THE WOMAN KING

US, 2022, 135 minutes, Colour.

Viola Davis, Thusa Mbedu, Lashana Lynch, Sheila Atim, John Boyega, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, Jordan Bolger, Jimmy Odukoyo, Jayme Lawson.

Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood.

Advertising and trailers seem to suggest that this is an African adventure in the Marvel Universe tradition of Black Panther. It is, in fact, a historical drama, set in 1823 in the West African territory of Dahomey, now part of the country of Benin.

Dahomey is presented as a prospering country, the opening of the film giving a historical context, the various tribes and nations surrounding it, hostilities. And, one of the key issues, is the African slave trade, the African rulers themselves negotiating with the British and, here, slave traders from Brazil. (In 10 years time, 1833, Britain will abolish slavery.).

Warfare is part of the culture. The film opens with a raid, fight and massacre, setting a tone for what is to happen. But, what is different, is that the leader of the raid is a woman warrior, Nanisca, fierce, determined, leading her troupe of women warriors as well as men. And, she is at the service of the young king, more open-minded, interested in trade in palm oil, wary of the slave trade. He is played with some dignity and wisdom by John Boyega.

For two centuries, the female warriors, the Agojie, have been defenders of the kingdom. Nanisca has spent her adult life training the warriors, there are quite a number of scenes of training, physical and psychological demands, the self-sacrifice of the women not marrying and committing completely to the Agojie, and severe physical tests of their prowess. Later, there will be some emotional investment in Nanisca as something is revealed of her early life. She is played by Viola Davis, who has shown over decades in films and on television, an extraordinary range of characters she has portrayed. She is in command here, ultimately being recognised for her leadership, becoming a woman King.

But, there is the next generation, especially the orphan, Nawi (South African actress Thusa Mbeda), refusing an arranged marriage, abandoned by her father, but finding her home, companionship, ideals, in becoming a champion Agojie.

The film also shows the slave traders, their ruthlessness, embodied in a young Portuguese entrepreneur, played by Hero Fiennes Tiffin, but a humane aspect in his friend, Malik, Brazilian father, slave mother from Dahomey, who is in search of his African heritage – and, as might be expected, encounters Nawi, a testing of her commitment to the Agojie.

The action builds up to a confrontation between the Agojie and the Dahomey warrior men, hand-to-hand combat, violent war sequences.

Audiences may be thinking that this is the climax to the story, the action, but, there are more complexities, Nawi taken prisoner, the role of the slave traders, Nanisca and her decision to raze the slave trading town.

In some ways, the action does resemble the African sequences and action from a Marvel movie which, as we watch, in some way diminishes the intended overall impact, the serious look at an African nation in the 19^th century, the role of the protecting women warriors, the King, military leadership, and the impact of the slave trade and the rising up against it.

1. A film of African history? Dahomey? Its status for several hundred years, kingdom? The repercussions of the slave trade? Warriors and defence? The Woman King?
2. Location photography in Africa, the landscapes, the coast, the recreation of the villages, the King and the palace, the military enclosure? The musical score?
3. The tone, the initial raid, led by Nanisca, the female warriors, the men, hand-to-hand combat, the brutality of war? The return in triumph?
4. The political situation in the kingdom, the slave trade, the King’s brother, the new king, hopes for peace, the abundance of palm trees, the palm oil traded? The king, his age, decrees? His wives? His ambitious wife and her jealousies and connivance? The kings reliance on Nanisca?
5. Nanisca, her story, the later revelation is, the rape, pregnancy, giving birth, her friend, the child given to the orphanage? The mark on the child’s back? Nanisca and training as a warrior, her strength and skills, formidable presence? Leader of the women? The women, in training, the scenes of training, the harsh obstacle competition, thorns, climbing? The women living in seclusion? Totally committed to the Agojie? The range of elders, their role with the women, a device, challenge?
6. Nawi and her story, watching the parade, her friend, her father, the arranged marriage, the older man, slapping her, her slapping him back, the father denouncing her, taking her to the camp? The later revelation that she was an orphan? Her commitment to the Agojie, training, skills, the issue with the rope and her later using it as a weapon? Coming to the attention of Nanisca? Winning approval? Her life with the other women, competitive, the obstacle race, going back to help the other girl, winning? The triumph?
7. The slave trade, the local kingdoms, the clashes with Dahomey, the African slave traders in their power? The Portuguese, Carlos and his connections, Malik as his friend? The presumptions about the slave trade? The connections with Brazil? The women in Brazil, Brazilian fathers, their children? The traders, the later scenes of the markets, selling the women?
8. Nawi, encounter with the naked Malik, his later seeing her, the attraction, the meetings? Nawi and her commitment to the Agojie?
9. The preparation for the Battle? The training, Nanisca and her leadership? The encampment, remembering Nawi’s talk of gunpowder not used in guns? The setting of the explosives, the fire? The combat, the brutality of war? Nawi down the cliff, the disappearance? The return in triumph? The appointment of the Woman King? The scheming of the wife, sitting in triumph, her downfall and the King’s rejection?
10. The disappearance of Nawi, taken prisoner, her mentor as a prisoner, on the cart, Nawi telling her to fall off and save herself? The other two, the imprisonment, the market, the sales, the tactic interrupting the sale, the escape, the fights?
11. Nanisca and her decision to defy the King, to lead her troops, to destroy the slave trade? The attack on the town, the fights, the brutal fight with the local slave trader, his defeat? Finding Nawi, her weapons, the rope? The death of the other friend? The burning of the town? Carlos, his being drowned? Malik, now we, the hopes, promises, her return to the Kingdom?
12. The King, accepting the victory, the abolition of the slave trade, the palm oil trade, prosperity? And Nanisca reaffirmed as the Woman King?