I enjoyed this film because of its timeline and some moments of comic relief. I kept begging Tomilola Wright (Kiki Omeili) to tell everyone about her situation but I understood why she would be at a loss for words. It made me feel like the Nigerian public was not a friendly environment to be in, no one really seemed to care that she needed help or offered to help. But at the same time, in the end, the audience becomes aware that two men who were talking tried to get security for her. To compare to North America, it can be similar, no country is perfect, but not a lot of people go out of their way to help or offer it when someone is in distress unless it is in their job description.
I feel it was a harsh way of going about things. People were out to get her, to kill her, and other things I'm sure. It was indeed a series of repeated misfortunate events. I remember taking a cuture shock training course for when I was visiting the Domincan Rebublic on a service trip for my junior year in highschool and one of the examples they gave where people living in an African community that flew to the united states. When asking for directions the American citizen would just tell them, instead of stoping what they were doing to lead the way to the visitor's destination. I thought this was funny, because it is always what I have known to do, but as discussed in class Run is an extreme critique of urbanization and lack of caring.
The film is suposed to change the way the public thinks. It is supposed to remind the Nigerian population that they are turning towards the better and are in the proccess of rebranding their idenity. It seems like a duanting task.
I also wished that she would simply let people know about her situation and get help right away, but it never worked out for her. I'm glad that this is just a film and it isn't an exact reflection of Nigeria and its community.
ReplyDeleteIt does seem like the filmmaker is criticizing the urban night life in Nigeria for most of the movie, but at the end he does show some nice people. The message seems to be a little confusing overall.
ReplyDeleteI feel like the film is trying to show how completely unprepared she is for this type of situation. She's so successful in many aspects of her life, but unable to survive without the comforts of her fancy apartment.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you it would have been much easier for her to just explain her situation but even when she did try to explain what was going on no one would listen to her. It was incredibly frustration to watch her run around trying to look for a phone to call her friend when she could have been running to her friends house in the first place. Everyone in that area saw her as a thief which I think is just the directors way of exaggerating the way life is at night in Nigeria.
ReplyDeleteYour story about the Dominican Republic is a good one for remembering how large the gaps can be between cultures. What I think is interesting in this movie is that it tries to tell a very Nigerian story with a framework that essentially comes from Hollywood. It makes the film a window into both the world of Hollywood narrative cinema and Nigerian attitudes towards contemporary urban life.
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