Somewhere in my Heart

Originally uploaded by NollywoodForever

Somewhere in My Heart ~2009
Story – Chidi Chijioke
Screenplay – Chidi Chijioke
Director – Ilochi Olisa Emeka

Starring:
Van Vicker – Chuka
Tonto Dikeh – Awole/ Joke
Jim Iyke – Caleb
Uche Jombo –
Browny Igboegwu – Young Edward
Malechi Chukwudebe – Damian
Chichi Ikeme – Uju
Adaku Fairison – Young Caroline
Zainab Egwuonwu – Mrs Umeh
Leo Awuzi – Mrs Umeh
Ofili Ugbo – Old Edward
Stephanie Isaac – Priscilla
Halima Abubakar – Mary
Zubby Michael – Johnson
Jude Onyegiri – Johnson’s friend
Ogbonna Okereke – Inspector
Umar Hammed – Doctor
Chinonso Okereke – Car Wash Boy

Themes Explored:
Mental Illness in Nigeria
Obsession Nigeria

My Rating 37 %

Chuka lives with his mother in the city estranged for many years from his mother and brother who live in the village. The relationship between his parents ended on bad terms so when the day comes that Chuka wants to reconnect with his father, his mother is not happy about the situation at all. She does her best to dissuade him from going to the village to stay with his father, but it is all to no avail. Chukka packs up and heads to the village refusing to answer any phone calls his mother makes to him.

He reconnects with his father and brother in the village and at the same time falls head over heels in love with his brother’s girlfriend Awole, which ultimately brings about his downfall. Nigerian Movie Review

*************SPOILERS*************

This movie is a nonsensical mess. I praise myself for making it through. At the end my head felt confused. There were do many unanswered questions… and not in a good way where I felt challenged, but in a WTH, what is this stupidness? Kind of way. Let me just get to the point and list all the issues I had with this movie: Nigerian Movie Review

1) The relationship between Chuka and Caleb was never really made clear. We know they are brothers but do they have the same mother and father or just the same father? Who was older? Had they had contact over the years? Same with the relationship between Chuka and his father. How often did they see each other before Chuka went to go and live with him. The whole picture was blurry for me. Nigerian Movie Review

2) At first I thought Chuka was obsessed with Awole because he was genuinely attracted to her. Of course all the anonymous letters were creepy but he claimed to love her and then was eyeing up the nurse in the hospital like a hound dog. So at this part confusion set in. Was he really feeling like it was love or is he supposed to be a psycho killer type. Nigerian Movie

3) Tonto falling in love with an imaginary guy was so ridiculous. I know that perhaps because she was supposed to be a village girl she was supposed to be naive but those notes he was sending her were hardly poetic to the extent that it would make you lose your mind, added to that that the guy could not even spell… How romantic! NOT. I’m thinking that the spelling errors were probably unintentional which if true makes the whole scenario even more sorrily pitiful. Nigerian Movie

4) Tonto I do like you a lot but the crying was waaaaaaay too much… On and on and on and on… Man I just wanted to punch her. Waaaaaaaah… Waaaaaaaaaaah… Waaaaaaaaaaah… Tonto started off well and then it all went to pot. In the beginning she had the village girl accent and mannerisms down pat. The broken English, the coy behaviour, and then from nowehere comes a more assertive Tonto with a Faux British accent. Which Kind nonsense be dis eh? She hadn’t even left the village. She was still wearing the same rags and hanging out with her village champion boyfriend Caleb. Nothing had happened to cause the changes but all of a sudden she morphed into sophisticated city girl mode. It is unbelievable to me that not even one person on set would say to her, “Hold up Tonto… you have slipped out of your character.” How could not one person notice?

5) At a point Awole is in the hospital and Chuka tells Caleb he will look after her as Caleb doesn’t want her to be left alone. Awole tells Chuka, “The only reason you wooed me into sleeping with you was to dump me.” Where the hizell did this assertion come from? How can he even dump her when they were never boyfriend and girlfriend? Did Chuka rape her or what? The only evidence we as the viewer see of a sex scene taking place is a black screen and some barely audible grunts. I only even clocked this because I rewound after figuring out that they were meant to have slept together. If indeed it was rape as it appears to be, why is it being referred to as “seduction”? To refer to rape as “seduction” is very insulting to women the world over and shows a very ignorant chauvinistic viewpoint of male/ female relationships. Nigeria

6) When and how did this “seduction” take place.

7) Why would she sleep with him when she had already decided that she was in love with her secret admirer, had a boyfriend and did not even know he was the admirer at the time.

Awole’s death was super stupid. It was as if this story was being made up as they were going along. I was just watching like, “Huh?” Chuka pushed her slightly and then BAM she bangs her head against the wall and is dead just like that. He barely even pushed her and her head barely even touched the wall… NONSENSE!

9) At the beginning of part 2 Caleb and Awole are at the meeting spot jubilating about something or another and we hear Jim Iyke being directed by someone off set to pick Tonto up. If you listen you can hear a mans voice say, “Pick her up.” And then he picks her up. This is soooooo not a good look. If you can the directors voice you need to reshoot, no ifs and buts about it.

All the above mentioned are issues that I had with part 1&2. There is also a part 3 (more rubbish but still I persevere) This seemed a bit disjointed from the rest of the film. It is here we meet Halima and Uche. After killing Awole Chuka flees to the city. Here goes the issues I had with the part 3:

1) The first 8 minutes of part 3 is spent watching Uche Jombo getting dressed and ready to go out. There is no need for such a long scene. It is pointless and mind numbing.

2) Halima does a stripping scene to seduce Van’s character and underneath her clothes her “naked” attire is some bulky ass denim shorts. Tip: If you can’t make it realistic… don’t bother.

3) At the end Jim confronts Chuka and says, “Don’t tell me you had anything to do with Awole’s death?” What kind of stupid question is that? Was he not there after she died and Chuka was blamed? Why are you acting shocked now?

To conclude, as I am sure you may have already guessed. I would not recommend this film. It was confusing and somewhat of a mess. It was what I would call improvisation. Everybody appeared to be working off their own direction and nothing was coming together. Tonto started off well and then it all went a bit haywire. Van was adequate. His blank facial expressions tied in with being a psycho killer devoid of emotion, however his character was a mystery to me. I don’t know what was trying to be achieved with him. Uche is looking nice and trim. Halima‘s character had no need to be in the film. What was the point of her except to flaunt her body and act like a sex kitten?

The film did not seem to end and we are introduced to Awole’s twin Joke. Where on earth did she come from and what is her story? We don’t find out before the film ends which woukd indicate a continuation perhaps? There were too many long non dialogue pointless scenes that should have hit the cutting room floor. In short… FLOP!