African America review - A poignant story of self-discovery which lacks conviction

2.5/5

Story:

The story begins in South Africa, narrated from the perspective of a young Nompumelo who is unhappy with her lifestyle, the conservative society, and her regular job as an HR for a company in Johannesburg. She even questions the legitimacy of her traditional marriage even though she loves her husband. However, her world unravels when she discovers a hidden offer letter from The Juilliard School in New York sent to her several years ago. It was hidden from her by her late father and mother as they feared it would prevent her from having an affluent life in South Africa. Enraged, she embezzles money from her company, abandons her family and husband, and moves to New York in the hopes of performing at Broadway theatres, the dream of many performance artists across the globe. 

Review

The writing and direction are commendable. They do justice in portraying Nompumelelo as a relatable character, and taking us through her journey to the US, chasing her dreams. The honeymoon period of her stay in New York coming to an abrupt end as South African authorities freezes all of her assets was an acid test for her dreams. The film gets the audience to empathise with her character, despite her abandoning her family to achieve her dreams which may not go down well with many people in traditional societies. Every time she is faced with an obstacle, her drive to overcome it takes the narrative ahead smoothly. Her friendship and eventual relationship with Jaquan do not give an impression that it was forced into the narrative. 

The writing does unfortunately become inconsistent towards the third act of the film. Jaquan’s actions did feel forced and unnatural, derailing his character development that was otherwise going well in the story. It was a poorly executed plot device shoehorned to give Nompumelelo clarity regarding her life. It also leads to unnecessary and unexpected interactions between certain characters which neither adds value to the narrative nor does it add to the characterisation. The performances were excellent at times but lacked consistency throughout the film. Certain scenes could have been mistaken for a theatre performance with how the cameras focused on the characters.

The film’s greatest weakness was, however, how it dealt with issues of race in the US. The family for whom Nompumelelo works as the conduit to showcase the inherent problem of racism in the country was superficial. The script lacked subtlety and sensitivity on how to highlight the racial discrimination in the US, instead, it opted for something more stereotypical. If it was done right, it would have had the potential to produce something powerful to reverberate for years to come. It could be argued that the film chose a symbolic representation of race through the white male character who looked like he stepped straight out of the 19th Century. The ending of the film ultimately disregards Nompumelelo’s independence as a young black woman, which is contradictory to what the narrative hinted at earlier in the film.

Verdict:

The filmmakers deserve applause for the efforts they have put in and for the message they were trying to convey. But unfortunately, the socio-political messages they were trying to convey are incoherent and contradictory.