Type - Feature Fiction
Genre - Action, Drama, Crime
Director - Tosh Gitonga
Everyone will remember Nairobi Half Life (NHL) as Kenya’s return to ‘serious’ filmmaking after what was probably a decade-long drought of quality feature films in the country, save of course for the likes of A Dangerous Affair by Judy Kibinge (2002) that left Kenyans insatiably tantalised for more content.
I’ll dive straight into the review - what I liked most about NHL is the authenticity of its storytelling and likewise, the story itself backed by a potent screenplay. NHL was the closest Kenyan film had come to a lock, stock and barrel representation of a particular reality previously untold through film. Kudos Serah Mwihaki, you are the hero of the film (after Mwas!) for creating a coherent screenplay. The film delves deeper into why Nairobi earned its reputation as an unsafe area especially in the 90s and does so by unpacking the very elements that created this perception, often received in exaggeration by foreigners. From crooked cops to street gangs battling it out for territorial supremacy, NHL visually narrates an underworld unknown to many including Kenyans themselves. The film goes further to draw-out what many young people getting to crime undergo - ambivalence. We see the main character, Mwas, embattled with psychological turmoil as he tries to reconcile two seemingly opposite worlds that he finds himself in eventually leading to an inevitable ‘tough choice’ he has to make. We also see a narration of what seems to be the modus operandi of the typical youth coming from a rural area to an urban one to seek greener pastures - a very relatable anecdote.
I’ll dive straight into the review - what I liked most about NHL is the authenticity of its storytelling and likewise, the story itself backed by a potent screenplay. NHL was the closest Kenyan film had come to a lock, stock and barrel representation of a particular reality previously untold through film. Kudos Serah Mwihaki, you are the hero of the film (after Mwas!) for creating a coherent screenplay. The film delves deeper into why Nairobi earned its reputation as an unsafe area especially in the 90s and does so by unpacking the very elements that created this perception, often received in exaggeration by foreigners. From crooked cops to street gangs battling it out for territorial supremacy, NHL visually narrates an underworld unknown to many including Kenyans themselves. The film goes further to draw-out what many young people getting to crime undergo - ambivalence. We see the main character, Mwas, embattled with psychological turmoil as he tries to reconcile two seemingly opposite worlds that he finds himself in eventually leading to an inevitable ‘tough choice’ he has to make. We also see a narration of what seems to be the modus operandi of the typical youth coming from a rural area to an urban one to seek greener pastures - a very relatable anecdote.
The second thing I truly liked about this film was the casting. More specifically, having Maina Olwenya play Oti. A spot-on choice that would later gift the Kenyan film industry with the iconic talent that is Maina Olwenya. Dialogue was accurately reflective as well (kudos again Serah Mwihaki!) pushing the audience deeper into the ‘sheng’ (Swahili slang) sub-culture that has been a benchmark of urban life in Nairobi for decades. So what didn't I like about the film? Here goes … I feel the film’s Director (Tosh Gitonga) could have done better to visually weave the flow of the story more fluidly … in simple English this means the scenes, in my view, would have better flowed into each other; most seemed a bit hurried into each other and, at worst, far-removed at times. But then again, one can counter this view by saying that the faster paced transitions helped keep the tempo up, a much needed device in visual storytelling of this type. Again, this is purely a creative and stylistic choice left to any film director and truth is that there is no ‘right or wrong’ way of doing it. I would have however had a slightly longer film with more fleshed-out scenes building on supporting characters (like an Oti back-story), again to beef-up emotional momentum to the film’s climax.
There goes our first review which incidentally was spoiler-free - yay! If you haven’t seen the movie please do buy a DVD copy, not sure where, but getting in touch with the producers, One Fine Day Films might help. Lastly, the moment of truth - the rating!
3.5/5 Stars
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Review by Robert Mũnũku
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