The Nembe region of Nigeria was peaceful before the “evil mineral” underground – oil – was discovered. Negligent drilling practices polluted waterways, killed marine life, and threatened the health of residents. The misconduct sparked unruly protests, and we stumble upon one just as it goes horribly wrong: a group of protesters throw a Molotov cocktail, killing a member of the militarized police force. CUT TO: A Nembe house, where Oyin (Adaobi Dibor) is locked in a room by her horrible father Ebiye (Ebele Okaro Onyiuke). She doesn't want her to see her boyfriend, Abbey (David Ezekiel), apparently because he threatens to sully her daughter's chastity. Oyin then drops a huge bombshell on her father: she is pregnant with Abbey's child. Ebiye lifts the lid. The man doesn't have any chills.
Meanwhile, armed soldiers run through the streets hoping to flush out the men responsible for the previous night's death. Rebels Degbe (Levi Chikere) and Boma (Jidekene Achufusi) are hiding, feeling the heat. Amid the commotion, Ebiye sees an opportunity: chasing Abbey with a machete isn't working, so he tells the authorities that Abbey is the leader of the protesters. Now he feels the heat too, so he takes Oyin out of her room and they run away. In another house, Olotu (Obinna Christian Okenwa) and her brother Tekema (Sylvester Ekanem) pack their belongings. They paid an employee on a ship headed to Brazil, where they hope to find a better life. They head to the docks.
Director: Moses Inwang
Writers: Musa Jeffery David, Justin Dix, Jordan Prosser
Stars: Dibor Adaobi, David Ezekiel, Levi Chikere
That night, Degbe and Boma hide from the soldiers. Oyin and Abbey hide from the soldiers. Tekema and Olotu hide from the soldiers. Not everyone is in trouble, but it seems that dealing with the Nembe authorities is of no use, no matter the situation. The six people cross paths and all join Olotu and Tekema's group of stowaways. They end up in a sweaty hold in the bowels of an oil tanker without enough food and without a bucket to, well, you know. Long trip. Long and smelly trip. They're hungry and Oyin has a fever, prompting them to open the hatch and search for food and medicine, and then they meet Igor (Alex Budin), a creepy smuggler with a large amount of stolen crude oil and enough money to bribe anyone. Who could consider stopping him? He's not a good guy. And he doesn't care much about stowaways.
Blood Vessel is a violent genre thriller that frequently turns into a super-operatic melodrama in the final stretch. It's a little over the top at times, and the way it treats its characters can be downright miserable to experience, but overall it works. Some will find its approach to the drama elaborate, although unlike so many similar features, it takes some time to develop its characters beyond one-note types, so the harrowing events they endure at the hands of that psychopath Igor carry some weight. . That psycho Igor, who is an amoral serial killer guy who is totally okay with torture, and he gets a big speech about how he was always a terrible hunter, but was great at skinning a bear, a speech that would have an effect deeper into the film if Budin were a stronger actor.
The plot turns into a game of hide-and-seek as Igor and his goons tie up and threaten some of our protagonists, while Abbey sneaks away hoping to save her friends. The more depraved Igor becomes, the more boring he becomes in the clichéd villainy of him. We get some fights, knife fights and shootouts, all reinforced by Inwang's thoughtful visual compositions, which emphasize the claustrophobia of the narrow hallways of a ship at sea.
There's not much subtext here, but the story is at least underlined with a hopeful notion: that sometimes it is necessary to endure great hardship to escape oppressive environments for greener pastures. Ultimately, however, the film is more of a depressing tragedy, a modus operandi. leans too much in the final scenes. It worked reasonably well until those last five minutes, which make little sense from either an optimistic or a pessimistic perspective. He should have left it while he was ahead.
Comments
Post a Comment