Movie review: Olúkòso

What’s an Orisa without h/her essence?

Movie review: Olúkòso

Yoruba movies are making waves, because the movie makers have finally cracked the codes of the Holywood movie makers. The movie capital of the world Holywood became successful because of its astute organization skills, management skills and ability to mine talents, but all these would mean nothing without original stories, Holywood told the stories of white Americans and eventually black Americans through the horses mouth and then the stories of the world. Their best productions are the Epics and Myths of Anglo-Saxons and world at large. Yoruba movie industry finally broke the code as producers are now looking inward to the unique heritage of the Yoruba to produce unique and innovative movies that will stand the test of time, Olúkòso released on YouTube on March 24th, 2024 is in the category of those movies that tapped into the essence of the Yoruba, Kaarọ Oojire bi, identity.

Produced by Adesina Abiola Paul, a producer whom I used to recognize as Bogumbe Abiola Paul, it’s unclear to me why he has chosen to remove Bogumbe, I hope it’s not what I am thinking. Olúkòso presented Alaafin Sango the deity in a unique and interesting way. Perhaps the most Fascinating and often talked about Orisa of Yorubaland, Sango the deity was believed to have reincarnated as Sango the King (Tella). In the mind of most Yoruba of post colonial era, Sango the king is whom they recognized as the deity. A man of fire, power, and a great lover and protector. Adesina Abiola Paul presented Kabiyesi Sango in a modern twist with this masterpiece.

The movie did not stop at re-presenting Sango in a new version, it presented Obatala in a very interesting twist with consumption of his sworn Eewọ, Ẹmu funfun, the implications of this I will elucidate in following paragraphs.

Ogun Lakaaye ọsin imọlẹ was revealed, perhaps in his most vulnerable state. It is unclear to me that Ogun would be pleased with his character at the hands of Adesina Abiola in this movie, however the modern interpretations of Ogun as the metallurgical genius that he was, was briefly informally introduced.

Sango’s story cannot possibly be told without Ō̩ya, perhaps the most powerful female energy in Yoruba pantheon. Oya’s role in Sango’s life is a story that has been the darling of the newsmakers for decades, I must say that they have yet to capture the most powerful love story in the Yoruba pantheon. Adesina Abiola presented a very subtle and promising version of these two love birds, the casting for these roles was fantastic and the use of silence and touch was just enough to communicate great messages without any rambunctious scenes.

Ọsun, perhaps the most popular Yoruba Orisa in the 21st century and her golden robes was depicted as elderly and graceful. She is an epitome of beauty as she is currently known in most part of the world today.

We cannot talk about Yoruba Pantheon without Elegua, this is the only deity that cut across the heaven and earth, it is said that the practice of Yoruba faith will be incomplete without Elegua. Adesina takes on Elegua is weak but interesting yet he captured the dual nature of the Orisa of the crossroad.

Lastly, Obaluaye was the main character of the piece. Obaluaye was banished from heavens but now on earth to do the unthinkable, he wanted to become Olodumare! Adesina scratched at the surface of the much needed discussion on Yoruba religion, the question of who is the supreme Olodumare and the role interplays with the Orisa. The entertainment of the possibility of a challenge to the supremacy of the almighty by entities he supposedly created is a topic that is highly controversial among scholars and enthusiasts of Yoruba religion.

Themes:

Casting away: Adesina Paul narrations of Orisa being cast away is not culturally located account of the events surrounding Orisa descent on earth, one may say this is a superimposition of the Judeo-Christian mythology with the Yoruba mythology. Here we see the impact of the Christian faith and their attempts to explain events in Yoruba mythology and faith with Christianity. Many have been doing a lot of work to correct this long held misconceptions. Perhaps Adesina did not seek to make a religious movie, rather he sought to make an entrainment movie and thus used his poetic license in the narration.

Identity, Ori, Ayanmo, Memory: the question of who are you? Adesina Abiola use of loss of “memory” of self in the movie convey a powerful message. Many have forgotten their essence in this life and as a result have become a shadow of themselves. Memory and Identity is a powerful interplay that subconsciously plays a role in the direction of human lives. Many have forgotten their Ori and Ayanmo and as a result have become wanderers on earth. Ogun with his cerebral and innovative mind was unable to materialize a gainful human live, rather he was living a remote version of his Ori and Ayanmo. Many humans today are not aware of their inner head and the capacity that they are born with. Contrast with the human live of Osun in the movie, the ability to tap into your true self no matter how small implied a unique and fruitful living. Without it, one remained in a perpetual state of sleep.

Theft of essence and empty soul: The enslavement of a being could be in many forms, physical enslavement, psychological enslavement, emotional enslavement, spiritual enslavement and perhaps many more are different means in which despots often exploit. Adesina demonstrated how powerful beings who have not watered their souls can become enslaved and turned to tools by others who are determined. Energy we know cannot be destroyed but it can be transformed into another form. The cycle of life in many ways is a repetition and it favors those who have mastered the events and harness the energy for their maximized potential. Obaluaye was able to harness the essence of Esu and Ogun to boost himself, think about the colonialism of the Africans and enslavement, think about the energy of nation building and the talents that were harnessed by the enslavers and what it translated into beyond the Atlantic. “Human beings are not just created without essence, many of our people who went into slavery transmitted great knowledge to the West” - Wande Abimbola - each mankind with our essence contributes to the puzzles of the circle of life. Think about the energy used to drive social media daily. Imagine if no one tweet for one day on X. Empty souls have loss their essence.

Ego, Greed, Ambition, and Weakness: Latifah was an apprentice of Osun but she was ambitious and wanted more, knowing fully well that she was not birth with the Orisa essence, she was a willing tool. Obaluaye wanted to challenge and be Olodumare but he knows fully well that it is impossible, rather he sought to use greed and exploit the weaknesses of humanity to build something that has never been done before. Many today in Yoruba political landscape are cultivating daily the destruction of the Yoruba via the need to satisfy their Ego, Greed, Ambition and weaknesses. They exploit the weakened state of the Yoruba nation to do what they could have never been in the position to achieve.

Sickness, Facade, The World, and Reality: The use of the 3 mad men in asylum is delving into the realm of the mind and sickness. Many have said that a mad man is in a different world of his own. Alternative reality where he is in bliss but to us he is insane. The inability of some to connect with their essence produces some of the mental illnesses of the insane, I was once told by an elder of wisdom. The insane mind is locked away from fulfilling a destiny and is thus living this alternate reality where he was living his destiny. Sango would have been locked away forever, and Obaluaye will leave the rest of his live on earth in that state or until he is released.

When the fake pastor used facade in producing a miracle he altered the reality of his congregation and many become hypnotized into that altered reality until they are set free in real life. The human world is filled with many of these scenarios. Are you living your reality or are you in a twilight zone?

Eewọ and Rivalry and Forbidden Love: Many are consuming their Eewọ in real life, the impact of which is to weaken them spiritually if not outright death. Obatala was a caricature of himself at a place where he was rewarded with his Eewọ for his extraordinary ability. You look at the Yoruba today, the gifted hands who makes it to the mantel of leadership are corrupted with cheap profits, these are often in the form of women, money, exotic drinks and many more material wealth. These weakened their essence and ensured that they cannot be their true self while time is consumed.

Many Yoruba are today chasing after forbidden love affair in many forms, these pursuit often rendered them weak and eventually defeated. A call to destiny fulfillment is unapologetic and resolute, without the ability to remove the personal desires, one will become a shadow of true self in many quest.

Ọsun and Ọya rivalry was on display. We could see how these rivalry made them weaker in the face of a great danger. One was ready for the utmost revenge and could not careless the fate of the other. The forces of the Yoruba deities are a play of the reality of the Yoruba and the message is continued to be repeated until we can heed before the gong is sounded.

Adesina Abiola Paul made a movie on Olukoso, he has only scrapped on the surface of the issue of the essence and the extent in which we can interprets the Yoruba and our spirituality, it is however a commendable master piece. I have watched twice, I think I will watch it many more times.

The Yoruba needs to remember and resuscitate our essence to fulfil our destiny.

Ìròhìn kò tó àfojúbà. Go and watch the movie. It will likely not make the list of the best Nigeria movies because of the obvious reasons and the fact that the essence of the nation remained trapped inside a system that sought to keep her buried and exploited.

Dr. Bukola

March 26th, 2024.