2019 saw the release of Living in Bondage: Breaking Free. Ramsey Nouah’s directorial debut, it is the sequel to the 1992 movie Living in Bondage directed by Chris Rapu. The first Living in Bondage produced by Kenneth Nnebue, which was shot in Igbo and subtitled in English, is generally touted as the beginning of Nollywood. Decades later, some people took the bold decision to produce a sequel and from all accounts, LIB: Breaking Free hasn’t disappointed. According to figures from the Cinema Exhibitors Association of Nigeria, at the end of March 2020, LIB: Breaking Free had reportedly raked in well over N168.7m. Not to mention its strong showing at the Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards 2020. The good news for people like me is that LIB: Breaking Free is now on Netflix.
How do you watch the new Living in Bondage? What I mean is, can you watch the new LIB without having watched the old? Even if you have, the old LIB was all of 28 years ago. Doesn’t one need some kind of refreshing to catch up? Not really. However, there was no way I was going to see the new LIB without refreshing my memory of the old. Truth be told, whatever I was doing in 1992/93, I was apparently not keeping notes on Living in Bondage. Watching the old LIB was easier said than done. We’re talking five hours of Part 1 and 2. Someone was kind enough to put it on Youtube. If I needed any encouragement, I had to get the old out of the way to be able to take advantage of the much talked about LIB: Breaking Free.
For the old LIB, in spite of the wear and tear of age, bad storage and limitations of technology, there’s a lot to like— the dialogue is quite good, so acting is believable. It also must have helped that the actors were speaking their native tongue. It was interesting to see Vitalis Ndubuisi without his now signature grey hair. Then there are the stars who have passed away such as Jennifer Okere (Chinyere) and Francis Agu. Agu as Ichie Million had such star quality and was perhaps the only one who didn’t look dated; not his clothes or looks. On a lighter note, in the old LIB, we see that N5,000 was a lot of money and a group of people in a cramped parlour equalled a millionaires’ party! And there’s the ‘lavish’ marriage where supposedly ‘wealthy’ millionaires are hungrily eating jollof rice from good old plastic plates. The point must be made but this is not to pick one LIB over the other. If anything, it’s to show that the old LIB did leave good footprints for the new LIB to follow.
There are many things to love about the new LIB. Overall, I like its visual beauty. And there’s the cast— director, Ramsey plays billionaire Richard Williams, who is head of the cult, ‘The Six’. Zulu Adigwe and Ebere Okaro as Pascal and Eunice Nworie respectively appear effortless as the couple that raised Nnamdi (Swanky JKA), Andy Okeke’s son. JKA stands for Jide Kene Achufusi and a lot rests on his shoulders. As a former copywriter in an advertising agency, I’ll refrain from talking about the believability (or the lack thereof) of the ad agency references. Kenneth Okonkwo returns as Andy Okeke who is now a man of God. In the old LIB, in search of quick riches, Andy sacrifices two of his wives. Riches? Yes. Peace? No. Although, if I had to choose, I’d pick the old LIB’s Andy. David David as journalist/blogger, Uzoma Adibe, is scratchy. For starters, the man should have learnt to pronounce his own name well. But I was pleasantly surprised by Shawn Faqua who does a complete turnaround as Toby (or Tobe?) Okorie, Nnamdi’s cousin. He is unforgettable as a criminal, Rambo, in Ojukokoro directed by Dare Olaitan.
Over and above everyone else, I am most impressed by Munachi Abii in her interpretation of the character, Kelly Nwankwo. She is Nnamdi’s love interest. Not only does she deliver, she brings out some of Swanky JKA’s best acting. To think that I didn’t suspect for one moment that the former beauty queen/rapper was behind the character, Kelly.
Well, in case it’s not obvious yet, you do need to see the old and new LIB for yourself.
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