“What do you think of “The Perfect Picture”? My response until fairly recently has been “I don’t know, I haven’t watched it”. “You should watch it!” I often get told. I remember someone even said to me “…it features women like you”.
Now that I have watched it I need to try and remember who made that last comment. What? Women like me? Now I wonder which one I am…the woman who “re-virginised” and abstained until her wedding night, or the uptight corporate type who slept with “the staff” or the stereotypical nympho who has no morals about who she sleeps with…Oh dear, let me get off my high horse already…
On a more serious note I am guessing the reference to women “like me” was referring to the fact that the women in the film were open about their sexuality. They talked about sex, they had sex, they had inappropriate sexual partners (is sleeping with someone from a different social class inappropriate? Is sleeping with a married man or woman inappropriate?), they chose to abstain from sex…In that sense the film was radical. I am not a connoisseur of African films but the storylines of the majority of African films tend to show women as victims. Victims of witchcraft, perpetrators of witchcraft, evil step mothers, pregnant teenagers, conniving bit**es, “good” religious women…I was grateful that “The Perfect Picture” did not show Ghanaian women in this stereotypical format.
Fake-ish sex scenes? Hmmm, Kwegyirba I hear you. I wasn’t sure why Chris Attoh’s character kept going “Ajei, ajei” during the wedding night scene, did he have a hernia? Yet I will give full props to the decision to actually show a full on sex scene. Charle, that scene lasted SEVERAL minutes…the couple were actually trying to go for it. There was the standard missionary, girl on top, and I think some attempt at spooning or some sideways twist movement. I don’t think I have ever seen a sex scene in an African movie… (Apart from that Twi Ghanaian porno flick that made the rounds a few years ago, but that looked more like rape and exploitation than anything else. Did anyone watch it? I digress…)
@Mr Jones – With our cultural climate as a context my assessment is that the sex scenes were almost “hot”. Were there any other sex scenes portrayed apart from the married couple? I would have liked to see the sex scene between the air conditioning guy and the “uptight” corporate…now that could have been hot.
@Edward – I am not sure I understand your comment. Are you saying it is not a realistic portrayal of Ghanaian sexuality?
@Nsoromma – Yes, the film does describe some “serious” issues – the malfunctioning of the male penis. I half joke…I liked the fact that the movie “talked about sex”. I don’t know if the film addressed issues though – which is I guess Darian’s “beef” with the entire film
@Darian – breathe… only teasing…you accurately point out the weaknesses in the film. Yes the actresses/actors were in the main, good at their craft. I now have the hots for Chris Attoh. Chris if you ever read my blog “Holla”…
@Sankofa – Was “Life and Living It” another Shirley Frimpong production. This film was good enough for me to watch another one of her productions.
Overall impression: Good effort, glad I watched it
10 comments On “The Perfect Picture”: Picturesque or not…
He was in pain because she kicked him in the nuts!
Yes ‘Life and Living It’ was her first film I believe and you should definitely check it out. It’s nice to see Ghanaians supporting each other. Makes a nice change… Keep up the wonderful work on the blog btw
Hmmm Nana, first of you are spelling my name wrongly. Its K-W-E-G-Y-I-R-B-A.
I knew you will love the idea of the sex scene! Hehehe. For me my problem was the length. Unless you are watching porn, I think sex scenes in movies should leave you wanting more. Did you know the sex scenes in the sensational fatal attraction and monster ball lasted less than a min? You see the longer you keep, the more likely it is for people like me to notice the flaws and say “get off already”…do you get me.
@K-W-E-G-Y-I-R-B-A, what???How possible???No way!
Just teasing…thanks for pointing it out. Have corrected the typo…
Ei! What made you think I would love the idea of the sex scene?
@Nana – Namesake, thanks for clearing that up. I totally missed that.
@Sankofa – Brill! Will look out for it. Thanks for the compliments. Much Appreciated
I wasn’t actually talking about the movie itself. I was talking about the names of the actors/actresses that showed up before the movie began. A name appears and is followed by a face. There was no typical match between the name and the picture shown.
You could rewind the tape (oooops i guess no one uses a VCR nowadays) and watch the intro. If you didnt know the actors you would get the names and faces wrong.
I found the movie bit …ah should i say it, detached from where i am coming from, which is a middle class family with Christian values and my friend who i went to watch it with described it as “The Perfect Kiss” instead of the by its known title because of the many kissing scenes. In all, i will say good picture, terrific acting but i guess the lifestyle of the characters is a very worthy one, maybe a re adaption of the lifestyle to that of average Ghanaian households, instead of most of us ‘dream lifestyle’ will set the story better
I liked the movie…I LOVED the music used in most of the scenes. Some subtle details were even impressive, like when Jackie Appiah viciously bites into a sausage after another “sex-related disappointment” (I don’t even know what that phrase means). I will say though that the content was veeeeery unfortunate, especially the solutions presented for each woman. The fairy-tale air-con dude who was actually rich after all so problem solved. The nympho who adopts a baby boy in the end as her ultimate love affair…indeed very many disturbing cases of women NEEDING a phallus (not necessarily penis) and resolution only comes when each finds it. I need to refine that thought there, but the content left me rather disgruntled. The LAFA also killed things a bit but I agree with Nana, overall good effort.
And YES I am in love (lust) with Chris Attoh…yummy.
@Edward – Thanks for clarifying. I for one did not know the actresses/actors so would have definitely presumed the name followed by a face was a match
@Aba – Yes, I agree it wasn’t representatative of the “typical” Ghanaian set up…which is what I liked about it. It’s nice to have something different from Obraa and Osofo Dadzie
@Preachers Wife – The music was great! I soooo agree with you about the phallus presented as the solution for each woman’s “trobules”….so problematic. I didn’t even think of it that way so thanks for pointing it out
I think you are perhaps closer to the mark in saying that issues surfaced rather than were addressed, however I think it is definately an important step in the right direction in the Ghanaian social pschye.
It was on overall good effort, we Ghanaian’s don’t like big jumps but incremental steps (frustrating as that can be) so while I feel and in parts agree with a lot of the criticism labelled at the film by Kwegyirba and PREACHER’S WIFE…I still cannot help but applaud Shirley Frimpong-Mensah…she managed to entertain the average Ghanaian with some soppiness to the storyline and at the same time shift the film so that it lacked the boring predictability of the typical Ghanaian movie lamented often by the likes of me!
Oh btw…Chris Attoh is MINE! Hands off! lol
I’m like 20 years late on this post but I just saw the movie. Good movie. Impressive.
Who was Chris Attoh’s character’s wife kidding? If only she had loosened up a little that wedding nite, they would have been like 2 silk scarves anchored together at one end, intertwined and swaying in a gentle breeze.
Like ballroom dancing, when performing on the big stage, you dont react every single time your partner steps on your foot. You stay focused on the final goal and over-look the little mishaps.
Chris’ character had no issues getting it up. It was his goody two-shoes wife’s attitude that kept deflating it. Lucky for her, she had a good man who “handled” his needs rather than have another woman take care of those needs.