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Love from Asia

Osita Iheme
Tony Akposheri
Val Agulonu
Abigail Ani
Moses Amstrong
Directed by Ugo Ugbor

Umunna (Osita Iheme) is a midget who has managed to struggle through life to be a successful man despite his stunted height. He ambitiously becomes rich but has a problem meeting the woman of his dreams because every lady he comes across either makes fun of his stature or just couldn't imagine life with a midget. His family consisting of his mother (Abigail Ani) and younger sister (Merit Alimanu), out of concern even try to help out by getting him a wife but unfortunately the choices made for him were detrimental one way of the other.
The story is quite emotional as we journey into flashbacks of the humiliation and discrimination Umunna suffers in the hands of every female he tries to befriend. We are taken into his mind as we see his daydreams of his perfect family which seems impossible as each attempt to get into a relationship fails.
The movie never fails to showcase hilarious situations that make a lot of sense, such as the shot in which Umunna is about to be given a wife he had never seen. The lady in question is a fat woman and Umunna out of anger rants "Mama! What is this? I need a wife does not mean I need a hippopotamus!"
Another hilarious scene is the instance where an uncivilised village girl is brought to Umunna's house by his sister and she ends up exposing her 'bushness' without shame.
Eventually Umunna gets to meet an Asian lady who he ends up marrying but the story doesn't end there. Also the movie ends up having a part two.

I have to say the storyline is commendable. It's sensible and realistic and examines the way a midget would naturally suffer such humiliation due to his stature. The constant use of flashbacks was neatly done and put in nice duotone shots to give the feel of something past. The duotone effect was equally used when showcasing Umunna's daydream so the viewer doesn't get lost in the story line.

The casting was not bad as each actor and actress, though not all seasoned; lived up to their roles. Iheme was impressive and full of energy in his lead role as Umunna. Isabel the asian lady (Christina Balico) did not impress me as an actress but she managed to carry her role quite convincingly. The host of Umunna's friends lived up to showing us the lifestyle of the village youths.

As usual we have the little errors that come with every movie and Love from Asia also has its own snags.
First of all, the presentation montage cracked me the hell up. Nigerian movie producers will never cease to amuse me. What on earth is a footage of James Cameron's Terminator doing in that ridiculous montage?
Then there were usual problems with audio quality which is usual with many Nigerian movies.
I don't think 'Love from Asia' is a satisfactory title for the movie since it only reflects a later part of the story. The title would probably fit the part two of the movie but most definitely not the part one.

On the overall, I'll say it was not a bad movie. You get carried along and there's the suspense on how things will eventually end for the tough midget whom at times you can't help but pity his state. Director Ugo Ugbor didn't do bad in directing the movie though there's always a lot to improve on.

Lesson learnt from the movie: The actual lesson ought to be 'Height is not a barrier to getting what you want in life' but since the movie has a part two (which I haven't viewed to review), I can't logically conclude that yet.

Rating * * * *------------- Grab some popcorn!

* * * * * ----------- Can we watch it again?
* * * * --------------- Grab some popcorn!
* * * ----------------- Watchable
* * -------------------- I'm feeling sleeping
* ---------------------- A waste of your money!