African comedy movies is a fascinating and quirky genre of foreign films. Major players are Nigeria's Nollywood, Yoruba, a people from West Africa, and South Africa. Measured in terms of sheer numbers of films released, Nollywood is one of the world's biggest contributors.
One film that is perhaps ironically billed as a Nigerian comedy is "Four Forty" (2012). Most of the scenes are played out on wooden tables and chairs in the gardens of a dusty village. Even with English dubbing, it is hard to find the comedy in this tale about a dull middle aged fart who takes advantage of an innocent teenager who is confined to a wheelchair. Eight weeks later in the story, the girls' parents are frogmarching her to his pad, demanding he take her off their hands. It is not hard to work out what has transpired here. Maybe the funny comes out in the sequel.
"The Gods Must Be Crazy" (South Africa, 1980) is the first film in a series set in Botswana. There is one official sequel and three unofficial sequels that were produced in Hong Kong. The film tells the story of Xi, whose tribe is completely unaware of the world that lies beyond. The film stars N!xau, a San farmer from Namibia. The film kicked off a brilliant career in cinema in which he emerged as Namibia's most famous actor. Sadly, N!xau died in 2003 of multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis while out hunting guinea fowl.
A combination horror/comedy film, "The Mangler" (1995, South Africa) finds its way here via an list of the most popular comedy films to come out of South Africa. The main character is a folding machine in a commercial launderette that is by evil spirits. Based on a story written by Stephen King, "The Mangler" was directed by Tobe Hooper. The film was unappreciated by the critics, but with a story line like that, how could anybody want to miss it?
The Yoruba tribe is an ethnic group of people from southwestern Nigeria and Benin in West Africa. They have evolved their own genre in African cinema. In "EKO ONIBAJE" (2014), featuring Mistura Asunmo and Bolaji Amusan, a man seeking greener pastures joins a group of entrepreneurs whose "business" is defrauding people by pretending to be disabled.
Burkina Faso's "Yaaba" (1989) does not meet the classical criteria of a comedy film but it is one of the most significant to come out of Africa. It illustrates a modern conundrum of having to choose between modernization, and hence westernization, and retaining its own cultural identity.
"The Nightingale's Prayer" from Egypt (1959) also does not meet the strict definition of a comedy, but then Four Forty is a comedy without any laughs. Here we have the story of gender inequality amongst the Arab nations. Directed by Henry Bakarat, the film is based on the Taha Hussein novel.
One of the best things about the intriguing genre of African comedy movies is their accessibility. Abundantly available for streaming over the Internet, hopefully someone will one day identify the comedy in Nollywood's "Four Forty." For a cinema buff looking for something out of the ordinary, this is a fantastic option and would make a great category for trivial pursuit-type questions.
One film that is perhaps ironically billed as a Nigerian comedy is "Four Forty" (2012). Most of the scenes are played out on wooden tables and chairs in the gardens of a dusty village. Even with English dubbing, it is hard to find the comedy in this tale about a dull middle aged fart who takes advantage of an innocent teenager who is confined to a wheelchair. Eight weeks later in the story, the girls' parents are frogmarching her to his pad, demanding he take her off their hands. It is not hard to work out what has transpired here. Maybe the funny comes out in the sequel.
"The Gods Must Be Crazy" (South Africa, 1980) is the first film in a series set in Botswana. There is one official sequel and three unofficial sequels that were produced in Hong Kong. The film tells the story of Xi, whose tribe is completely unaware of the world that lies beyond. The film stars N!xau, a San farmer from Namibia. The film kicked off a brilliant career in cinema in which he emerged as Namibia's most famous actor. Sadly, N!xau died in 2003 of multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis while out hunting guinea fowl.
A combination horror/comedy film, "The Mangler" (1995, South Africa) finds its way here via an list of the most popular comedy films to come out of South Africa. The main character is a folding machine in a commercial launderette that is by evil spirits. Based on a story written by Stephen King, "The Mangler" was directed by Tobe Hooper. The film was unappreciated by the critics, but with a story line like that, how could anybody want to miss it?
The Yoruba tribe is an ethnic group of people from southwestern Nigeria and Benin in West Africa. They have evolved their own genre in African cinema. In "EKO ONIBAJE" (2014), featuring Mistura Asunmo and Bolaji Amusan, a man seeking greener pastures joins a group of entrepreneurs whose "business" is defrauding people by pretending to be disabled.
Burkina Faso's "Yaaba" (1989) does not meet the classical criteria of a comedy film but it is one of the most significant to come out of Africa. It illustrates a modern conundrum of having to choose between modernization, and hence westernization, and retaining its own cultural identity.
"The Nightingale's Prayer" from Egypt (1959) also does not meet the strict definition of a comedy, but then Four Forty is a comedy without any laughs. Here we have the story of gender inequality amongst the Arab nations. Directed by Henry Bakarat, the film is based on the Taha Hussein novel.
One of the best things about the intriguing genre of African comedy movies is their accessibility. Abundantly available for streaming over the Internet, hopefully someone will one day identify the comedy in Nollywood's "Four Forty." For a cinema buff looking for something out of the ordinary, this is a fantastic option and would make a great category for trivial pursuit-type questions.
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