Up North is the story of an ‘ajebutter’ son of a rich man who was sent to Bauchi for the compulsory one year National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) program. Although it was meant to be a disciplinary measure, it turned out to be what he needed to discover and maximize his potentials.
It is a good family film, no stress, no drama, no suspense; just an easy going story. Up North was directed by Tope Oshin and featured BankyW, Adesuwa Etomi, Kanayo O. Kanayo, Michelle Dede and other star actors. The director, Tope Oshin did a good job in getting every actor to convey the emotions intended for every scene. Although there was a part where my fellow viewers and I did not understand; when ‘aunty teacher’ was assuming ‘uncle Bassey’ was not responding well. We were like, “auntie what is it?”
I will dive straight into the technical review.
Story
Like I mentioned earlier it is an easy going story line that is good for family viewing. I think the writers wanted to share a lot in this one film. At the end of the movie I found it difficult to give it a theme because I had girl education, sports, showcasing the beauty of the northern part of Nigeria and even the NYSC experience. The writer found a way to weave all these into Up North.
Photography and Cinematography
The picture quality was great, especially with the beautiful landscapes. I think the parade ground scene were Bassey was making jest of his friend’s inability to jump high would have had better camera shot. There was something about the frame rate that made the movements in that scene blurry. Also, when Bassey was running at night during his sister’s visit; it was obvious that he was not running at the speed displayed. Again, a more suitable frame rate would have solved that challenge. The DOP did a good job, but could do much better given the quality of equipment at their disposal.
Sound
This was okay, but could be better. I don’t know if it was the cinema sound system or the movie, I did not enjoy the audio production especially with conversations. Sometimes it was too loud and became normal at other points.
Editing
My guess is that the editor had to do a lot of work in post-production.
Casting
The movie had a great cast and I like the use of school-age girls for the school roles (my guess is that they were actual students); as against getting older people to act as secondary school students. BankyW earned his place as the star of the film because he brought his A-game on set.
I will like to congratulate the producer, Editi Effiong on the success of Up North and I look forward to other productions from him. I also have a question, what inspired this story; personal experience or purely fiction?
