It has always seemed to me that it may be possible that an individual who has demonstrated a level of excellence in one creative field can reproduce something similar in another creative field, if he/she could find and afford some of the best hands in the new field. That seemed to be what happened when comedian Basketmouth, as executive producer, got director Daniel Oriahi to make A Ghetto Love Story, a well-made film with a deservedly macabre twist.
For most of the film, we follow the happenings in a low-income neighbourhood in Lagos, where two persons are of particular interest. The two persons are Obinna (Akah Nnani) and Stella (a remarkable Beverly Osu). They are young, in love and, as expected, get into the problems that love at that stage gets into. At one point, the girl’s mother (Patience Ozokwor), notices their shenanigans on the street and the boy has to flee her attentions. The girl gets punished and reminded of her duties as a daughter of the household. She should be focused on her education.
Efiko Score: 8.7/10. Basketmouth and Daniel Oriahi have made a superb Nollywood film about Nigerian love and poverty.
But as the years roll by, it turns out that maybe Obinna’s designs should be less feared than the process of getting education.
Ghetto Love Story covers an entire neighbourhood over several years, so there are a reasonable number of supporting players, including a local hairdresser (played quite well by reality star Dorathy Bachor), Obinna’s womanising pal, and a neighbourhood businessman (played by Basketmouth) whose services are primarily concerned with waste from soakaways.
Stella is about to go to school, which as everyone knows is quite famous for being quite a hotbed of sexual provocations and financial temptations. Naturally, Stella gets there and faces her the usual seductions, while Obinna, her boyfriend back home, hustles back home to send her whatever cash he manages to earn.
A penurious workman boyfriend sending cash to his student girlfriend was once a popular configuration in the Nigerian public’s imagination—and perhaps reality—that it was a cliché. You still hear variations of the theme even now, but its heyday has largely passed enough for Ghetto Love Story to tell its story (supplied by Basketmouth and Victoria Eze) with a freshness that brooks no real false notes.
Well, except for the manner in which Femi Jacobs, as the rich man who ushers in a moment of devastation in Stella’s life, plays his character. As an older man who takes advantage of the student, he comes off as a petulant stick figure, which would be more appropriate for a much younger man in his position. It isn’t one of Jacobs’ better performances, which comes off as quite weird given that he is usually a dependable character actor in Nollywood. One is tempted to think of the misstep as having emanated from the screenplay and/or directions he’s received. Either way, it doesn’t quite work.
The film recovers but Stella doesn’t. Soon, she is home where her longsuffering boyfriend takes her back. But the birds have flown, even if the lovebirds are oblivious. For one, the girl has changed. She has seen the good life. On the other hand, the boy has gotten older but his material conditions haven’t changed. This, too, is a famous configuration.
On the internet and away from it, the boy who doesn’t quite generate the goods as fast as his girl’s tastes grows is always in peril. The peaceable lovers turn into something close to enemies. So far, so expected. But the screenplay (also by Victoria Eze) has a twist coming. When this twist arrives, unlike so many other Nollywood films over the years, it feels earned. And when the final few minutes are over, you may want to look again at the film’s title. Sure, there is love in this story that takes place in the Lagos ghetto. That love just may not be between the persons you assumed.
