The Modern Day Outcome
Given The Advances In Camera Pixel Quality And Filmmaking Generally The Celluloid Cinematography Looks A Little Dated In Places (As of Course Does The Technology). But The Story Remains Nonetheless Intriguing And Engaging. Not Least of All Because the Family Casting Is Quite Charming. It’s Good To See The Portral of A Black Middle-Class Family In Decent Housing. Especially As Black Middle-Class Families Are Largely Under-Represented When It ComesTo TV, Theatre And Film Making. And The Ensemble of Ghanaian Elders Interwined With London Based Youngsters Adds Additional Layers of Interest And Authenticity.
When Uncle Comes To Visit The Brotherly Love Shines Through As They Hug And Joke And The Whole Family’s Spirits Are Lifted (No Pun Intended). That’s Something Many Can Relate To As They Recall The Happy Days When The Elders Were Entertaining And There’s A Positive Vibe About The House Beyond The Day To Day Normality, Leading To General Jollity And Happy Music Being Played. The Fact That They Went For A Family Day Out To Visit A Stately Home Was Also A Refreshing Move Away From Cultural Stereotypes.
Whilst It Plays To A Stereotypical Notion That Joe Wants To Be A Boxer, The Film Still Works Somehow Due To The Number of Non-Stereotypical Images And Portrayals. The Boxing Comes Into Its Own And Facilitates Some of The Most Powerful Scenes of The Film As Dad And Daughter Watch The Fight Together. And As We’ve Heard About of A Number of Real Life Sports Mums, In The Film Joe’s Mum Retires To Bed Unable To Watch Her Son Compete In The Official Punch Up. But This Does Not Necessarily Guarantee A Good Night Sleep!
Carnival Soon Comes Around And Once Again Spirits Are Lifted. But Not Necessarily As One Might Have Expected. Suffice To Say The Carnival Is Spiritual & Eventful. One Needs To Pay Attention. It Almost Beckons You To Watch It Again As Your Soul Hungers For A Happy Ending, Even Though This Lesson In African Culture May Have Already Delivered One To The Audience, Without Some Members Even Realizing It. Initially!
‘Ama: A Voyage of Discovery’ Is An African Movie Classic. This ‘Magical Realism’ Film Is The First English Speaking African Made Film To Be Screened In Britian. And It Is A Joy To Witness Its Happy Resurgence. It Really Should Be On Black History Curriculums. Rich In Cultural References (Both African And British) Made By African Culture Experts, Living & Working In Britain At The Time, This Makes It Potentially A Great Educational Tool, For Individuals, Schools, Colleges Universities, Film Making-Courses And Race Relations Training. Indeed Theres Is A Screening Sunday October 1st At Rio Cinema Which Is Followed By A Workshop (Details At End of Article).
The Harassment of A Pre-Pubescent 12 Year Old Female Child By A Group of Racists In A Car, Somehow Stirs Memories of The Racist Gang Murder of Teenager Stephen Lawrence (Which At The Time The Film Was Originally Made Had Not Yet Happened. That Would Be Two Years Later). The Adultification of Ama As She’s Also Sexually Harassed As Well As Racially Abused By This White Male Gang Whilst Walking Home Alone, Through London Streets, Which In The Director’s Cut Now Acknowledge The Grenfell Tragedy, Also Stirs Emotions Which Are Visceral And Unexpected. Both The Lawrence Murder And The Grenfell Fire Are Significant Elements of The Update, As Well As Some New Music.
Kwesi Says It’s Impossible To Say Why Ama Was Chosen, But Her People Are Believed To Have Three Souls. One From Their Father, One From Their Mother And One From Their Own Being. And It Maybe The Particular Combination of All Three of These Souls Or The Individual Compontent That Makes A Person Special. No One Can Say. This Only Adds To The Mystical And Magical Element of This ‘Magical Realism’ Film. And Also Why It Makes A Great Source For Study.
‘Ama’ Is Currently Categorised By The BFI As Part of Its ‘African Odyessy’ Collection. When It Was Originally Made It Was Classified By The Production Team As An African ‘Magical Realism’ Film. As Such It Is of Course A Pre-Cursor To The Modern Day Alternatively Named ‘Afro Futurism’ Films. These Are Most Famously Exemplied By Marvel’s (2018) @Black Panther Starring The Late Chadwick Boseman (Which Proved To Be Marvel’s Most Successful Franchise Film Ever. Thus Exposing As Untrue, The Decades of Hollywood Gatekeepers Saying That Black Casts And Black Movies Don’t Sell Cinema Tickets). And The Sony Movies (2022) African Female Warrior Epic Starring A Super Fit Viola Davis @The Woman King Proved To Be Another Ground-Breaking Award-Winning Super Success.
Quadraphenia Is A Classic Cult Movie, As Is Death Wish And As Is The Harder They Come Featuring Jimmy Cliff. And So Many of The Old Bond Movies Are Dated But Still Classics, Even Though Some of The Cinematography, References And Technologies Are Dated. And A Number of These Films Have Been Shown Again On TV Recently. Including This Month. Ama Stands The Test of Time And Remains A Cultural Ninties Cinematic Gem Updated With A Special Director’s Cut In 2023 Worthy of Watching Again In Modern Times As It Remains As Relevant Now As It Was Then.
TheOrator.Press ~ A New, Monthly, Online, Independent Magazine 