After releasing names of the Best Nollywood Actresses of 2013 that generated lots of controversies, Nollywood filmmaker turned critics has released yet again the list of his Best Actresses of 2014. Ironically, none of the 2013 winners made it into the new list. He says the winners were seclected using criteria such as interpretation, characterization, internalization, enunciation, and actor’s visualization among others. See the list after cut as published in his blog;
NUMBER 1: NSE IKPE-ETIM
And
my Number One Actress would be Nse Ikpe Etim (maritally known as Nse
Sule). And why wouldn’t she be ? Having watched her in three movies
released in 2014, there was little one could fault in her powerful sense
of interpretation, internalization and ‘chameleonic’ characterization
in the movies ‘Devil in the detail’, ‘ I Come Lagos’ and ‘Purple Rose’.
To
the trained eye, when an actress does her research, it is easy and
quite a pleasure to watch that thespian mesmerize the audience. Nse
falls in that category of silent but sure actresses whose works speak
more for her than anything else. In ‘Devil in the Detail’, she gives us a
self-assured portrayal of a wife whose fidelity is called to question
by her suspicious husband. Nse’s nuances, dramatic pauses and body
language in the role leaves one awe-struck. This is a lady who knows her
onions.
While
some might view her acting in ‘I Come Lagos’as a bit exaggerated, given
that she plays a village girl from Akwa-Ibom in the comic flick, I
could see her obvious attempt to veer away from the intense, brooding
roles she is sometimes known for. And in that comedy, she effortlessly
shows us the other side of her skills and leaves no one guessing about
her being in a distinguished class by herself when it comes to
histrionics.
Indeed,
Nse is an Actor’s Actor and I daresay she is an unsung method actor.
And method acting is an elevated technique in acting which only the best
strive to achieve. I could safely say Nse is Nigeria’s version of Cate
Blanchett if one takes into consideration her incredible ability to
absorb her characters and show us layers of talent each time she
features in a movie.
When
the real acting gems are sifted from the coarse stones in Nollywood, an
Nse would undoubtedly be one of the few shining stones displayed on the
shelf of excellence. Nse, my standing ovation.
NUMBER 2: ONYEKA ONWENU
Despite
my reservations about the film adaptation of ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’,
one of the delightful comforts for me from the movie was Onyeka Onwenu’s
fantastic role as ‘Mama’. With an elegant career in music which has
spanned over thirty years, Onyeka’s moonlighting to Nollywood seems to
have finally found its artistic rewards in HOAYS.
Her
mannerisms, facial expressions, voice modulations and characterization
as an over-protective mother are all almost flawless in the movie . It’s
as if in HOAYS, she set out to prove a point and only the blind would
argue that she did not achieve her artistic aim. It must be quite a
fulfilling experience to straddle, and arguably successfully too, two
important sectors of Nigerian Entertainment; music and movies. Onyeka
Onwenu deserves our commendation. Well, at least she has mine!
NUMBER 3: OMONI OBOLI
Two
movies which featured Omoni Oboli were enough to convince me that Omoni
deserves to be on this list. They are ‘Render to Ceaser’ and ‘Being Mrs
Elliott’. Watching the two movies, I could appreciate various levels of
Omoni’s acting abilities. Artistically, she come across sometimes as
being restrained in her delivery in some roles but she more than makes
up for these pardonable inhibitions by her powerful ability to really,
really act with her face. Her facial expressions reveal the right
emotions which her lines try to convey. Few actors can achieve that in
Nollywood as what we see mostly these days are bland expressions in the
delivery of interpretative dialogue.
But
it is in ‘Being Mrs Elliott’ that Omoni comes out smoking. Her
character has various levels of emotional and perhaps repressed comical
transitions and Omoni delivers when it matters most in aspects of such
artistic requirement. A wardrobe malfunction at the Presidential Villa
during a special premiere and the buzz it created made me curious to
watch the movie and while aspects of its directorial ambitions were a
bit arrested, one was not disappointed much by Omoni’s acting in the
movie. Indeed, she gave her best in the movie. And her best is good
enough to be on this list.
NUMBER 4: QUEEN NWOKOYE
More-often-than-not,
many tend to dismiss the ‘Asabawood’ genre of movies as crass, without
structure and lacking in linear progression of plots. While a lot of
movies from that axis, juxtaposed with the so-called ‘New Nollywood’
movies, can be a critics nightmare to watch, there is no denying that a
few actors and actresses in that genre of movies have given us some
performances which deserve applause. Queen Nwokoye is one of such worthy
of mention for 2014. Whilst researching a bit more on her movies for
2014, I was authoritatively told that she is presently the most
commercial actress in the Asaba movies, ever since Mercy Johnson went on
maternity leave, with her movies selling in the millions. While such
information does little to influence my artistic evaluation of her
acting prowess, it was certainly important enough for me to file away in
my memory bank that Queen must have something which appeals to the
buying audience of such films. After watching her in a spawn of
top-selling Asaba movies in 2014, I understood why.
In
the movies ‘Adaura’and ‘Ada Mbano’ and their nebulously-plotted
sequels, Queen Nwokoye’s performance as a typical village lass from an
Igbo village speak volumes about her abilities for research,
interpretation and characterization. I am told that she commendably
speaks the Imo dialect in the movie, even though she is from Anambra
state. Obviously, she put in a lot of hard work in that regard and if
Oscars have been given in Hollywood to actresses who research accents
and use effectively for characterization, there is no reason why Queen
should not be given special mention for achieving this feat in these
parts. The most interesting aspects of her acting in these spawn of
movies is her intrinsic ability to make the viewer suspend disbelief
when watching her in her comical tantrums. Borrowing from the popular
street terminology, one can safely say ‘Queen finish work‘ in the
afore-mentioned movies, within the scope of the Production ambitions.
NUMBER 5: KEMI LALA AKINDOJU
A
lot of readers might not have seen Tunde Kelani’s ‘Dazzling Mirage’, a
film in which Lala Akindoju plays a young, frail sickle cell patient,
Funmiwo. I watched the movie at a film festival in November and I was
impressed with Lala’s portrayal of the lead character. A true-to-type
physical casting by the Director first draws some empathy from the
audience towards Lala and as she goes through the emotional and physical
demands of the movie, the viewer is taken in by Lala’s internalization
of the character as we begin to see and understand what it is to be a
Sickle Cell victim. Of course there were tentative moments when Lala
seemed not to have fully measured up to the dictates of the role but one
could also appreciate that those moments were few and far between. In
‘Dazzling Mirage’, the viewer laughs with her, cries with her, feels her
pains and many could very well finish watching the movie believing that
Lala is a Sickle Cell sufferer in real life. Such a performance should
not go unnoticed.Kemi Lala Akindoju, in her first major role in a feature length, is one to watch out for in the future.
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