Mother of George (2013) was directed by Andrew Dosunmu. It stars the lovely Danai Gurira as Adenike Balogun, newly married to Ayodele Balogun (Isaach De Bankolé). Although the setting is Brooklyn, we're shown that the old ways brought over from Nigeria still have a profound effect on people's behavior.
The title of the movie, "Mother of George," is realistic. As much as the young couple love each other, they are under the spell of George's mother, who controls many aspects of their life and their destiny.
The central plot theme is that, for whatever reason, Adenike doesn't conceive. This is never easy for any couple, but it's particularly difficult in the Nigerian culture, where a woman is supposed to conceive quickly, and often.
This is an amazing film, suspenseful, thoughtful, and colorful. We saw it at Rochester's wonderful Little Theatre. You'll lose some of the sense of the neighborhood and the costumes on the small screen, but it will work well enough to definitely be worth seeing.
Plot summary
A Nigerian couple living in Brooklyn are having trouble conceiving a child - a problem that defies cultural expectations and leads to a shocking decision that could either save or destroy them.
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February 01, 2014 at 09:27 AM
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Nigerians in Brooklyn
mother of George
The plot is based on a Nigerian culture. Ayodele and Adenike gets married, and on the night of the wedding Ma Ayo shows Adenike a fertility bead and tells her to put round her waist.She drinks the herbal tea bu still to no avail.she is being disturbed my Ma Ayo.Adenike knows that if she does not give birth her husband's family will take in another wife for her husband,even if he doesn't want to.Sade, her friend tells her about adoption but she wants to give birth her self.She finally found a doctor that will help but Ayodele says he can't afford it. Ma Ayo told her to seek help from her brother-in-law,Biyi.She finally gets pregnant but Ayodele walks out of marriage.
enliven your senses
Many men will do anything to avoid going to the doctor. This film may impel some of them to schedule an appointment, lol! Nigerian immigrants to New York struggle to apply traditional beliefs to a new lifestyle. Some are better at this than others. They discover their hearts to be entwined and hopelessly confused with what they imagined modern and traditional ways to be. Adenike tries to find the path to love with her seemingly traditional husband (or is it really his mother driving him?) Characters and circumstances flit around them like phantoms, good and bad, pulling them in different directions. A mother-in-law presses relentlessly for a grandson, friends encourage Adenike to be more independent even as her husband seeks the opposite, and Adenike's heart tells her many things she cannot long resist, among other burdens. Those at Adenike's wedding who promise that her life will be "sweet as a pineapple" are not there, of course, when life gets tough. Little lovely details, absent in other films, enliven your senses; the bright colors, an open window with street noises drifting through, silence seamlessly switching to music and then gentle voices in a room, contrasting shades of light, the sound of skin on skin, dazzling patterns and shades in clothing, or the outline of an exquisite face. Present here is the beautiful cinematography and sound control characteristic of Kar Wai Wong. The film is worth watching just for this alone.