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Sodas & Popcorn – Movie Review: A Northern Affair

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Northern Art

Written By: Leila Djansi
Directed By: Leila Djansi
Produced By: Mabel Germain
Starring: Joselyn Dumas, John Dumelo, Jon Germain, Beverly Afaglo, Irene Asante, Maame Dufie Boateng, Kofi Adjorlolo and Gifty Temeng.

Before we start, here’s a word of advice for the players out there – both male and female. You’d probably find a line or two in this movie to help you with your next catch. Thank me later. *wink*

A Northern Affair tells the story of a doctor (John Dumelo) in a remote northern village who gets an unexpected female replacement Joselyn Dumas as his nurse. He isn’t too excited about this development and meets the Nurse with some level of hostility. Eventually, the expected happens and the two start a relationship which will be threatened by their pasts

The first thing I noticed was the use of complete silence in most parts of the movie. If my calculations are correct, in a movie that runs for almost 2 hours, I only noticed the use of soundtracks in nothing more than 20 minutes. Thankfully, that included the important scenes or it would have been very awkward. Now, while I  don’t have an issue with this, as long as it’s used well, which it was in A Northern Affair, I think I should advice our film makers not to make this a new “thing” to be used for every kind of movie. The best use of silence I have noticed is when the film maker wants the viewers absolute concentration on the characters and almost nothing else in the movie. If not, you might just have the most boring movies on your hands. What made the silence work for A Northern Affair was the interesting story and the cast. John Dumelo played the character of the solitary Dr. Manuel Quagraine well and it was very believable. I could relate with his pains and I understood why he was initially non receptive towards  Esaba Jomo, Joselyn Dumas’s character. Unlike Dumelo, Joselyn had more warmth despite all she was going through in her life. I loved her performance and she was the most impressive act in the movie.

It’s no news that John Dumelo and Joselyn Dumas are almost a perfect match whenever they are put together onscreen. On this occasion, what made the better chemistry between both of them was the dialogue and the memorable one liners. They flowed smoothly and looked like a dream couple.
Not every act in the movie was on point though. Jon Germain’s Mark in a bid to be the arrogant antagonist in the movie ended up being too stiff, and secondly, I will act like I didn’t see the “crier” in the scene where Manuel lost a patient.

Leila Djansi did a good job writing a story we are familiar with but with its own moments and twists. The first 40 minutes of the movie followed a trend which was obvious and expected. Then the movie took a sudden but “anticipated” turn soon after with a few twists that made the story interesting. Emphasis on anticipated, because I would have been disappointed if it was the straight love story we have seen a thousand times.

Leila’s directing was okay and like I said earlier, even with the dominating silence, the choice of scenes where music were used were well thought out. Examples are a sex scene(that would have been really awkward without music) and a scene where Dumelo and Dumas are driving in a car and background music is used like it was playing over a radio and a few others. The movie had some noticeable  flaws which could have been avoided; like Dumelo blaming the bad network reception he had on his phone on rain-clouds when the rays from the sun were burning Dumas’s skin from behind. The lightening in a room with a lantern was obviously too bright and should have been better set up by the Director Of Photography. And lastly but most annoyingly, every time someone had to be hit, the actors suddenly had rubber hands and gave the most ridiculous slaps.

In the end, I would recommend A Northern Affair for anyone interested in seeing a movie with a romantic drama with a loved one. You might get bored a few times with the silence, but would definitely enjoy the movie if you are patient. A Northern Affair gets a Soda & Hotdog from us here at S & P HQ
The movie is available on IrokoTV
What did you think about the movie? Do let us know in the box below.
Visit www.sodasandpopcorn.com for more exciting reviews and movie related content.

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