Living in Bondage

Living in Bondage
Directed by Chris Obi Rapu
Produced by Okechukwu Ogunjiofor
Written by Kenneth Nnebue
Okechukwu Ogunjiofor
Starring Kenneth Okonkwo
Nnnenna Nwabueze
Okechukwu Ogunjiofor
Francis Agu
Release date
  • 1992 (1992) (Part 1)
  • 1993 (1993) (Part 2)
Running time
 163 min
Country Nigeria
Language Igbo

Living in bondage is a 1992/93 Nigerian two-part drama thriller film directed by Chris Obi Rapu, written by Kenneth Nnebue and Okechukwu Ogunjiofor[1] and produced by Okechukwu Ogunjiofor. The film was shot straight-to-video,[2] and starred Kenneth Okonkwo and Nnenna Nwabueze in their breakout roles.

Plot

Andy (Kenneth Okonkwo) and Merit Okeke (Nnenna Nwabueze) are a young couple facing several obstacles - Andy's redundancy and infidelity, the loss of their savings on a bogus investment, and Merit's indecent proposals from lecherous men including her boss Ichie Million (Francis Agu). Andy constantly compares his lack of fortune to the success of his peers, especially best friend Paul (Okechukwu Ogunjiofor). Despite Merit's support and patience, Andy is driven to near-desperation, determined to obtain wealth by any means possible, and the slick-talking Paul lets Andy in on his secret - a satanic cult where members swear their loyalty to Lucifer and kill their loved ones in ritualized sacrifices to gain the wealth they crave. After much hesitation, Andy eventually agrees to sacrifice the person he loves the most - Merit. He reluctantly brings her to the cult where she is offered to Lucifer, shortly dying in a hospital, but not before she curses her husband's betrayal.

Andy's sudden wealth raises suspicion from Merit's family who accuse him of murdering her which he denies. He also faces a new set of problems - the paparazzi, his mistress Ego (Ngozi Nwosu) fleeing with his money after he collapses at their wedding, and notably Merit's ghost haunting and terrorizing him, leading to embarrassing situations which make him a laughing stock. Andy would later marry Chinyere (Jennifer Okere), another gold-digger introduced by Merit's former friend Caro (Ngozi Nwaneto), but she meets her untimely death after Caro poisons Chinyere in an attempt to escape abroad alone with the cash Chinyere had stolen from her husband. Caro is also killed by a hit-and-run driver on her way to the airport, and Paul is murdered by hitmen hired by Andy after they both fall out.

A now frustrated Andy asks the satanic cult for help - but when the Chief Priest (Daniel Oluigbo) insists he can only pacify his late wife's spirit by blinding and castrating himself, he refuses and becomes mentally deranged, living as a vagrant under a Lagos flyover until Tina (Rita Nzelu) - a former prostitute he had earlier offered to the cult as a decoy before his deceit was exposed - takes him to her church where he finally confesses to Merit’s murder. In the film’s final scene, he praises God with the Evangelical Christians who assure Andy God will forgive him.[3][4][5]

Cast

  • Kenneth Okonkwo as Andy Okeke[6]
  • Nnenna Nwabueze as Merit, Andy's wife
  • Kanayo O. Kanayo as Chief Omego, cult member
  • Francis Agu as Ichie Million, cult member and Merit's boss
  • Okechukwu Ogunjiofor as Paul, Andy's friend and cult member[7]
  • Ngozi Nwaneto as Caro, Merit's friend and Paul's girlfriend
  • Ngozi Nwosu as Ego, Andy's mistress
  • Bob-Manuel Udokwu as Mike, cult member
  • Sydney Diala as cult member/initiator
  • Daniel Oluigbo as cult's chief priest
  • Obiageli Molugbe as cult's chief priest's wife
  • Rita Nzelu as Tina, local prostitute
  • Jennifer Okere as Chinyere, Caro's friend
  • Ruth Osu as Andy and Merit's neighbor

Most of the actors including Kanayo, Agu, Udokwu, Molugbe, and Osu were already well-established actors from the then-ongoing soap opera Checkmate. Nnnenna Nwabueze and Okechukwu Ogunjiofor were the only main actors from part one not to have reprised their roles for the second part of the movie, although Nwabueze's character Merit appears in a flashback scene, and a body double plays her ghost. Paul's name was mentioned numerous times in part two but Ogunjiofor never appears; his death scene is also filled by a body double.

Remake

In 2015, veteran actor Ramsey Nouah secured the rights to Living In Bondage from Kenneth Nnebue for a possible remake to be filmed in Europe and America as well as Nigeria.[8] The news was later confirmed on Instagram, but as of 2017 the project has apparently been abandoned or is in development hell.[9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Jagoe, Rebecca. "From Living in Bondage to the Global Stage: The Growing Success of Nollywood". The Culture Trip. Retrieved 2016-05-12.
  2. ↑ Tucker, Neely (5 February 2005). "Nollywood, In a Starring Role". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C., USA: The Washington Post Company. Retrieved 7 August 2010.
  3. ↑ "Nollywood dreams". Melbourne, Australia: The Age Company Ltd. 31 July 2004. Retrieved 7 August 2010.
  4. ↑ Adebajo, Adekeye. "SA and Nigeria must throw culture into foreign policy mix". Johannesburg, South Africa: Times LIVE. Retrieved 7 August 2010.
  5. ↑ "Nollywood turns out 2,000 films a year". Port of Spain, Trinidad: Trinidad and Tobago Newsday. Retrieved 7 August 2010.
  6. ↑ "Andy has overtaken my real name, Kenneth Okonkwo cries out - Vanguard News". Vanguard News. 2014-10-25. Retrieved 2016-05-12.
  7. ↑ "Okechukwu Ogunjiofor". IMDb. Retrieved 2016-05-12.
  8. ↑ Ramsey Nouah reportedly set to remake first successful Nollywood movie, ‘Living in Bondage’
  9. ↑ A Sequel To The 1992 Classic Is Being Made
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