Jagun Jagun From A Journalist’s Eyes-The Birth of gods
For those of us who have seen “Thor”, the blockbuster American film of 2011, the use of knives, axes and bows as displayed in Jagun Jagun may not be appreciated but its Yoruba tradition, incantation and poetry.
However, Jagun Jagun’s storyline, the athleticism and emotion of the hero, Gbotija, the music, the pictures and costumes are a modernisation of the Yoruba culture that will live in our memory for a long time.
Of course there are scenes that technology would have worked better, the producer had expended more energy to make it real, which for me is good.
Just as Thor depicts a German deity and god of lightning, “Agemo” in Yoruba is god in its own right, perhaps a lower god compared to Ogun the god of iron and Sango the god of thunder.
May I say that the suspense in Jagun Jagun is Agemo, which for me is also the greatest lesson of this trending epic movie. It comes with both horror and blood; love and hate, mystery and reality.
There are various lessons but it is striking that Jagun Jagun makes us to believe that gods were born like men but the circumstances and the powers that were associated with their birth make them superheroes.
For me, I see Gbotija and Kiitan as normal human beings who would later transform to gods by the circumstances of their fathers’ demise and the supernatural powers inherited from their ancestors.
When Yoruba says “Eeyan lo n be ni idi Oro ti Oro Fi n ke”, they have thoroughly done their research and concluded that the powers behind Oro Masquerade is the man inside the costume. Oro is an inanimate object, the oloro is the real deal that makes the enchantment.
Agemo in Jagun Jagun is a merchant of death that fights like wildfires but inside it is a beautiful woman Kiitan whom ordinarily will do no harm without Ogundiji conjuring her to do so.
Agemo becomes instrument of oppression in the hands of Ogundiji to torment innocent citizens.
Every scene creates its own emotion, including the later part when Agemo turns out to be the beautiful Kiitan, the abducted lady by the warlord, Ogundiji.
What is Agemo or who is Agemo?Its revelation is the climax of the movie and it signifies the end of the beautiful Kiitan who had fallen in love with Gbotija.
Gbotija’s powers as a deity of the woods teaches us that the circumstances that create a man will not betray him at the most difficult hours. This god of the woods was saved three times by the woods in his transformation from the ordinary to a deity.
First, when his father hid him inside a tree in a war that killed all his family. Second, when Ogundiji nailed him alive inside a wooden coffin for seven days and threw him in the sea. Three, when Agemo came after him in the woods to kill him. Agemo was killed by a branch of the tree and it turned out to be Gbotija’s heartthrob, Kiitan.
This scene is highly emotional as it brings out the artistry of Lateef Adedimeji and Bukunmi Oluwashina whom I learnt flew to Nigeria from the US to play this prominent role of Kiitan.
It opens the hidden secret that Kiitan is not a princess but one of the war victims abducted by Ogundiji to perpetrate evil.
For me Jagun Jagun buries death and horror inside a beautiful damsel , Kiitan. It defines a Gbotija who learns the art of war so that he can fight for justice.
It exposes the wickedness of the kings and moneybags who hide under a warlord, Ogundiji to cheat ordinary citizens while they hide their own children abroad.
I congratulate Femi Adebayo for this great movie.
