Director: Okey Ifeanyi
Script: Ruth Kadiri
Producer: Ruth Kadiri
Cast: Ruth Kadiri, Van Vicker, Juliet Ibrahim, Monique Samuel
Year: 2017
The viewer has no business with building a relationship with the characters in “Black Bride” a film written and produced by Ruth Kadiri. Apart from the slow development of the story, everything happens in patches. One time, we are meeting a sad couple that is enduring a strain on their relationship due to a busy wife and the next minute, they are happy. Just as they enjoy this happiness the man decides to cheat. The story is disjointed and painfully agonizing not because characters are not properly developed but because there is no basis for the existence of the story in “Black Bride”. Here cheating men get a pass mark, and get forgiven because women should be the ones to sustain their marriage. Ruth Kadiri advocates for men with busy wives and wives that are not good cooks to cheat. After all, the women will always return to beg because women always care more about family and position as “only wife”, and if they feel threatened by another woman they will adjust. That is the painful story pushed by Ruth In “Black Bride”.
A more detailed version of the synopsis features Dave (Van Vicker) and his wife (Ruth Kadiri) she is trying to build a career for herself after Dave rebuked her for being a house wife. Dave now has a problem with her busy hours, and her reason for dedicating long hours at work is to impress him. Dave tries to find a balance for their daughter, who is always left at school after closing hours, because both parents are busy, and so he offers her teacher Ify (Juliet Ibrahim) money to care for their daughter. Things get better, until Dave starts visiting Ify and they start an affair.
This story recklessly diverges from truth and boldly admonishes women to dump, not adjust their timing for career for their men. Or else, men will cheat. They will have mistresses and the women will end up losers, because after all, the circle of a woman’s life should be in the kitchen as cook, flavoring dishes and mixing spices and not in the board room.
It is interesting to see Ruth Kadiri take this perspective for her script, because if idleness and “a full kitchen life” is what she advocates for women, then she shouldn’t be writing scripts or producing movies. This is an example of a damaging story to women and the society. Accept it or not, films have strong power to influence behavior and if men continue to get a clean sheet to cheat on their women, then there should be no need for marriage. I accept that films exist on different spectrums; as a medium of education, as well as entertainment. “Black Bride” gives the wrong education, and lacks entertainment.
Van Vicker does a good job with his role and of all the actors; he is more relaxed and willing to interpret the non-story properly. Juliet Ibrahim is forgettable. Ruth Kadiri does a better job as an actor than a scriptwriter.
Black Bride earns a 3/10 from Xplore
