Mister Johnson (1991) 97m.
It took director Bruce Beresford 25 years to get this project off the ground. Intelligent, sensitively-handled drama (based on Joyce Carey's novel) is set in West Africa during the days of Britain's empire-building. It features a standout performance by Maynard Eziashi in the title role as an Nigerian clerk working for the British government in the village of Fada. Johnson's eagerness to be accepted as an English gentleman by his country's new landlords is a phenomenon observable in several colonized provinces throughout history. It's also the kind of compromise that can only lead to misunderstanding from both cultures. The irrepressible, entrepreneurial Johnson is a dreamer, who thinks big enough not only to see himself as a rich, respectable businessman, but also to embrace the ambition of his district officer (Pierce Brosnan) to build a 100-mile road. The completion of the road, which will make the Empire's ‘civilizing' processes even easier, tells us that the end of the village's (and Africa's) innocence is nigh. It's the kind of imperialism that we instinctively blame for Johnson's downfall - but looking back we can see that the real villain of the film is commerce. Every scrape that Johnson gets into is less a result of cultural clash than simple mismanagement of money, and it's not only the British that he gets into trouble with. The opportunistic, ingenuous Johnson is just the type we would expect to fall foul of the law, whether native or British, as a matter of course.
Beresford seems to be drawn to assignments set in desolate landscapes, and here he convincingly transports us to the 1923 colonies. As would be expected, he gets solid performances from Eziashi, Brosnan (whose repressed character demands he be underplayed), and Edward Woodward as a local store owner (more memorable here than in Beresford's BREAKER MORANT). There are several scenes you'll react to on an emotional level - the quietly triumphant completion of the road and the unforgettable final scene are the two most notable examples. The dusky photography by Peter James suits the film perfectly. Definitely worth your time - critics applauded it even though it sank without a trace at the box office. If it wasn't for the success of his previous film, DRIVING MISS DAISY, Beresford may never have been able to convince backers to produce a film featuring an unknown black actor in the lead role. Incidentally, this must be the only film I've seen set in an African village that doesn't wind up with someone's house burning down.
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