source: Mother of George

Of course I was going to be biased because the lead character Adenike is portrayed by my Idol Ms. Danai Gurira. But, I'll be honest this once, it was a bit flawed. The ending... can't stand. I'm not a fan of open endings, I don't write my own stories that way but meh everyone is different. It's simply not for everyone. It leaves the viewer to stew In their own Imagination of what they would WANT to happen...so, If you cared about Adenike she and the baby would've survived and they would've lived happily ever after, all is forgiving. Sade and Biyi would have rekindled their romance everybody's happy. Or if you hated Adenike she would've died in your ending I suppose. I loved her but I hated her poor choices. Danai said in an interview that that sort of situation happens more in the Zimbabwean culture than it does in Nigerian culture too. But anyway, she came off as this dutiful wife just trying to do what she's gotta do to keep her man happy but the meddling ass mother n law OMG she ran the show! Nike was to become pregnant immediately and give birth to a son whom she was to name George after Ayos deceased father. Of course she doesn't get pregs right away so here we go. First of all, she's from Nigeria and now living in America her bff Sade is pretty much Americanized and is kinda showing Nike some things you know(there's always that one friend lol) but Nike isn't conforming like that. She's still true to her roots. Since he won't go to the Doc she's pretty much backed against the wall...until the MIL steps in...again! She plants the seed in Nike's head to conceive with Ayos younger brother Biyi, which is also Sades new man! The 1st time Nike is clearly uncomfortable and disgusted during the act, but the 2nd time(IMO) she seemed to be very relaxed moaning and all. Then she goes home and aggressively has sex with her hubby to keep the timeline right. What I don't understand, is why she done it at all! Why was she so determined to have this baby and her husband really didn't care either way. He was cool how they were. I also didn't care for the darkness but the dresses she wore were absolutely beautiful. They accentuated her hourglass figure Danai's body is sickening!!! I also didn't understand why the brother didn't just say Hell no! Or why she didn't tell Ayo what her out of line MOL was trying to do. I felt sorry for her but I was pissed at her as well for being weak! I would've told him and his mother to go str8 to hell and left his weak mommy boy ass. And why did she act like a virgin their wedding night?? Maybe she was I forgot... I watched it because Danai is an amazing actress I'll watch her in anything. But I really liked the story I just wish it didn't end that way and I wish they'd made a part 2! I'm rambling but does anyone wanna discuss it? I do!

The film explores the layers of what it means to start a new family which remains a part of a larger community matrix. How much independence is necessary for the nuclear unit? To what extent do other relatives play within matters internal to the marriage. Moreover there is the center of the kernel, which is how does one remember to love oneself while being powerfully in love. The film provides great food for thought at a multitude of levels.

Mother of George (2013) was directed by Andrew Dosunmu. It stars the lovely Danai Gurira as Adenike Balogun, newly married to Ayodele Balogun (Isaach De Bankolé). Although the setting is Brooklyn, we're shown that the old ways brought over from Nigeria still have a profound effect on people's behavior. The title of the movie, "Mother of George," is realistic. As much as the young couple love each other, they are under the spell of George's mother, who controls many aspects of their life and their destiny. The central plot theme is that, for whatever reason, Adenike doesn't conceive. This is never easy for any couple, but it's particularly difficult in the Nigerian culture, where a woman is supposed to conceive quickly, and often. This is an amazing film, suspenseful, thoughtful, and colorful. We saw it at Rochester's wonderful Little Theatre. You'll lose some of the sense of the neighborhood and the costumes on the small screen, but it will work well enough to definitely be worth seeing.

The plot is based on a Nigerian culture. Ayodele and Adenike gets married, and on the night of the wedding Ma Ayo shows Adenike a fertility bead and tells her to put round her waist.She drinks the herbal tea bu still to no avail.she is being disturbed my Ma Ayo.Adenike knows that if she does not give birth her husband's family will take in another wife for her husband,even if he doesn't want to.Sade, her friend tells her about adoption but she wants to give birth her self.She finally found a doctor that will help but Ayodele says he can't afford it. Ma Ayo told her to seek help from her brother-in-law,Biyi.She finally gets pregnant but Ayodele walks out of marriage.

I wanted to watch this movie because the stress and anxiety surrounding pregnancy is terrible for a new wife. But there is a scene with a goat that I can NEVER unsee. I have been crying for 30 minutes and I don't think that I will ever be OK with what they did. It's wrong, it's inhumane and it's terrifying for the animal. I can't help but think that they did this for shock value and ratings. If so, shame on them. DON'T WATCH THIS MOVIE IS YOU LOVE ANIMALS AT ALL!

Many men will do anything to avoid going to the doctor. This film may impel some of them to schedule an appointment, lol! Nigerian immigrants to New York struggle to apply traditional beliefs to a new lifestyle. Some are better at this than others. They discover their hearts to be entwined and hopelessly confused with what they imagined modern and traditional ways to be. Adenike tries to find the path to love with her seemingly traditional husband (or is it really his mother driving him?) Characters and circumstances flit around them like phantoms, good and bad, pulling them in different directions. A mother-in-law presses relentlessly for a grandson, friends encourage Adenike to be more independent even as her husband seeks the opposite, and Adenike's heart tells her many things she cannot long resist, among other burdens. Those at Adenike's wedding who promise that her life will be "sweet as a pineapple" are not there, of course, when life gets tough. Little lovely details, absent in other films, enliven your senses; the bright colors, an open window with street noises drifting through, silence seamlessly switching to music and then gentle voices in a room, contrasting shades of light, the sound of skin on skin, dazzling patterns and shades in clothing, or the outline of an exquisite face. Present here is the beautiful cinematography and sound control characteristic of Kar Wai Wong. The film is worth watching just for this alone.

An intimate study of motherhood, and fatherhood, within an alternative culture transplanted from Africa to America. As everywhere, cultural pressures lead to choices that have consequences far beyond hopes. To be a mother is the most important duty of a wife; so she is told. When Danai cannot fulfill her duty, she seeks solutions both within her heritage and from Western medicine. When she finally succeeds, the choices she has made threaten to destroy her. This film is exquisitely photographed and remarkably well acted, especially by Adenike Balogun in the role of Danai, trying her best to do when she believes is right for the husband she loves.

Rhythm is often defined by locales - while mountain people seem to be rather slow by nature, those born close to sea shores appear to be faster in their movements. So I wouldn't call this film "slow", but idiosyncratically paced, admitting that I might be wrong: maybe Nigerians are faster than what I believe, judging from this film. Then it would be a decision taken by director Andrew Dosunmu, making dialogs and reactions calm to the extreme. I could take this, but what really distanced me was composition within the frame: too often actions are seen in close-ups, even in moments when large crowds are gathered. Maybe we have been conditioned so much by traditional cinema that we expect to see a reaction from a listener when told something that might shock him or her... as the moment when the pregnant Adenike confronts her brother-in-law in his apartment. But once this is accepted and dealt with, one can enjoy this strong drama of choices, tradition and deeply-rooted beliefs, beyond any moral judgment of what is right or wrong. In spite of the endless list of producers and executive producers who capitalize on the work of the creative team, the most remarkable features in "Mother of George" are (besides the performances by Danai Gurira and Yaya DaCosta, as Nike and Sade, the two young women subjected to matriarchy rule and dumb males) the cinematography by Bradford Young and Mobolaji Dawodu's beautiful traditional costumes. The brightness and colors brought by the use of natural and artificial light and the garments, create an atmosphere of hopefulness and joy in the midst of so much sadness and obsession with parenthood. See it.

Mother of George begins with a traditional African wedding ceremony which takes place in New York City. The bride and groom are toasted with wishes for a baby boy in the near future which will be named George, in accordance with the groom's mother's wishes. After a prolonged period, the hopeful mother to be does not conceive and she attempts various methods to become pregnant. After more time passes, she visits a fertility specialist, but her husband refuses to be checked out by American doctors. Her mother in law tells her that she should allow her husband a mistress in order to have a child. This idea does not go well, nor the next one of having his brother try to father a baby with her. The movie moves slowly, and while the acting is solid throughout, and the clothing beautiful, I was bored by the time it finished.