Between the years of 1624 to 1890, a group of elite female soldiers, the Agojie, dominated the military scene in the West-African kingdom of Dahomey (the modern-day Republic of Benin). Known for their fearlessness, this 6,000-strong army had no hesitation about creeping into enemy camps at night and severing heads to collect as war trophies to bring back home. They were also very meticulous and creative, with their training methods, and worked towards being the toughest soldiers around.
The Woman King is a film that centers around the victories and losses of the Agojie during the year of 1823 when slave trading had reached its peak in West Africa. With a new king on the throne of Dahomey, surrounding kingdoms used this as an excuse to wage war by capturing Dahomey citizens and selling them to Europeans in the slave markets.
The aim of the Agojie, in The Woman King, was to put an end to having their people captured and sold into slavery, and to rid the warring kingdom of its barbaric military leader. In order to do so, they recruited more soldiers and put them through many rigorous tests and training.
Viola Davis stars as the fictional General Nanisca. Joining her are Lashana Lynch (who previously starred in the lates James Bond instalment, No Time To Die), and Sheila Atim (who previously starred in the Netflix movie Bruised, alongside Halle Berry). The acting in The Woman King is superb. Davis makes a very-convincing military general, and her co-stars show an impressive display of emotion and fierceness. To complement the acting is the visually stunning cinematography. Filmed in South Africa, there are many sweeping scenes of jungles and coastlines.
The Woman King is directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood. It was important to her to include women of colour in some of the major production roles such as special-effects supervisor, production designer, costume designer, film editor, makeup, and hair stylists. And I have to add that the costumes were very well done, with lots of attention to detail. The Woman King offers a unique storyline, with many well-choreographed action scenes and some unexpected dramatic surprises. I definitely recommend watching on the big screen to get the full effect of the battle scenes and the bad-ass warrior cries.
