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I have heard about the legend Bashorun Ga’a. It was one of the cliché stories of the Old Oyo Empire I learned in History class. I could only picture what had happened in my mind. The story’s highlight was the heavy curses the Bashorun laid on the Oyo Empire.
Watching the movie, I could put faces to the legends and characters who played a significant role in history. The movie was set in the pre-colonial era, and all the settings were on point. I have always said that only we can tell our history the right way. If there is one thing the movie House of Ga’a should win an award for, it should be for the costume design.
Whoever designed and planned the costume created it according to the time setting. The props and aesthetics used in the movie were also top-notch. One of the movie’s highlights was the use of crude Yoruba language.
To some extent, the scriptwriter must have been very conversant with the old Yoruba speaking methods. Moreover, a Yoruba language expert, Omotara Lawrence, took to her X handle to criticize the language use.
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House of Ga’a took us back to the old times when our forefathers explored African natural hair and used local beads and cowries to adorn their hair, especially on women. The movie emphasized the trivialization of women in the olden days. Women were mere vessels of pleasure and continuity of a lineage.
Photo Credit: BellaNaija
How House of Ga’a could have been better
Bolanle Austen Peters’s House of Ga’a ticked the boxes except for one important one: plot exposition. I’m an advocate for telling a story right. Indeed, movies cannot fully capture the essence of a story, but they should at least make a thoughtful attempt.
House of Ga’a would have been more than a masterpiece but also a history playbook. If the Bashorun Ga’a story had been made into episodes with explicit plot exposition, the movie would have been a cause for cultural exploration.
Bashorun Ga’a was not only a history-changing figure in his lifetime but even at death; his words changed the fate of Oyo to this day. Reminiscing back to my history classes, I remembered that the warrior laid heavy causes on Oyo, which spanned over two pages in my history textbook.
In the movie, it was barely two sentences strung together. Another option for this movie would have been a documentary. Experts’ exposition would have clarified the history of Bashorun Ga’a.
However, I wouldn’t dispute that Nollywood is doing a good job of revolutionizing the way historical stories are told. However, to get better in this niche, filmmakers need to work on proper plot exposition.
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