughter of Polonius, the Danish King’s chief counchillor. One day, she appeared at a palace banquet with all her free-spirited, determination, and ambition self. At the same time, she has won the Queen, Gertrude’s favor. Ophelia thereby became the Queen's preferred lady in waiting. Nevertheless, the other ladies make fun of her lack of nobility. 

She spent her childhood there, where she also developed feelings for Prince Hamlet, the lone son of the Queen. Prince Hamlet soon begins courting Ophelia upon his return from Wittenberg, but their blossoming romance is cut short when Hamlet returns to Wittenberg to continue his studies. At the same time, Hamlet’s uncle, Claudius begins to enamour Gertrude. When Hamlet returns to find that his father is dead and his uncle has claimed the throne, she becomes a threat, especially when she and Hamlet are aligned.

In the middle of the kingdom's own political intrigue and betrayal and as it stands on the verge of war, a passionate, hidden romance blossoms between the two. Ophelia deftly navigates the rules of power in Denmark while battling to choose between her true love and her own life after Hamlet's father is killed and the prince's wits begin to unravel into an unquenchable quest for vengeance.

Unlike the original drama, where Ophelia was known as an innocent, pure, typical weak female character. A tragic figure in a tragic play. In Ophelia (2018), she is now the role with the strongest characterization. Strong, as in her stronger personality and the way her character is told. In this version of Hamlet, she is not the helpless girl driven to madness and likely drown herself by a lover’s rejection.

The film presents many of the flaws common to recent historical dramas, such as canned childhood montages and unnuanced conflicts of patriarchy.

As I have mentioned, this movie, in my opinion, tends to overemphasize the independence of women, non-befitting it’s own spatial setting. And this movie's liberal worldview, which serves as its main garnish, comes out as being too forced. Like, for example: Every chance she gets, Ophelia will bring up women's rights. On the other hand, Hamlet frequently expresses his “retarded” thoughts about women and does so each time he sees Ophelia. I'm sure his acting out was a result of his unstable mother. Being a female myself, it’s not like that I'm opposed to that idea. Those parts are weird to watch due to the poor execution, though. What a pity, bad execution makes those scenes disastrous — bizarre to look at.

Although this emancipation is not perfectly carried out, the movie is nonetheless very pleasant and, despite its imperfections, Ophelia (2018) poses several intriguing story-related issues. While you're watching, the characters look more hollow and lackluster, and the teenage romance seems to be turning the show into a soap opera. 

Daisy Ridley's performance holds the film together in moments when the story gets unsettled. She plays Ophelia with just the right mix of spontaneity and power, certainly stabilizing the volatile script. If her acting was not that good, this movie could have been a complete waste of time. 

When it finally reaches the finale, the ending quickly became my most favourite scene in the entire film. It was an epic scene, in my opinion. I like where after Hamlet died after his sword duel with Laertes, Ophelia's brother. Seeing her son's death right before her eyes, Gertrude, who was filled with grief and rage, spontaneously stabbed Claudius in the heart. Not long after, Laertes also fell. And when the Norwegian troops came to invade, the war quickly ensued, soon many corpses lay strewn. Until finally, only Gertrude who then drank poison was left.

Beyond that, however, there is one aspect of Ophelia (2018) that I can definitely praise about: the soundtracks. This movie's soundtracks are incredibly melodic and ear-pleasing. Absolutely worth to listen. You can listen to the songs through the music streaming program, anytime, anywhere.

Ultimately, Ophelia (2018) is still an enjoyable movie to watch while relaxing in your free time. This movie isn't for you if you're a big critic of difference and uniqueness. Nor if you’re a fan of histories like me. Nonetheless, do watch it while enjoying the beautiful scenery, story, and music in every way!

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 Guruku Pahlawanku

  Aku ingin bercerita tentang seseorang yang aku kagumi, yang aku anggap sebagai pahlawanku.

 Namanya Adriyani Setyaningsih, atau yang kerap kali disapa dengan ‘Bu Ria’ adalah seorang guru senior di sekolahku dulu. Beliau telah mengajar selama 15 tahun di sana. 

 Meskipun terkenal dengan julukan ‘guru galak’, beliau menghiraukannya dan tetap mengajar dengan caranya tersendiri.

 Ku akui beliau memang orang yang disiplin. Baik dalam mengajar maupun dalam kehidupan sehari-harinya.

 Dan dahulu, aku merupakan anak yang sangat payah dalam pelajaran matematika. Aku benci segala hal yang berkaitan dengan matematika. Namun Bu Ria tak pernah menyerah untuk terus mengajariku, setidaknya sampai kemampuan berhitungku sudah lebih membaik daripada sebelumnya.

 Caranya memotivasiku untuk belajar matematika cukup unik dan beragam.

 Pernah suatu saat aku sudah berada di ambang menyerah mempelajarinya, karena aku menganggap pelajaran

 tersebut benar-benar sulit dan aku tak mampu menguasainya barang sedikit pun. Di sanalah Bu Ria berada, mendampingiku dan mengatakan akan memberi kursus gratis untukku. Dalam kursus tersebut, beliau mengajarkan beberapa rumus, juga trik cepat untuk menyelesaikan soal matematika yang beliau berikan setiap pertemuannya.

 Aku benar-benar tak menyangka kalau Bu Ria sebaik itu. Beliau bersedia meluangkan waktunya hanya untuk mengajariku dan teman-teman yang sepertiku, payah dalam pelajaran matematika. 

 Ketika kami sudah menguasai beberapa rumus yang diberikan oleh Bu Ria, beliau dengan senang hati memberi kami beberapa lembar uang sebagai penyemangat kami agar lebih giat belajar. Sejak itu, Bu Ria selalu memberikan uang kepada anak yang sudah menguasai pelajaran tertentu.

 Itulah beberapa hal yang kuingat dari beliau.

 Aku dan teman-temanku telah kehilangan kontak dengan Bu Ria. Ketika kami mengunjungi sekolah lama kami, katanya Bu Ria sudah lama pensiun. 

 Namun, baru-baru ini aku mendengar sebuah kabar yang membuat hatiku hancur. 

 Waktu itu aku sedang duduk-duduk bersama Ajeng, temanku, di bawah sebuah pohon beringin nan rindang sembari meminum es dawet.

 “Sa, kamu mau dengar kabar yang lagi heboh, enggak?”

 Aku menoleh kepada Ajeng, lalu menaikkan satu alisku. Artinya, aku ingin mendengar kelanjutan ucapan Ajeng tadi. “Memangnya ada apa?” tanyaku.

 Ajeng mengambil napas dalam-dalam, barulah kemudian berkata, “Katanya Bu Ria sudah wafat sejak tahun lalu, Sa.” 

 Mataku terbelalak mendengarnya. Bingung hendak bereaksi bagaimana, terkejut atau sedih terlebih dahulu.

 Bu Ria, sosok yang aku anggap pahlawanku, telah gugur dalam perjuangannya.

 Andaikan sebelumnya aku dapat dipertemukan dengan beliau, pasti aku sudah berterima kasih dan meminta maaf sebanyak-banyaknya. 

 Terima kasih, Guru. Engkau adalah pahlawanku. batinku seraya memandang langit.

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