(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . DVD review: The Woman King [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-06-19 The Woman King confronts the ugly legacy of slavery from the other side of the Atlantic, from Africa, to tell a surprising story about the bravery and perseverance of the women warriors of the Dahomey kingdom, dubbed “the Amazons of Africa” by slave traders. Though based on true events, there are many fictional details to this movie that could legitimately be considered spoilers. I will give a fairly detailed summary of the first act, say a bit about the second act and not much about the third act. Like at least a couple other movies I’ve watched recently, the title for this movie feels a little misleading. There is some discussion of what it means to be the woman king, but the most important woman in the movie does not seem all that interested in becoming the woman king, while the woman most interested in becoming the woman king is not all that important to the narrative. A camera operator on a dolly films the sword dance scene in The Woman King. Dahomey tradition dictates, or strongly suggests, that the man king should appoint a woman king. As the movie starts, newly ascended King Ghezo (John Boyega) has not named a woman king, and there is murmuring that he might break with tradition. After a clumsy voice and text prologue, we see some men of the Oya tribe sitting around a campfire at night, relaxing. One of them hears a rustling, the other men laugh at him for being so easily startled. But he has good reason to be alert: there are a bunch of women warriors hiding in the grass, and they choose this moment to rise up and attack. Led by General Nanisca (Viola Davis), their mission is to rescue the Dahomey women whom the Oya were hoping to sell to slave traders. These women warriors, the Agojie, complete their mission and take several Oya women prisoners, not to sell but maybe conscript into their army. The Agojie return to the Dahomey palace to be greeted as heroes. But Nanisca does not feel like celebrating. A horseshoe she found at the Oya village is a warning: the slave traders are getting bolder. Meanwhile, a young woman, Nawi (Thuso Mbedu), has been assigned a rich new husband by her adoptive father. But Nawi refuses to be a subservient wife to some old man she’s never met before. The marriage is annulled and Nawi’s dropped off at the palace, where the Agojie train for war. Nawi (Thuso Mbeda, right) has taken Malik's clothes, forcing Malik (Jordan Bolger) to awkwardly cover himself, in a scene from The Woman King. Despite her arrogance and insubordination, Nawi excels in training, and graduates with flying colors and special recognition from King Ghezo. Meeting with his cabinet, King Ghezo ponders paying the Oya the tribute they demand. Unlike his predecessor, his older brother, Ghezo does not want to participate in the slave trade. Nanisca suggests maybe they could sell palm oil instead of men and women. Complicating things for Nawi, she feels an attraction to Malik (Jordan Bolger), a half-white man trying to reconnect with his African roots but still aligned with the people who sell his cousins into unwilling servitude. Nawi’s first mission as an Agojie has her accompanying Nanisca to deliver an insulting tribute to the Oya at the port where the Oya bring slaves to the Portuguese slave traders: the heads of Oya soldiers whom the Agojie killed on their previous mission. I’m going to be very clear: this is a very violent movie. But the violence is never gratuitous, and even when it is shocking it feels fully justified. Slavery is not one of the prettier chapters of history, but we must not turn our eyes away. The actors, who off-screen speak English with American or British accents, in this movie mostly speak English with African accents. I have to be honest, this caused me some trepidation about starting on a movie running 2 hours and 15 minutes. But it doesn’t feel like a movie lasting more than two hours. The only thing I would cut is the voice and text prologue, but that would barely shave a minute off the running time. I give the movie ★★★★★ minus a quarter star. The DVD does include special features, which are the usual making of featurettes. For some reason, which I’m not sure whether to blame on the DVD mastering studio or the equipment I used to watch this movie, but the special features start playing right after the end credits of the movie. The special features include Thuso Mbedu’s audition tapes. No deleted scenes, though; this movie probably could have been a 3-hour first cut. Or maybe there are a bunch of deleted scenes on the BluRay. I wish the special features would have included is some kind of documentary delving into the history of the slave trade, and the abolitionist efforts in Africa. Make-up and costume check on one of the extras in The Woman King in between takes. The Woman King is rated PG-13 for sequences of strong violence, some disturbing material, thematic content, brief language and partial nudity. Really that last one is the least of your worries if you’re a parent trying to decide whether your kids should watch this movie. Special features not rated. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/6/19/2247315/-DVD-review-The-Woman-King?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/