One of the things I miss most in modern Hollywood is the general absence of historical epics, one of the long-time great sources of cinematic spectacle not tied to major franchises or intellectual properties. Once upon a time of course they ruled the industry, but then they faded away and haven’t really made a proper comeback outside of a few efforts from the like of Ridley Scott in the last twenty years. Gina Prince-Bythewood’s The Woman King clearly strives to change that, to be an epic in the classical tradition, but for a people and culture that have too long been neglected by it. I mean it’s not a great sign when the most significant historical epic to focus on Africa is Zulu.
To her credit, she’s found a compelling subject in the Agojie, an all-female elite warrior band that served the kingdom of Dahomey for about two-hundred years in modern-day Benin. However due to the recorded history of this region being so white-biased, there is no specific figure known of to draw on within this ecosystem to centre a narrative. So it must be made clear that the titular Woman King is fictional -the story of this film likewise so, even while it adapts a few historical contexts.
It’s important to note this because the movie has already been the subject of “the discourse” over historical revisionism -principally its’ narrative of the Dahomey pursuing an end to the slave trade when by all account historically they were in fact highly active participants -even after the British Empire outlawed the practice. There is a discussion to be had over the ethics of that depiction, and indeed the film does whitewash the Dahomey in ways palpable even if you don’t know the history -though that has more to do with the system that it was made in than any ahistorical malice, and effects the movie for those reasons that I’ll get into. But The Woman King is also a movie that doesn’t ask to be judged historically, in the same manner that movies like Gladiator and Braveheart do, more about individual stories than educational value. In fact, this movie being about non-historical characters probably makes it less historically offensive than Braveheart, which is all about figures whose histories are known and which stomps all over them. But I still like Braveheart, and in certain respects I quite liked The Woman King too.
Certainly its’ world is realized with fitting panache and grandeur, the production, design, costumes, props all intricate and visually arresting. It really is a place and time we haven’t experienced before, certainly not through mainstream cinema. The cultural details are keenly developed, the traditions and combat styles, training procedures and even the accents. They are organically interwoven into the tapestry of the Dahomey and the Agojie more specifically; little more than a Star Wars-like opening crawl is there to set the scene for context. The movie doesn’t exactly explore this culture heavily, it restricts focus to where the narrative needs to be, but even backgrounded, the Dahomey world is a compelling display.
Moving within are also some curious characters. A lot of the film is focused on Nawi (Thuso Mbedu) brought to the Agojie by her father after refusing to marry. It’s through her eyes that we see a lot of the Agojie customs as she trains within to be a warrior. She has two mentor figures through this journey, the kindly and good-humoured veteran Izogie (Lashana Lynch) and of course the hardened, unsympathetic general Nanisca (Viola Davis) -who of course much of the rest of the movie is centred on, she being the title figure and all. She is a critical advisor to King Ghezo (John Boyega), and carries with her solemn principles about their kingdoms’ relationship to the slave trade and a traumatic backstory involving a military leader in the Oyo Empire to which Dahomey is a tributary state of.
Though several plot lines cross through it, including a perhaps unintentionally Pocahontas-evoking romance between Nawi and a half-Dahomean Portuguese man Malik (Jordan Bolger), it is the relationship between Nanisca and Nawi that ultimately drives the movie -one that is complicated in how it goes beyond a mere teacher and student of divergent ideologies. And it is principally this aspect and the plotting that feels weak. As much as The Woman King is a movie of this African kingdom, as much as Prince-Bythewood and the cast will extol, and rightly so, its’ African representation -it is still fundamentally a Hollywood movie, and a lot of Hollwyood-isms are there to intrude on the movie and chip away at its’ authenticity. And by that I don’t mean historically as much as culturally. Even with all of its’ symbols and totems, expressions of society, religions, and practices of West Africa, it is very American in its’ approach to the storytelling and characters, which can feel especially trite in its’ conventions up against such imagery. The character arcs aren’t the least bit compelling (mostly, they’re highly predictable), the values never very complicated, and the conflict with the slavers one-note. Certainly these indicate without the necessity of any historical context a degree of sugarcoating -the Dahomey are much too righteous for believability. Where they do arise, each problem in their society is either outright condemned by the characters that matter or is portrayed as a relic they’re leaving behind. There’s no room for nuance, especially when stacked against the Europeans or the Oyos. Additionally, the film is dotted with artificial humour of the sardonic, quippy kind that tends to pop up a lot in modern blockbusters -never feeling organic or of that world. Plenty of the dramatic motivations have that problem too. And these might not be so distracting were the movie less intent on emphasizing its’ distinctiveness of focus.
That said, Hollywood casting isn’t so much of a problem, as Lynch, Boyega, and especially Davis deliver quite well on their enthusiasm for the project. Davis as usual, puts a lot in and does best with the harshest material. And I appreciate that in spite of a certain plot twist she doesn’t get molded into a new shape by it, which could have easily happened. She doesn’t become a terribly warmer character by her vicinity to Nawi, she isn’t won over -she is allowed her methods informed by experience that may not necessarily line up with what Nawi, and by virtue the audience, believes is correct. Nobody tells Viola Davis how to be. Newcomer Mbedu is a great surprise too, hers being the more centralized story she is tasked with carrying more, and does so well while maintaining her characters’ critical youthful energy.
The films’ action scenes are also to be commended, one of the few areas where it genuinely does feel fresh beyond its’ aesthetics. The unique fighting styles of the Agojie are paired with a series of creative beats and strong, exciting violence (though in a strictly PG-13 way). Prince-Bythewood emphasizes the sheer competence of these women in battle wherever she can, in addition to their physical adeptness, making for perhaps the greatest illustration of Amazon warriors seen in a movie. If nothing else, the movie is a solid tribute to black feminine strength, even if some of the less subtle ways it shows this are painfully engineered.
The Woman King in certain respects does live up to the classical epic movie framework, though it’s of course not so long or deep as the best of them. I think it really could have been if it wasn’t so entrenched in the derivative traditions of studio filmmaking. The storytelling really is its’ most disappointing aspect, although there is enough around for a satisfying experience, including in the performances and rich world aesthetic. But at the same time these attributes accentuate what the film is missing. As to the historical issues, I’m concerned only with where they’re brushed aside for a lack of complexity. There is a palpable watering down of the films’ subject matter, which I think would impact it even if it were drawn wholesale as fiction. Black Panther is fiction, and yet it has a better handle on the difficult legacy and politics of an African kingdom. There is an importance to this film though that can’t be taken away, and I hope it does inspire some truly exciting changes. Changes that would allow such pivotal movies to be told in ways that are equally pivotal.
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