Half of a Yellow Sun
Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave) and Thandie Newton (Crash) star in this drama, a chronicle of family ties and civil war. Set in Nigeria in the 1960s, two sisters return home after an English education as the violence of the Nigerian Civil War looms in the background. The feature debut from celebrated playwright Biyi Bandele.
Olanna (Newton) moves in with her politically-minded lover Odenigbo (Ejiofor) when she comes home to Nigeria, while her sister Kainene (Anika Noni Rose) falls for an Englishman studying the nation's arts. As Nigeria's independence becomes more than a subject of intellectual speculation and conflict erupts between different ethnic groups within the country, personal betrayals threaten to unravel familial and romantic ties.
- Director:
- Biyi Bandele (feature debut)
- Writer:
- Biyi Bandele
- Cast:
- Chiwetel EjioforThandie NewtonAnika Noni RoseHakeem Kae-KazimJoseph MawleJohn Boyega
Reviews & comments
Variety
pressAttractive adaptation... a diverting but surface-level saga that, true to its title, feels less than whole.
Urban Cinefile
pressA profound and insightful glimpse into a troubled nation and the consequences on its people...
Total Film
pressBandele’s keen handling of cast and domestic conflict makes for a nuanced historical epic.
Time Out
pressBravely takes on too broad a canvas with too narrow a budget, but it’s a relevant saga that’s worth telling.
SBS
pressRather frothy... Limiting insight to the upper classes of the Igbo and little else – with rather quaint newsreels to plugs the gaps – feels misguided.
Hollywood Reporter
pressNewton and Ejiofor elevate this lush if fundamentally soapy tale of a family surviving the Nigerian civil war.
Variety
pressAttractive adaptation... a diverting but surface-level saga that, true to its title, feels less than whole.
Urban Cinefile
pressA profound and insightful glimpse into a troubled nation and the consequences on its people...
Total Film
pressBandele’s keen handling of cast and domestic conflict makes for a nuanced historical epic.
Time Out
pressBravely takes on too broad a canvas with too narrow a budget, but it’s a relevant saga that’s worth telling.
SBS
pressRather frothy... Limiting insight to the upper classes of the Igbo and little else – with rather quaint newsreels to plugs the gaps – feels misguided.
Hollywood Reporter
pressNewton and Ejiofor elevate this lush if fundamentally soapy tale of a family surviving the Nigerian civil war.
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