The Focus Pull Film Journal The Focus Pull Film Journal
The Focus Pull Film Journal The Focus Pull Film Journal
  • Full Issues 
  • Reviews 
  • Features 
  • OUR TEAM
  • Info.
    • OUR TEAM
  • Content
    • Full Issues 
      • Issue #01
      • Issue #02
      • Issue #03
      • Issue #04
      • Issue #05
      • Issue #06
      • Issue #07
      • Issue #08
      • Issue #09
      • Issue #10
      • Issue #11
      • Issue #12
      • Issue #13
      • Issue #14
      • Issue #15
      • Issue #16
      • Issue #17
      • Issue #18
      • Issue #19
      • Issue #20
      • Issue #21
      • Issue #22
      • Issue #23
      • Issue #24
      • Issue #25 - Horror Week
      • Issue #26
      • Issue #27
      • Issue #28
      • Issue #29
      • Issue #30
      • Issue #31
      • Issue #32
      • Issue #33
      • Issue #34
      • Issue #35
      • Issue #36
      • Issue #37
      • Issue #38
      • Issue #39
      • Issue #40
    • Reviews 
      • (All Reviews)
      • Action Adventure
      • Animation
      • Biography/History
      • Comedy
      • Crime
      • Documentary
      • Drama
      • Foreign
      • Horror
      • Romance
      • Sci-Fi
      • Thriller
    • Features 
      • (All Features)
      • Bonding with Bond
      • Double Exposures
      • Essays
      • Event Coverage
      • Lists
      • New to Netflix
      • News
      • Retrospectives
    • OUR TEAM
REGISTER
@
LOGIN
Reviews
0
previous article
Review: Boyhood
next article
Double Exposure Review: Wish I Was Here

Review: Mother of George

by Janneke Parrish on July 21, 2014
Overall Rating
8.0
8.0
Critic Rating
You have rated this

“Mother of George” is a Nigerian film following one couple’s struggle to conceive a child. It’s a simple enough conflict, but running through it is a myriad of smaller and more interesting conflicts. It’s the conflict of reality versus expectation, of a wife versus a mother, and most especially of tradition versus modernity.

The film opens with the wedding of Adenike (Danai Gurira) and Ayodele (Isaach de Bankolé), and from the outset, it becomes clear that whatever else happens over the course of the film, it will at least be a treat to watch. The colours and shots are fabulous, with every shot being a new and unique way of looking at these two people and their lives and emotions. The colours, too, leap off the screen and convey absolutely every emotion felt on the screen.

As the film progresses, this use of colour and of shot angles helps the story move along beautifully. The plot develops at a snail’s pace, but that works. Rather than relying on constant developments in the conflict, there is a recognition that conveying emotion – and especially its protagonists’ frustration – through odd-angled shots and garishly colourful scenes is more effective than speeding along at a breakneck pace. This also means that when the plot finally does speed up, its effect is multiplied. The audience is hurtled along with the characters as the story tumbles out of control, creating a sense of helplessness and empathy.

The most interesting theme, however, is the theme of tradition versus modernity. To fully understand this theme in the film, unfortunately, it’s necessary to have at least some background and understanding of traditional Nigerian culture. Despite being a Nigerian film, though, the filmmakers don’t assume their audience knows everything about Nigerian tradition, and give them a crash course introduction into marital and familial expectations in the wedding scenes. This provides enough of an understanding to get through the rest of the film, though it does mean that certain events seem bizarre or even entirely out of place. The constant emphasis on fertility rites and on the woman as the subject of these rites, however, creates a very firm sense of the conflict and the fact that the conflict rests solely on the wife rather than the husband.

This creates the central conflict of the film. It is the conflict between the wife, Nike, and the mother-in-law, Ma (Bukky Ajayi), each of whom want a child. Nike submits herself to Ma’s rituals and rites, despite the fact that both of them recognise that it is the husband who is the problem. It is when Nike submits completely to tradition and the demands it imposes that troubles truly arise.

“Mother of George” stands in stark criticism of this traditional culture and its insistence that it and it alone provides the answer to the question of how to live. It does so, however, in a loving and gentle way, choosing to show that the culture exists because of love, not out of a desire to ruin lives. It’s a film that acknowledges its own context, but isn’t afraid to criticise that same context.

Ultimately, “Mother of George” is an excellent drama that’s a treat to watch and a treat to immerse oneself in. It conveys emotion beautifully and asks interesting questions about the interactions between tradition and modernity, all alongside a compelling story of one couple’s infertility. It is a well-done film.

Continue Reading Issue #12
Language

English, Yoruba

Release

January 18, 2013 (US)

Runtime

1 hr. 47 min.

Genre

Drama

Director

Andrew Dosunmu

Cast

Danai Gurira, Isaach de Bankolé, Anthony Okungbowa

(All Reviews), Drama, Issue #12, Reviews
Anthony OkungbowaDanai GuriraIsaach de Bankolé
Anthony Okungbowa, Danai Gurira, Isaach de Bankolé
About the Author
Janneke Parrish
Janneke Parrish
Janneke Parrish lives in South Korea where she struggles to order pizzas and consoles herself by watching far too many movies.
Comments
Leave a reply
Add Comment Register



Leave a Response
Cancel reply

The Focus Pull in your inbox!

Subscribe to this list, and we'll send you each week's new issue directly to your inbox. One email a week, packed with essential film writing!

Latest Reviews

View All
 
Taylor Sinople Picks: The 16 Best Films of 2016
 
Form and Function in Alex Ross Perry’s “Queen of Earth&...
 
Digging for Fire and Unexpected: Husband and Wife Process Parenthoo...
 
Every Thing Will Be Fine 3D Review

Latest Features

View All
 
Taylor Sinople Picks – The 17 Best Films of 2017
 
Taylor Sinople Picks: The 16 Best Films of 2016
 
Taylor Sinople’s Top 10 Films of 2015: “The Duke of Bur...
 
8 Films to See at the 51st Chicago International Film Festival

Our Partners

Advertisement

FESTIVAL COVERAGE

View All
 
8 Films to See at the 51st Chicago International Film Festival
 
Every Thing Will Be Fine 3D Review
 
Berlinale 2015: Eisenstein in Guanajuato
 
Berlinale 2015: Sworn Virgin
 
Berlinale 2015: Under Electric Clouds

LISTS

View All
 
Taylor Sinople Picks – The 17 Best Films of 2017
 
SNL40: A Look Back at 40 Years of SNL in Film
 
Six Must-See British Films Opening in 2015
 
Oscars 2015: Ranking the Best Picture Nominees
 
Our 26 Most Anticipated Films of 2015
Tweets by @thefocuspull
  • "Popcorn - check. Soda - check...I have a date with Netflix on Friday night." - Sherry
  • "[…] nails it.” I disagree, and frankly wonder what movies John is talking about. The original G..." - Dear Godzilla Fans: Please Stop Defending that ...
  • "[…] www.thefocuspull.com […]" - Annie Hall
  • "[…] more vibrant monologue or confrontation, like the dinner scene that comes at just the right time ..." - Taylor Sinople's Top 10 Films of 2015
  • "[…] of the year is also the stuff of a best picture winner. With Michael Keaton, hot off praise from ..." - Taylor Sinople's Top 10 Films of 2015
TRENDING ON TFP
   
Try a different filter
© 2014 THE FOCUS PULL FILM JOURNAL
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.