Chief Daddy and Nollywood Cinema

Although I have watched many African films, most of them have been from Senegal or South Africa. Unfortunately, some of these African films were actually American or European “collaborations,” with big studios usurping film industries across the continent. In 1967, for example, long-time Fox director, Robert D. Webb went to South Africa (for 20^th Century Fox International) to slavishly remake Samuel Fuller’s Pickup on South Street (1953), this time titled Cape Town Affair. Webb literally transports Pickup on South Street to its new setting, crediting Samuel Fuller and Harold Medford for a script nearly recreated word for word and for characters and interior sets nearly duplicated except for two changes: a change in two characters’ names, from Mo to Sam and from Tiger to Donkey and – most importantly—a move to late 1960s Cape Town, South Africa, that becomes concretized by a portrait of the late Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd on the walls of a police station and an intelligence agency’s office. And ultimately what the film reinforces is Apartheid and the White Afrikaner dominated South Africa it allows.    

Nollywood films, on the other hand, stem from an indigenous Nigerian film industry. According to Wikipedia, the term Nollywood dates back to early 2000s, traced to an article in The New York Times. Due to the history of evolving meanings and contexts, there is no clear or agreed-upon definition for the term, and it has been subjected to several controversies. I have read about this burgeoning African film industry, but Chief Daddy (2018) is the first Nollywood film I’ve viewed.

Chief Daddy, written by Bode Asinyanbi and directed by Niyi Akinmolayan centers on the family of billionaire industrialist, Chief Beecroft, a flamboyant benefactor to a large extended family of relatives, household staff and assorted mistresses. Chief lives large, like there's no tomorrow, until the day he dies suddenly and the 'bullion van' stops. What's in his will and who gets all that money? What happens next will surprise you, as Chief Daddy has the last laugh from beyond the grave.

Nollywood stars like Funke Akindele, Zainab Balogun, Ini Edo, Dakore Egbuson-Akande, Kate Henshaw, Richard Mofe-Damijo, Falz, Beverly Naya, Chioma ‘Chigul’ Omeruah, Rachel Oniga, Beverly Osu, Nkem Owoh, Patience Ozokwor, and Joke Silva heighten the effect of the film’s tired story. And the production, direction, setting, costumes and soundtrack were well done. Compositions, for example, amplified the film’s central setting as a universe of the Ebony life Show “Castle,” implying the creation of a Marvel-like universe filled with Ebony life characters. What stood out for me were the amazing costumes, especially those worn at Chief Daddy’s funeral. The colors and prints made the event and venue look like a well-curated botanical garden.

As a whole, the movie does have its shortcomings. Most significantly, an underwhelming story and distinctly one-dimensional (slightly unlikable) characters. It sometimes felt like the story was an adaptation of a bad play with the movie going through a brief rough spell at the start and ending in an unsatisfying way.

Chief Daddy sticks to the familiar “Wedding Party” formula- an event (wedding, death etc.) + All Star cast + Humor = Two hours of entertainment.  Finally, if there is any offence like having too many stars, this movie is guilty of it, because there was no role occupied by someone who could not headline a movie themselves, which leaves little room for upcoming actors in minor roles. Despite its shortcomings, Chief Daddy did offer some beautiful set pieces and provided a glimpse into the high life of a Nigerian city missing from Nigerian literary works. It was good to see a little pop culture from a primarily serious culture.