Director: Pascal Amanfo
Producer: Yvonne Nelson
Stars: Yvonne Nelson, Chris Attoh, Nadia Buari, Kofi Adjorlolo, Kweku Elliot, Tana Adelana
Many have feared the day that you would use the words “raunchy” and “Ghanaian movie” in the same sentence. But times are a’changing.
Following the lives of six characters who love, lust, and lie, Single & Married is sex without subtly, profanity-ridden, and says ‘Dick’ so often you would think it was someone’s name.
And that’s just the trailer.
A brief survey of history demonstrates that sex sells at the box office. Hollywood, when threatened by the new television medium, lifted the restrictive Hays Code and lured audiences away from home entertainment with risque, controversial – sex and violence – material at the cinemas.
In the early 1970s, Melvin Van Peebles dropped a dose of sexploitation to draw crowds to his commercially successful Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song.
So is it really all that unusual or disappointing that Ghanian popular culture would fall victim to the same loose moral standards?
The film is already drawing a buzz.
Naijamayor.com reports:
For the very first time this year, over the weekend, the Silverbird Cinemas got choked as people kept tripping to see the movie Single and Married. The management was left with no other alternative than to call for a second show with an additional hall to help cover the awaiting demand (customers).
Perhaps the African film industry is taking a stab at increasing turnout to movie premieres. If so, the influences of the likes of Socrates Sarfo and Western cinema are palpable.
But more pressing is the issue of whether such movies will become a trend in the African film industry. Is Nollywood moving in a new direction?
Will the box office success of Single & Married make “raunchy” the new normal?
Produced by popular Ghanian actress Yvonne Nelson and directed by Pascal Amanfo, Single & Married premiered on September 22 at the Silverbird Cinema in Accra, Ghana and opens this Friday in Nigeria at the Silverbird Cinema in Lagos.
