Good films communicate in different ways, but 30 Days, the political thriller from Mildred Okwo chooses to speak to the viewer and the whole Nigerian film industry simultaneaously. Its message, it would seem, is to show that the new Nigerian cinema can get it right, technically and artistically, if production is approached purely from a professional standpoint.
This is what Okwo, who used to work as a lawyer in the United States, has done with the cautionary tale of what could happen to a nation if the abuse of power exhibited by elected officials is not checked.
At its media preview earlier this month at the City Mall in Lagos, Okwo who wrote the script based on an inspiration she got from a newspaper column by the Nigerian journalist, Simon Kolawole, presented a well-made feature that has so much for the individual viewer to ponder, and as well for a struggling industry that is looking for answers on how to get it right.
The first message in 30 Days is that it was shot entirely in Nigeria with the same type of camera equipment used by most practitioners - DVCam - No High Definition, no celluloid. And with the kind of clean, sharp and racy quality it achieved, Okwo would have managed to send a clear message that everything needed to make a good film is in Nigeria, except, perhaps, for the key technical crew members like the Director of Photography, Editor and sound man she brought from abroad.
"We brought in a DOP from Hollywood, Cricket Peters, who specializes in lighting. We also brought in a sound recorder. During the post-production, we used professional sound designers and a sound mixer to sweeten the sounds and get the most from what we recorded during the production," said Okwo who had a degree in Creative Arts from the University of Benin before relocating to the USA.
Set in Nigeria, the film's story is told through the narration of a Nigerian-American man, Kene Alumona (CBA), whose 30 days holiday in Nigeria turns sour and turbulent when he finds himself drawn into the lives and dangerous exploration of a group of young women desperate to rid the society of corrupt leaders.
At the start, it takes a dauntingly long time to provide any kind of recognizable narrative other than three pretty ladies and their associates unleashing mayhem on the society by assassinating supposedly corrupt government functionaries.
But as soon as Alumona comes in as the narrator whose dialogue with the Inspector General of Police (Segun Arinze) sets the tone and progression of the film, it becomes clear that a drama steeped in thriller and adventure almost to the pint of fairytale is what is unfolding.
The viewer may not admire what the girls do, but at least he understands who they are. And at every point that the question of why the girls choose a violent option to address a social problem comes to mind, the director takes the viewer on a journey with the apparent promise that once the final destination has been reached, all the questions would either have been answered or would no longer require any answer.
It then turns out that the most powerful woman in government, the Minister of State (Joke Silva) is behind the spate of patterned assassination of government officials by trained ladies who sometimes choose to leave a trace.
Watching the double-faced template of the film - the drama and the narration - would require a certain amount of patience, and at the end where the director ignores every reason for a resolution, she pushes the point at which the viewer really needs to know more than he has been told.
As it happens, one of the leaders of the group, Chinora Onu (Genevieve Nnaji) meets and falls for the American returnee, Alumona, who gets arrested while on an innocent visit to the party by a pastor (Nobert Young) where, incidentally, the girls are carrying out a mass massacre operation.
This is a film worth seeing again mainly for its technical strengths. The point by the director that "we (just) placed a lot of emphasis on the lighting and sound" runs throughout this film that is a joint effort of Okwo's Native Lingua Films and Ego Boyo's Temple Productions.
The production design in the film conveys the vividness of urban life that is central, either in interior or exterior scenes, which is then given a slightly elevating quality by the DOP's fast-paced, close-up camera works.
The strongest plot strand kicks in from the swimming pool scene in which the ladies give a somewhat, lengthy ideological premise to their cause. This is further accentuated through the flash-back scene that identifies Chinora as the daughter of an assassinated judge. The element of personal revenge would later give more conviction to her character when she kills the pastor's guard with her bare, karate-trained hands.
Shooting fighting scenes so convincingly is a plus for Okwo in her directorial debut. And although it is clearly aimed at mature audiences, part of the pleasure of 30 Days is the quality of acting and how the screenplay brings each character, even on face value, to sharp focus in a playful charm.
The combination of CBA, who is a stage and screen actor in New York, and Nnaji is one of the hallmarks of this film. The chemistry of acting is spontaneous and it shows. And while the first sex scene involving the minister and a prostitute is appallingly conveyed, Chinora and Alumona give a splendid, sensuous performance that is not likely to get any one offended. A few of the scenes show Nnaji at her most erotic, and like Halle Berry in the Monster's Balls, she manages to give an OSCAR-worthy performance without exposing a bit of her bum as CBA does.
But although it is carried forward by a driving technical energy, 30 Days, sadly, has more attitude than depth. It never really makes up its mind about genre and appears too wrapped up in a cosmetic charm that does not take a long time to wear out.
The first issue is the general plausibility and the representation of government in the film. While the needlessly comical portrayal of the President can be forgiven in Gbenga Richard's character, the suggestion that the elderly number one citizen could have compromised himself with the Minister of state is the reason why the latter would ride in the same official car and insult him at will simply does not work.
And what kind of an African country would have just the Inspector General of Police and the Minister of State addressing press conferences and are seemingly the only state officials involved in matter of state security? Indeed, so ordinary is the office of Okwo's IG that if he is not the one interrogating a suspect personally or attending to over-confident journalists, his office is portrayed as incapable of keeping a key suspect from escape in the most childish manner, or is seen literally giving journalists a hot chase at the airport.
The representation of the media in 30 Days also raises some questions. Investigative journalism places the media above the police in locating and retrieving information from a key state suspect. And when she is found, she fizzles out with her evidence in no time. Okwo's journalists lack decorum at press conference as they won't stop chatting until restrained by the minister; and not only do their mobile phones go off in the middle of a conference being addressed by a Minister, they have no qualms in picking calls right in the hall with the Minister nor the IG biting an eye lid.
Without doubt a sexist script, but the film is just unconvincing in using a pastor, not just as a victim of temptation, but as an unrepentant corrupt but connected man who, like other guests, forgets to use his mobile phone while in hiding when his party comes under attack.
It is in this film that a strange shock paralyses a rich father (Joe Adekwa) who sees her daughter shot dead but lacks the will to act even when the killer realizes her error, drops her gun and slumps weeping.
However, it may have too much of a tasteful appetizer than a satisfying real menu, but for the most part, 30 Days is nothing but fun, and its expected premiere is bound to be a major feature of Nollywood's calendar this year.

Steve Ayorinde