by Remi Jordan
We have, in the past, talked about the importance of adaptations in the Nigerian film stratosphere and how that can serve as a creative well to add some qualitative streak to a lot of the films we produce. But adaptations aren’t unheard of, we have certain books that have adapted in recent years and have graced our screens, and some of them are even critically acclaimed. Below are some of our favourites we deem worthy of watching and reading;
Bullfrog in the sun
This film was inspired by Chinua Achebe’s works, Things Fall Apart and No Longer at Ease. Both of these novels were released in 1958 and 1960.
In 1972, the film was released. Things Fall Apart was adapted into a television drama series that broadcast on the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) in the mid-1990s.
One could call this a combinational adaptation as it ambitiously takes narrative elements from both books to form a poignant story that, to a certain degree, upholds the texts.
Saworoide.
Tunde Kelani created and directed this political satire, which was released in 1999. The film, written by Akinwunmi Ishola, who also penned the original book, is set in Jogbo town, where a king cheats the Saworoide (a brass drum) ceremonial and becomes a tyrant in order to keep his kingdom. The Kelani picture is the quintessential Nigerian classic, imagine if you will, a dad film that has a didactic streak and appeals to a younger generation with all its Shakespearean milieu.
The Concubine
Elechi Amadi’s debut novel of the same name was published in 1966. It chronicles the tragic fate of the lovely Ihuoma and her male love interest as a result of Ihuoma’s past life links to a sea god to whom she was married and abandoned. The story was made into a film, which debuted in March 2007.
Half a yellow sun
Chimamanda Adichie’s novel Half of a Yellow Sun, which received the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2007, was made into a film, also titled Half of a Yellow Sun. The film stars an array of Hollywood celebrities as well as Nollywood heavyweights such as Genevieve Nnaji, Onyeka Onwenu, and OC Ukeje. The film was released in 2013, and it’s perhaps the most famous film on this list, something we can also attribute to Chimamanda’s penmanship and her appeal to the younger generation of this century.
Beast of no Nation
Uzodinma Iweala’s 2005 novel, Beasts of No Nation is a war thriller. Intense and emotionally arduous are a few words that can fully contextualise how powerful the story is both in text and on screen. It shies away from nothing but a digestible depiction of the ramifications of war and the children who are born into it. The book is powerful; the adaptation stays faithful to the narrative core. Evoking empathy within us.
