Inale

Plot

The film opens with a man telling his little daughter a tale about Idomaland. Odeh (Hakeem Kae-Kazim) and Princess Inale (Caroline Chikezie) are both in love with each other. however, according to the customs of the land, Odeh has to wrestle several other suitors of Inale in order to be able to have Inale's hand in marriage. Odeh wrestles several men and wins in all the fights; King Oche, the King of Otukpo and Inale's father declares Odeh the winner. Just before the wrestling ceremony ends, a masked stranger appears and challenges Odeh to a fight; the Stranger wins and he's revealed to be Prince Agaba (Keppy Ekpeyong Bassey), a Prince from Apah, a nearby village, which has been in a long rift with Otukpo. The king reluctantly declares the new winner and tells Prince Agaba that his wife would be escorted to his village the next day.

Inale is thrown in sorrow through the night, but the king refused to compromise despite plea from the Queen, Ochanya (Eunice Philips) and other palace people. Next day, Inale tells Odeh affirmatively that she'll come back to him, as she's escorted by her sister, Princess Omei (Lola Shokeye) and her maid, Omada (Ini Edo) to Apah. During a break in their journey, in Omei's absence Omada pushes Inale into the river to drown and lies to Omei that Inale has committed suicide. The ladies eventually concludes that Omada pretend to be Inale to Prince Agaba and the people of Apah, who doesn't know what the princess looks like, so as to avoid a war between the two communities. The duo arrive in Apah, with Omada disguised as Inale and Ome as a maid; As soon as Omada is Queen, she begins to maltreat Omei. Omei as a result tries to open up to the people about the state of things, but no one would believe her.

One of the guards in Apah recognizes Omei to be a princess and set her free from the dungeon Omada has put her. Omei returns to the river where Inale drowned, and Inale who is now a mermaid appears to her; Inale tells her everything Omada did to her and reveals that she can't leave the river, lest she dies. At another time, Odeh in his grief wanders to the same river, and he sees Inale. She tells him that for her to be able to be with him, he has to challenge Prince Agaba for a re-match and defeat him; only then can she be freed, and if this is not done before the next sunset, Inale would be gone forever. Odeh duels with Agaba once again and he is defeated twice, before Odeh finally defeats Agaba. Agaba hands over Omada to Odeh, and Odeh announces to everyone the true Identity of Omada. Odeh and Agaba rushes to the river and rescues Inale, while Omada runs into the forest and was never seen again. Inale and Odeh get married, while Prince Agaba also marries Omei, and the two villages unite to become one great Nation.

Cast

Production

The film was shot on location in Benue and Los Angeles, California.

Music and soundtrack

The background music of Inale was composed and scored by Joel Goffin. The film features original songs from Bongos Ikwue, who composed the songs. Some songs were also written by Jeta Amata. All the songs were recorded at BIK Studios, Nigeria.

Release

The theatrical trailer of Inale was released on 23 June 2010. It premiered in Lagos on the 22 October 2010 and had an Abuja premiere on 28 October 2010. It got theatrical release in November in selected cinemas across Nigeria. It also had a rerun during the 2011 through 2012 Christmas and New Year celebration period. The film was released much later in South African theatres on 26 July 2012.

Critical reception

Inale received mixed reviews; while it was praised for its beautiful production, it was criticized for its storytelling. Victor Olatoye of Nollywood Critics gave it 4 stars and stated: " If you crave for a well produced traditional Nollywood movie I suggest you see Inale. This is one Nollywood movie anyone could enjoy. The visuals were beautiful, the actors acted effortlessly". He praised the cinematography, editing and sound of the film, but talked down on the music, which he feels isn't traditional enough. Elnathan John, on the other hand, commended the music but faulted the scripting and the choreography of the dance and fight scenes. He concluded by stating: "It is a tremendously ambitious attempt at producing a musical. The effort is commendable; however its ambitiousness seemed to be its undoing. More time and resources seemed to be pumped into the production to the detriment of the very basis of the film - the script. Lazy scripting, good production, lack of attention to important detail; Certain unimportant details seemed to get the attention, almost as if the director wants more [sic] to impress the Nigerian audience than to make a good film". Osugo Joshua-Karis gave it 7 out of 10, stating: "Inale is touching a story of love, fighting tradition. All in all, Inale is a great movie for relaxation".

Accolades

Inale received five nominations at the 7th Africa Movie Academy Awards; including awards for Best Nigerian Film, Achievement in Soundtrack, Achievement in Visual Effects, Achievement in Makeup and Achievement in Costume Design. It eventually won the award for Achievement in Soundtrack. It also received five nominations at the 2011 Best of Nollywood Awards and won the category for "Best Soundtrack of the Year". The film got four nominations at the 2011 Nigeria Entertainment Awards and also won "Most Entertaining Film" category at the 2011 Monaco Charity Film Festival Awards.