Take a fascinating subject: a battalion of amazons, a real one, drawn from the pages of history books and not from a booklet of wonder woman or a book of mythology. Then mold everything following the (worn) specifications of the Hollywood machine.
This is unfortunately what happens with The Woman King, by Gina Prince-Bythewood (Beyond the Lights, The Old Guard), including actress Maria Bello (A History of Violence, prisoners) had the idea and whose screenplay is by Dana Stevens (Fatherhood, Safe Haven).
We are in 1823 in Dahomey, kingdom of West Africa which was at the current location of Benin. From the 1600s until the early 1900s, an army made up of women, called Agojie, provided state security, among other things because the male population, victims of conflicts with neighboring countries and the slave trade, was declining.
Don’t trust appearances
At the head of the battalion, the (fictional) general Nanisca, played by Viola Davis, who displays the intensity that we know her. The American is superbly surrounded by the Englishwoman Lashana Lynch (Maria Rambeau in Captain Marvel) and British-Ugandanian Sheila Atim. Their mission: to train a new generation of warriors. Among them, a rookie (the South African Thuso Mbedu, a name to follow) who seems to be of this wood of which we make the prey. Do not be fooled by appearances.
This is the starting situation. Carrier. But which unfolds in an agreed and predictable way. Here, a heroine haunted by trauma. There, a newcomer who is more than she appears to be.
Further on, a (beauty) queen who crushes the competition with her contempt (it’s like being in a schoolyard). Elsewhere, a character who is both strong and original in his difference and who, suddenly, seems marked with a target (a bit like a member of theCompany wearing a red uniform).
To lead them, King Ghezo (very real), who, before his oh so patriotic final speech, is as charismatic as he is soft (the Briton John Boyega, Finn in the most recent trilogy Star Wars).
Open horizons
We season the whole thing with big coincidences and, in the original version, we make all these people from different backgrounds speak in English with varied accents sometimes bordering on fantasy.
In fact, it is in the fierce fighting, with knives and hand-to-hand combat, that the feature film stands out. They are superbly choreographed, displaying the raw power of realism underestimated in this age of superheroes.
Still, at the end of the day, we have the impression of going from Mulan at wonder womanof Thelma & Louise at Pocahontas. And everywhere, we think of Black Panther (the Agojie inspired the female army of this feature film). You can see tributes there. We can also think of a lack of imagination or an obligation to play it safe.
And it’s a shame, because The Woman King, even taking liberties with history, opens horizons, talks about feminism, takes off blinders and embodies, with sincerity, the strength of well-placed pride, of this ability to go all the way to preserve a way to live, a rich and cherished culture. It’s not nothing.