Nigeria Finally Has a World Class Actor
Bucci Franklin has done what the whole Nollywood film industry found impossible to do — act.
For my own sanity, I had sworn off watching Nollywood movies.
Every time a new Nollywood project came out from an exciting, buzzy filmmaker, people would hype it up and insist I watch it.
I’d ignore my instincts, give in to their entreaties, and watch it, and predictably, the storyline would be aimless, lacklustre, meandering, and ultimately bland.
There would be endless scenes of parties as though their sole purpose was to emphasise that off that Nigerians do have access to luxury, but ultimately served no real purpose in furthering the story’s narrative.
The characters would be flat and forgettable, and for almost every film I’ve ever seen come out of Nollywood, the actors and actresses themselves dominate their characters such that you remember the actor in the movie, but you never remember the person they were they were acting as.
I almost didn’t watch Kemi Adetiba’s new eight episode Netflix series titled To Kill a Monkey because I was exhausted.
I had Nollywood fatigue.
I was so used to being disappointed and let down no matter what kind of excited reviews I saw, that I almost skipped it but I’m really glad that I didn’t and took a chance on it after all.
This isn’t supposed to be a review of To Kill a Monkey, which in my opinion, was a fun watch but had problems with pacing, loose ends, and could have benefitted from a tighter narrative as some scenes honestly felt like filler, but I just want to give flowers to the incredible acting performance of Onyebuchi Franklin Odurukwe, who goes by the stage name Bucci Franklin.
Enter Oboz da Boss
In the series, Bucci Franklin portrays the character of a cultist criminal gang leader named Oboz da Boss, and called Oboz, who leads a criminal organisation that’s into fraud and all manner of unsavoury activities .
He embodies this character so well that I completely forgot about him as an actor.
He lived and breathed the character of Oboz.
The subtlety of his acting goes beyond just his line delivery, but he really delivered this subtle facial acting. His micro expressions communicated the emotions of the character in every scene. It was done with a finesse never really seen before in Nollywood, and very reminiscent of the of the incredibly subtle micro expressions and facial acting that Lee Jung Jae is feted the world over for, in his role as Seong Gi Hun of Squid Game.
If he is able to transfer this kind of character embodiment into subsequent roles in other films or television series, I am convinced that Bucci Franklin is going to be Nigeria first true breakout international acting superstar.
I haven’t seen his other work yet, but his portrayal in TKAM makes me excited to see anything he’s in, whether it’s a feature film or a multi part series or even something as short as a commercial.
Bucci’s ability to transcend himself to make us forget reality by sucking us into the inner world of his character as if Oboz truly existed, to feel Oboz’s burden; his motivations, his fears, his anger, and ultimately, his betrayal, is the kind of superb acting that inspires devotion in fans.
He’ll certainly gain a massive fan base, and really, his acting is only going to be constrained by the quality of work that’s able to come his way if he’s fortunate to pair with great directors and producers.
If he’s fortunate to be given well rounded, fleshed-out characters that he can bring to life, Onyebuchi Odurukwe will go on to have an enormous acting career and may probably end up Nigeria’s most beloved actor and most recognisable acting export in future.
Aside:
I’m really sorry to say, but to my surprise, this was Bimbo Akintola’s worst performance. I’ve always considered her a good actress, so I don’t know what was going on with her this time, but majority of the scenes with her lacklustre character could have been deleted with very little impact to the final outcome of the story, and her portrayal just failed to deliver.
💛,
Lotanna
Merry Christmas and happy holidays. And yes you are absolutely correct on Bucci Franklin. Hope you are well