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The Woman King
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Wikipedia article
{{Infobox film
| image = The Woman King (film).jpg
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| director = Gina Prince-Bythewood
| screenplay = Dana Stevens
| story =
| producer =
| starring =
| cinematography = Polly Morgan
| editing = Terilyn A. Shropshire
| music = Terence Blanchard
| studio =
| distributor = Sony Pictures Releasing
| released =
| runtime = 135 minutes
| country = United States
| language = English
| budget = $50 million
| gross = $19 million
}}
'The Woman King' is a 2022 American historical epic film about the Agojie, the all-female warrior unit who protected the West African kingdom of Dahomey during the 17th to 19th centuries. Set in the 1820s, the film stars Viola Davis as a general who trains the next generation of warriors to fight their enemies. It is directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood and written by Dana Stevens, based on a story she wrote with Maria Bello. The film also stars Thuso Mbedu, Lashana Lynch, Sheila Atim, and John Boyega.
Bello conceived the idea for 'The Woman King' in 2015 after visiting Benin, where Dahomey used to be located, and learning the history of the Agojie. Convinced she had found a story worth telling, she recruited Cathy Schulman to develop it into a feature film. They pitched it to several studios, who turned it down due to financial concerns. After they met with TriStar Pictures in 2017, the film was greenlit in 2020. Production began in South Africa in November 2021, shut down due to the COVID-19 Omicron variant a few weeks later, and resumed in early 2022. Polly Morgan was the cinematographer. During post-production, the musical score was composed by Terence Blanchard, and editing was completed by Terilyn A. Shropshire.
'The Woman King' had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 9, 2022, and Sony Pictures Releasing released the film in theaters in the United States and Canada on September 16, 2022. Following the festival screening, the film received positive reviews, with critics praising its cast, particularly Davis, and the action choreography.
Synopsis
Set in the West African kingdom of Dahomey during the 1820s, 'The Woman King' follows the all-female group of warriors, the Agojie, who protect the kingdom. The group's general Nanisca trains a new generation of warriors to fight against an enemy who wants to destroy their way of life.
Cast
* Viola Davis as General Nanisca
* Thuso Mbedu as Nawi
* Lashana Lynch as Izogie
* Sheila Atim as Amenza
* John Boyega as King Ghezo
* Hero Fiennes Tiffin as Santo Ferreira
* Adrienne Warren as Ode
* Jayme Lawson as Shante
* Masali Baduza as Fumbe
* Anglique Kidjo as the Meunon
* Jimmy Odukoya as Oba Ade
* Thando Dlomo as Kelu
* Jordan Bolger as Malik
* Zozibini Tunzi as Efe
* Makgotso M as Iniya
* Siv Ngesi as the Migan
Production
Development
in 2016'The Woman King' was produced by Maria Bello and Cathy Schulman, written by Dana Stevens with contributions by Gina Prince-Bythewood, and directed by Prince-Bythewood. It is a co-production between TriStar Pictures and Entertainment One. In 2015, Bello went to the West African nation of Benin to learn the history of the Agojie. Convinced she had found a story worth telling, she returned to Los Angeles and recruited Schulman, then head of organization Women in Film, to help her make the film. On September 19, 2015, Bello used a moment when she was presenting actress Viola Davis with an award at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles to pitch her idea for the movie in front of the crowd, who cheered at the notion of seeing Davis in the lead role.
Schulman first tried to set up the film at STX Films, where she was the head of the production, but the studio was only willing to offer an unsatisfactory $5 million. After leaving STX in 2016, Schulman worked with Bello, Davis, and Julius Tennon, Davis' husband and producing partner at JuVee Productions, to take the idea elsewhere. Studios who turned it down cited an unlikely chance for the film to turn a profit; others, according to Davis, wanted to cast light-skinned, well-known actresses, which they refused to do for historical accuracy and the audience's sake. Prince-Bythewood, also in 2016, was approached to write the screenplay but could not commit due to a scheduling conflict with 'Silver & Black'. In 2017, without a script or director, the producers met with TriStar's then-chief Hannah Minghella and then-senior vice president Nicole Brown. Within two years, Brown had taken over Minghella's position and made 'The Woman King' one of TriStar's top priorities. In early 2018, the commercial success of the superhero movie 'Black Panther', which featured a fictionalized version of the Agojie, further motivated the crew to move forward with the project. In March 2018, Davis and Lupita Nyong'o were announced to star; Nyong'o role was ultimately played by Thuso Mbedu. Prince-Bythewood read the screenplay once it was completed and came on board to direct, and in 2020, 'The Woman King' was greenlit with a $50 million budget.
Prince-Bythewood referenced epic films like 'The Last of the Mohicans' (1992), 'Braveheart' (1995), and 'Gladiator' (2000), and athleticism as influences. Her background in sports gave her a perspective on the realism of fight scenes. In crafting the story, she sought for the women to be multi-faceted in both their fighting ability and their emotional reactions. She worked with production designer Akin McKenzie to learn about the Agojie. Their research included books, out-of-print texts, photographs, and writings by Princeton professor Leonard Wantchekon. "The biggest eye-opener," she said, "was how much misinformation there is about these women and this culture, given that so much of their history was written from the colonizer's point of view. So it was really about separating the texts that were from that point of view, which were so disparaging and disrespectful, from the truth." For four months before the shoot, the cast performed 90 minutes a day of weight lifting with trainer Gabriela Mclain, followed by three and a half hours of fight training with stunt coordinator Danny Hernandez, which included running, martial arts, and working with swords and spears. Davis was inspired by pro boxer Claressa Shields.
Filming
In November 2021, the cast and crew flew to South Africa for a five-month shoot. Prince-Bythewood prioritized department heads who were women and people of color, including cinematographer Polly Morgan, production designer Akin McKenzie, costume designer Gersha Phillips, hairstylist Louisa Anthony, visual effects supervisor Sara Bennett, and editor Terilyn Shropshire. Makeup was handled by a local, South African artist, Babalwa Mtshiselwa. "The thing is for women and people of color," Prince-Bythewood said, "often the rsums are not long because it's about lack of opportunity, not lack of talent. So when youre in my position, it's important to look past that rsum."in 2018
For a sequence in which a character is remembering a sexual assault, Prince-Bythewood referenced Christine Blasey Ford's testimony at Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination hearing and asked the actress to read the Roxane Gay book 'Hunger', a memoir about Gay's rape. Filming for the first two weeks took place in the coastal province of KwaZulu-Natal for the shooting of jungle scenes. They then moved to the capital city of Cape Town, where the majority of filming would take place. In their third week in South Africa, the COVID-19 omicron variant hit the production; Davis and Tennon were among the infected. Production was shut down for a few weeks as a result and resumed in mid-January 2022. Prince-Bythewood called it the hardest shoot of her career because filming days were reduced and set pieces, such as an 11-day battle sequence with hundreds of performers, had to be reshuffled and re-rehearsed.
Post-production
During post-production, Terence Blanchard composed the musical score; he worked with Prince-Bythewood on the film 'Love & Basketball' (2000) and the television shows 'Shots Fired' and 'Swagger'. South African composer Lebo M. composed and produced five original songs for the film. Editing was completed by Terilyn A. Shropshire, who worked on Prince-Bythewood's 'The Old Guard' (2020). In late 2020, the song "Keep Rising" was written by Jessy Wilson, Jeremy Lutito, and Anglique Kidjo and performed by Kidjo for Warner Chappell Music; the song was later pitched and sold to Sony to be used in the end credits.Release
The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 9, 2022. It was released in theaters on September 16, 2022, by Sony Pictures Releasing.
Reception
Box office
In the United States and Canada, 'The Woman King' was released alongside 'Pearl', and is projected to gross around $12 million in its opening weekend from 3,675 theaters, with some studios estimating it could reach as much as $16 million. The film made $6.8 million on its first day, including $1.7 million from Thursday night previews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a rare average grade of "A+" on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave the film a 95% overall positive score.Critical response
for her performance.'The Woman King' received positive reviews from critics for the cast's performance, including Viola Davis's starring role and Thuso Mbedu's breakout performance, and its action choreography, while some disappointment was expressed in the script.
Lovia Gyarkye of 'The Hollywood Reporter' wrote, "A crowd-pleasing epic think 'Braveheart' with Black women." Robert Daniels at 'RogerEbert.com' said, "When 'The Woman King' works, it's majestic... The magnitude and the awe this movie inspires are what epics like 'Gladiator' and 'Braveheart' are all about." Kate Erbland of 'IndieWire' said, "A hell of a time at the movies, a seemingly 'niche' topic with great appeal, the sort of battle-heavy feature that will likely engender plenty of hoots and hollers." '/Film's Chris Evangelista said it was "an absolute blast. It's a film that isn't afraid to get you cheering." BBC critic Caryn James wrote, "It is a splashy popcorn movie with a social conscience."
Jamie Broadnax of 'Black Girl Nerds' called Viola Davis's performance a career-best. Gyarkye said, "The Oscar-winning actress, known for digging into her characters' psyches, accesses an impressive level of emotional depth and nuance as Nanisca." 'The Wrap's Martin Tsai wrote, "Davis truly gets to flex the full range of her acting chops. A performance of this caliber is rare in what's essentially an action flick." Chris Bumbray of 'JoBlo' wrote, "Her raw intensity is backed up by a newly jacked physique that makes her an imposing action heroine, and she performs exceptionally well in the numerous action scenes." Other cast members that were praised included Lashana Lynch (Evangelista at '/Film' and Reuben Baron at 'Looper.com' called her the film's stand-out) and Thuso Mbedu ("breakout star" was used by several critics, and Tim Grierson at 'Screen International' said she "nearly steals the show" with an "exceptional supporting performance").
James said representation of history and culture "leans toward fantasy in its heroic moments, but is rooted in [the] truth about war, brutality, and freedom." Gyarkye said it "begins as portraiture and then surrenders to melodrama when faced with the challenges of translating history for the screen and constructing a coherent geopolitical thread." Reuben Baron of 'Looper.com' wrote, "'The Woman King' is an 8/10 for entertainment value, and 4/10 for how it deals with history." On the aspect of spectacle, critics said they wanted more action movies like 'The Woman King'. Erbland said, "If this is what a Hollywood-ized and -sized blockbuster looks like in 2022, bring it on. Bring them all on." Evangelista concluded in his review, "Maybe one day we'll get to a point where such a movie doesn't feel groundbreaking, but here we are."
Historical accuracy
'The Woman King' is set in the kingdom of Dahomey in the year 1823. The kingdom existed from around 1600 through 1904, and the Agojie existed for most of that time.
Characters
Viola Davis plays the Agojie general Nanisca, who is fictional. 'History vs. Hollywood' speculated her name was inspired by an Agojie teenage recruit of the same name who was written about by a French naval officer in 1889. John Boyega plays King Ghezo, a real-life figure who ruled Dahomey from 1818 to 1858 and engaged in the Atlantic slave trade through the end of his reign. Hero Fiennes Tiffin plays the white Portuguese-speaking slave trader Santo Ferreira who is fictional and portrayed as an enemy to Ghezo. 'History vs. Hollywood' said the character was "possibly loosely inspired" by Francisco Flix de Sousa, a Brazilian slave trader who in actuality helped Ghezo gain power.
Role in slavery
Historically, Dahomey was a kingdom that conquered other African states and enslaved their citizens to sell in the Atlantic slave trade, and most of the kingdom's wealth was derived from slavery. The Agojie had a history of participating in slave raiding, and that slavery in Dahomey persisted after the British Empire stopped Dahomey from continuing in the Atlantic slave trade.
In the film's setting of the 1820s, Nanisca confronts Ghezo about the immorality of selling Dahomey slaves to the Portuguese and suggests trading in palm oil production instead. Nanisca being fictional, the confrontation did not take place. 'Smithsonian' wrote, "Though Ghezo did at one point explore palm oil production as an alternative source of revenue, it proved far less lucrative, and the king soon resumed Dahomeys participation in the slave trade."
Dahomey's enemies
At the film's onset in the 1820s, as in real life, Dahomey is a tributary state of the Oyo Empire, which it had become in 1730. As portrayed in the film, Dahomey fought successfully to be freed from its status under Oyo. Also in the film, European colonization is a threat to Dahomey, but in real life, territorial disputes began with France in 1863 and led to the First Franco-Dahomean War in 1890, followed by the Second Franco-Dahomean War in 1892. France defeated Dahomey in 1894 and colonized it, and the kingdom became French Dahomey.
References
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