Movie title: sole
Duration: 1 hour 58 minutes
Director: Kayode Kasum
Producers: Adunni Ade and Lou-Ellen Clara
Main cast: Sola Sobowale, Femi Jacobs, Meg Otanwa, Adunni Ade, Adedimeji Lateef, Shawn Faqua, Bukunmi Oluwasina, Eso Dike, Teniola Aladese, Kelechi Udegbe, Mike Afolarin, Saidi Balogun, Ikponmwosa Gold
Release date: November 26, 2021
As simple as it may seem on paper, filming on a bus in transit poses a unique challenge for filmmakers. Any filming activity in a public transportation facility or transportation infrastructure such as trains, buses, ferries, train stations, bus terminals, bus stops, and ports requires a certain level of expertise on the part of the director and the entire crew.
In addition, the story must be gripping and suspenseful enough to keep the viewer locked on the screen.
Perhaps, this may be the reason why Nigerian filmmakers rarely weave the plot of their films around a moving vehicle.
Except for Sound Sultan’s 2014 film ‘Head Gone’ and Mr Latin’s Yoruba comedy film ‘Lagos to Benin’, released in 2015, few Nigerian filmmakers have followed this line in recent times.
But Adunni Ade, a relatively new and fast-rising Nollywood actress, dared to rise to the challenge in her debut film production, ‘Soòlé’.
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The film chronicles the obstacles that a Catholic nun, Veronica, travels from Lagos to Enugu after failing to finance an orphanage for children.
“Soole”, which means “cheap travel”, becomes your only chance to cut costs and reach your destination in the east.
She got on this very unconventional bus, where she met different travelers like her, who decided not to go to the park, but instead boarded a cheap bus to Enugu.
While Veronica was negotiating the price with this single bus driver, one lady in particular came by to drop off a box and begged the driver to give it to someone in Onitsha.
The long drive to Enugu was beyond normal. It was followed by various dramas, from the driver picking up passengers along the highway, to a pastor preaching and collecting offerings, another selling sex-enhancing products, and then the unfortunate robbery in which a bag belonging to a passenger.
The armed robbers soon discovered that they were carrying the wrong bag, causing a significant twist in the entire story.
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The writer did not highlight what the film aims to achieve, which was one of the failures.
The story created many loopholes that left audiences with unanswered pertinent questions.
For example, the bag given to the driver contained foreign coins, which the thieves were after. But unfortunately, the movie didn’t say or reveal whose money it was, how the robbers knew it was on that particular bus, and what happened when the owner of the money didn’t get the movie.
Another unexplained scenario in the film was how the two students on the bus who turned out to be officers from the special investigation department of the police also shot the policemen at the checkpoint. Aren’t they supposed to be colleagues?
Also, many unnecessary scenes were not related to the real story. For example, the side story of the professor with the mystical powers who had inherited his powers from his father was completely unnecessary.
The baby factory was another invention that didn’t fit in with any part of the story.
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To top it off, the Soole bus driver who was shot during the robbery incident was suddenly raised from the dead at the very spot where he was shot, 11 months after the robbery. How is that possible? Or did the director forget to add that scene before ’11 months later?
ACCESSORIES
Soòlé is a beautiful satire that tells the irony in our contemporary society.
Shooting a movie on a road trip is a phenomenon. But unfortunately, it’s not a trick you come across every day in Nollywood.
The film is related to road travelers because it captures certain peculiar phenomena of traveling within the route from Lagos to Enugu.
The film captures some unique highlights of the journey along the route from Lagos to Enugu. The scenes where the bus stopped at the famous Ore bus stop, the famous Onitsha Bridge welcoming you to the east, and the street vendors on the road are commendable.
He confirmed that the film was shot on a real road trip from Lagos to Enugu.
Not to mention the quality sound technique and soundtrack, along with the excellent cinematography.
Classification
5/10
Despite the A-list cast, the story lacked prospects.