The Woman King ★★★★
VIOLA Davis is an exceptional actress capable of playing many different types of roles.
But I would not have expected to see her as the machete-wielding leader of a group of 19th Century African warriors.
Of course she does a great job in The Woman King, portraying every dimension of General Nanisca, from ferocious and formidable to occasional moments of vulnerability and doubt.
This 2022 American historical drama is one of those rousing crowd-pleasers in the vein of Braveheart and The Last Samurai and commands to be seen on the largest screen possible.
The Agojie were an all-female warrior unit that protected the West African kingdom of Dahomey during the 17th to 19th centuries. The Woman King is set in the 1820s when Dahomey was under siege from its neighbour Oyo which was seeking to gain full control of the slave export trade with the French.
Of course, in this day and age there always has to be some controversy over how history is presented on film. In this case, General Nasica is trying to encourage her leader to move out of the slave trade but the character didn’t actually exist.
John Boyega plays King Ghezo who did rule Dahomey from 1818 to 1858 but didn’t end its involvement in the trade. The film doesn’t shy away from the basic facts but apparently isn’t as authentic as some people want it to be.
Nevertheless, for the rest of us it’s an enthralling and exciting historical epic that looks at both the politics of the time as well as how the Agojie women were recruited, trained and sent into combat.
The locations are spectacular and the action sequences powerful while Davis dominates every one of her scenes. The excellent supporting cast includes Lashana Lynch as the General’s second-in-charge and Thuso Mbedu as young recruit Nawi.
In some ways the script is predictable and one storyline in particular is probably completely unnecessary, but you can’t help being moved by such a rousing, old-fashioned epic.