In October 2015 Mr Alex Madaga was hit by a car in Kenya's capital Nairobi. The paramedics tried to get him to a hospital for 18 hours. When they finally came to a hospital that would take Madaga, his condition had become so critical, that his life was lost. This is the true event on which Njue Kevin wrote the film 18 Hours.
When someone makes a film about a known incident, one reason is to accuse a bad state of affairs and to raise consciousness about a deficit. Kevin succeeds in this respect. The editing of this film creates a continuous suspense. We follow the paramedics Zack and Mark in their run against the clock and have the vain hope, that they may succeed, although we know that this is a vain hope.
The acting is also quite good, anyway much better than often seen in other African films I have seen.
Unfortunately the script is not very strong. Many lines feel like taken from a text book. Other dialogues are painfully clichéd, fx. like God's silence and forgiving. However, the actors (Nick Ndeda and Brian Ogola) manage to deliver these lines in a life-like fashion.
I am grateful that Festival Scope shows at the moment a selection of films from Africa. I am surprized to learn about films, of which existence I didn't know before. I am amazed to see how much talent there is - and talent that rarely gets a chance to tell their stories. I would like to follow the career. And I wish that Africa no longer is the unseen continent on the silver screen.
8/10
When someone makes a film about a known incident, one reason is to accuse a bad state of affairs and to raise consciousness about a deficit. Kevin succeeds in this respect. The editing of this film creates a continuous suspense. We follow the paramedics Zack and Mark in their run against the clock and have the vain hope, that they may succeed, although we know that this is a vain hope.
The acting is also quite good, anyway much better than often seen in other African films I have seen.
Unfortunately the script is not very strong. Many lines feel like taken from a text book. Other dialogues are painfully clichéd, fx. like God's silence and forgiving. However, the actors (Nick Ndeda and Brian Ogola) manage to deliver these lines in a life-like fashion.
I am grateful that Festival Scope shows at the moment a selection of films from Africa. I am surprized to learn about films, of which existence I didn't know before. I am amazed to see how much talent there is - and talent that rarely gets a chance to tell their stories. I would like to follow the career. And I wish that Africa no longer is the unseen continent on the silver screen.
8/10
No comments:
Post a Comment