I strongly suggest viewing “A Green Fever,” which is presently running at #5 on Prime Video, to get a look of the realities of life in Nigeria under military rule. The film, which was directed by Taiwo Ogunjobi, provides a complex depiction of the difficulties encountered when uniformed officials are in charge.
“A Green Fever” revolves around Temilolu Fosudo’s character Kunmi Braithwaite and chronicles his audacious raid of Colonel Aliyu Bashiru’s (William Benson) well guarded home. In Kunmi’s complex plan, he poses as an architect who is trying to help his sick daughter in order to win over the colonel’s mistress.
Even though the film only briefly touches on the reality of life under military control, its portrayal is powerful enough to encourage reflection, particularly in younger viewers.
William Benson has a performance that stands out above the rest in the movie because of his strong acting, which elevates the whole production. His portrayal reminds me a lot of the authoritative presence of military officials in Nigeria’s totalitarian governments; growing up among military people in the 1980s and 90s, I am familiar with this feeling.
I have to say, though, that I’m disappointed with the directors’ choice on how to represent Colonel Adamu’s character. Instead, they chose to further demonize him by painting him as a perpetrator of marital violence and connecting him to Mathilda, his young mistress, who was represented by Ruby Precious Okezie, having several miscarriages.
Given his role in a coup, these extraneous facts further damage the Colonel’s already damaged reputation and make it unlikely that viewers would feel pity for him. As a result, the demonization seems over the top and pointless.
In his depiction of Kunmi, Fosudo did a great job of conveying the character’s need to save his daughter while also revealing his actual motivations at a later point. But I thought it needless that he stammered so much when he spoke to the intimidating Colonel.
His dread of the officer was adequately expressed by his first apprehensive expression, but the character’s performance lost believability due to his constant stuttering.
However, Mathilda’s persona didn’t live up to the hype. Her portrayal of a lady having an adulterous affair with a military commander lacked the depth and resiliency that one would anticipate from a part of that kind. She failed to effectively convey the complexity of her circumstances, coming out as too sentimental and sensitive.
In terms of technical aspects, “A Green Fever” is a low-budget movie that uses just two main locations: a home and a forest. With few exceptions, the most of the movie takes place within the house. Even though the directors used elaborate lighting settings to create a visually dazzling look, I think this decision took away from the intended mood of several situations.
In the living room of the house, for example, the room was well-lit by about seven useful lights. This guaranteed good lighting, but it also hindered the development of the suspense that these kinds of scenarios frequently need for. A tiny bit of darkness would have improved the contrast and made Kunmi’s face as he interacted seem more terrified.
The absence of any dramatic images in the movie is one thing I found disappointing. The color grading is very conventional, similar to Rec709 guidelines. More focus should have been placed on post-production shadow adjustments, since this would have helped to lessen the too brilliant effects of the lighting settings. I hope the filmmakers take heed of this input and work to improve their craft in future productions, but I won’t go into too much technical detail.
My total score for the film would be a five out of ten. Though it does a good job of portraying the tale given the limited resources, it is not a very engaging cinematic experience. Even so, it’s worth seeing, particularly for its storytelling qualities.
