The Woman King – Cinema Journal

Gina Prince-Bythewood rewrites with The female king history and does so with visible pleasure.

The Agojie were an impressive group of all-female warriors who had once fought for the kingdom of Dahomey, in what is now Benin, a country in West Africa. For about three centuries, these female soldiers held the reins, until the region was conquered by France in 1894.

Viola Davis gives in The female kingdirected with exuberance and style by Gina Prince-Bythewood (Love & Basketball2000; The old guard2020), an impressive performance as Nanisca, the bruised leader of the Agojie in 1823 Dahomey, the highest ranking general under King Ghezo (John Boyega). The female king opens with an impressive military operation, in which Nanisca and her elite team invade a hostile camp where people are trafficked for the rival kingdom of Oyo (in present-day Nigeria).

With the bloodthirsty and audacious opening, Prince-Bythewood sets the tone for the next two hours. Nanisca and her warriors face the enemy with machetes, ropes, spears and a single rifle. The beautifully crafted action scenes are all the more exciting because, unlike so many modern drama films, they follow the laws of nature.

The complex story of Dahomey can be completed with an action thriller like The female king of course, only partially. Yet the film valiantly attempts to show the ambiguities surrounding the Agojie and King Ghezo, deeply involved in the transatlantic slave trade. Dana Stevens’ screenplay dances a tightrope between a rallying cry for freedom, with moments of feminist and pan-African appeals, and a confrontation with Dahomey’s complicity in the enslavement of neighboring peoples.

But Hollywood blockbusters aren’t history lessons, so The female king crosses it with more audience-friendly scenarios. The most important of them is that around the new recruit Nawi (Thuso Mbedu). Audiences primarily see through their eyes the opulent world Prince-Bythewood creates for the film. The rebellious, sharp-tongued Nawi comes up against the strict life of the Agojie, but also learns lessons of courage, fraternity and self-denial.

Prince-Bythewood uses its budget (approximately $50 million) very efficiently for a jaw-dropping blockbuster experience reminiscent of Swords and sandals-epen as gladiator (Ridley Scott, 2000). want sometimes The female king being too many things at once. But overall, it’s one of those rare great studio movies with intelligence, grit, and a warm beating heart, all without filming existing footage.