The Beauty of Anikulapo; Rise of The Spectre

By Kunle Awosiyan

The suspense in these series is predictable after the reincarnation of Saro but the introduction of Bashorun creates a lovable scene and character I would love to see in every picture.

The son of Hubert Ogunde, the doyen of theatre, Owobo Ogunde, is a game changer in Kunle Afolayan’s movie, Anikulapo series, “Rise of the Spectre”.

Owobo’s delivery, his sense of romance and handsomely beautiful face are louder than his voice. He picks his words, yet those words carry fire and love. No wonder Awarun would not let go, she falls for both his weakness and strength.

That is the making of many great men. They come with their weaknesses, which in many ways are their albatross. King David was great. King Solomon was great and Samson was but they all loved women to rub their backs.

I want to believe that Afolayan’s choice of Anikulapo’s casts are deliberate. He goes after beauty and character and makes us glue our eyes on the cleavages of the women and the biceps of the men in the movie.

Awarun, Sola Sobowale, is a blessed woman, Bimbo Ademoye is a beauty but then their characters are flawed personalities whose obsession for handsome men easily becloud their lives of industry.

They are hardworking, they know how to make money but then they lust after men who are handsome and can tell good lies. I can’t blame them, handsome men are scarce.

For those who have not seen Titi Kuti in real life, he is a fine man. Adigun suffers for many sins he never committed. He was bitten by the snake, he died and was raised by Saro to have a taste of second life. He must die again, now by the hands of Bashorun.

Kuti is handsomely created just like Kunle Remi, Saro and Gabriel Afolayan, Akin.

Rhetorically, I have asked why didn’t Afolayan use a typical Oyo actor or one who is fluent in Oyo for the role of Alaafin, somebody who can give us “Ijinle Yoruba’? Ogogo puts some “Eko” in his line, which for me is a No.

Taiwo Hassan’s choice shows that Afolayan had chosen figure over language. Hassan, (Ogogo), whom to me is not deep in Yoruba language to act as Alaafin of Oyo is a No. He is better than many but there are those who can act that role better to depict Alaafin.

I have seen the late Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi speak and would have loved his replica in Anikulapo, this I did not see but a tall handsome Ogogo that is not poetic in his rendition neither did his words carry fire like that of Sango.

In Merlin, the 2008 epic English drama that opens the world of magic, English language is deliberately played up.

Anikulapo depicts the popular Yoruba’s belief in “Irapada” however the language is not so deep but the tribal marks.

That a ghost can actually transform to a living being and do all that man can do, including sleeping with his wive or husband is a Yoruba myth.

It depicts three worlds of the living being, the living dead and the spectre. The living dead as seen in Kuranga the prince of Ede who was killed through thunderbolt and raised by one of the roaming Zombies.

Afolayan’s idea is great, even though he has borrowed some ideas from the English Merlin, he wholly immersed the Yoruba tradition and beauty into the rise of the Spectre.

Well done