The movie "The Woman King" faced a storm of accusations of glorifying the slave trade in Africa in the 17th and 18th centuries, as soon as it was shown in the United States and Canada in mid-September, and calls to boycott it were launched on Twitter.

Despite this, the film achieved high revenues and received a critical rating of 95%, and an audience rating of 99%, and was received with great enthusiasm at the Toronto Festival, which was held from 8 to 18 September.

The film, in which African-American actresses starred, was not the first historical work to be subjected to such accusations.

The first attempts to make historical films in Italian cinema were between 1910 and 1914, but the first serious attempt to re-read the past and walk towards the future came through the American film “The Birth of a Nation” in 1915 by American director and film pioneer David Griffiths, which sparked A wave of controversy continues to this day, and it has earned the title of "the most reckless film of racism in history." For more than a century, no historical film has been released without raising a lot of controversy and discussion about the reliability of the events as well as clashing with the vision of its makers.

The heroine of "The King's Woman" and its producer Viola Davis did not deny the facts and did not claim that the story of the film was the truth, but she told People magazine, "The story of the film began while the kingdom was in a state of change, and the leaders were looking for some way to preserve their civilization and their kingdom. alive, and the story of the film is fictional."

Hollywood story

"The Woman King" by Gina Prince-Bethwood, the story revolves around a conflict between the kingdoms of Dahomey and Oyo, and King Gezo creates an army of women to protect his kingdom from the "Ayu" who kidnap Africans and supply them as slaves to European slave traders.

Nanska (Davis) leads the women's army and oversees the preparation of new elements for combat. A new girl with a strong will and great energy catches her eye.

Haunted by a brutal past during which she was assaulted, Nanska makes sure that the girl is her daughter.

The Oto army tries to blackmail Dahomey and enslave its members, but the women's army stands valiantly defending the kingdom, and Nanska emerges, but the king's wife tries to steal the spotlight from her, and the king realizes the trick, and Nanska declares the woman king.

During the 17th century, the Agooji were a battle-hardened, all-female fighting force that held a special place within the African Kingdom of Dahomey.

Most of them were former slaves, and only the bravest and strongest were allowed to join this army, and the Dahomey warriors were considered "ahosi" or the king's wives.

It is known historically that the kingdom of "Dahomey" was a major station for enslaving Africans and supplying them to Europeans and Americans, and women constituted up to 40% of the kingdom's army, and these women were famous for their ferocity and strength, and they were called "Amazon warriors".

The director presented an integrated action movie in terms of the contents of the staff, and she used the tools of the stage that the film tells about with experience and skill, and was helped by the explosive talent of the actress Davis, who produced the work at a cost of 50 million dollars, but the working team of the assistant actresses formed an army of talented performers, and they are the daughter "Noi" (Toso Mbedo), "Izugi" (Lashana Lynch), and "Aminza" (Sheila Atim).

dark white film

"Amenza" wanted a one-on-one dialogue with "Nanska", so she referred to her, and they went on foot to talk about private concerns that should not be discussed in front of others, and the scene was beautiful with transitions, frames and camera angles, and the honest performance of the two actresses helped in that, but the big problem is that it is a scene completely white.

In the culture of the West, this happens to the letter. When one person wants a private dialogue, the two people can walk together for dialogue, but African culture does not have this simple fact.

African culture makes the two people look for a place a little far away to sit and talk. The culture of the bright sun does not leave “walking” an option for those who want dialogue, and the scene has been repeated a lot, and the nature of the (white) dialogue has been added to it in terms of reactions and gestures, especially between the leader of the “Oyo” rapist Oba Addie (Jimmy Udkoya) and Nanska.

The second crisis of the film was the character of King Gizo, embodied by the actor John Boyega. His performance was dull, not up to the level of the performance of any of the work’s actresses or representatives, even if he presented in the scene of the Queen’s inauguration a rare emotion that was not repeated at work, despite the threat to the Kingdom throughout the work. He was forced to surrender, and to provide compensation to his opponents.

Reflection game

Fire played a role no less important than acting and movement within the cadre in the aesthetics of the work, as its reflection formed a parallel drama to the work’s drama, and the movement of the reflection of burning lamps for lighting (fire was the source of light at that time) formed an auxiliary role for the heroine Nanska in showing the nature of that pain she suffers as a result of Past defeats, captivity, injury, and psychological pain as a result of assault.

The same thing was repeated with the moonlight, and the two types of light helped to draw a wonderful painting of the fighters who anointed their bodies with oil, making it difficult for the opponent to arrest them, and the women seemed to be the source of the light, not the fire or the moon.

Despite the attack, the film remains the journey of 6 actresses who were able to form a team of African women who decided to take the lead roles in Hollywood, in an adventure that no one would dare to undertake, and then achieved undeniable critical and financial success.