Breath of Life births on streaming platform, prime video

The movie, Breath of Life, was on Friday, released by Prime Video, the streaming platform, into the waiting hands of many movie lovers, who had seen the thriller and had longed to the see the entire episode.

The film is centred on Timi, a gifted clergyman, turns into an old, lonely curmudgeon, when his family is tragically taken from him. Through Elijah, a humble man with big dreams of becoming a priest, Timi not only learns to live again, but also realises the purpose for all his gifts and wealth.

Breath of Life is a poignant reminder that even in the darkeest of times, the human spirit can prevail and blossom, guided by empathy, compassion, and the unwavering belief in the goodness of humanity.

This is why the movie offers a captivating tale message of resilience, hope, and the transformative power of human connection.

The movie was written and directed by Bodunrin Sasore, produced by Eku Edewor with Derin Adeyokunnu as executive director.

Speaking on the choice of the title, Breath of Life, Sasore said: “We try to think through a title that is interesting, but took into consideration marketing concerns. And if you watch the film, you will see that it’s around purpose.

“Breath of Life is colloquial as we hear people say that all the time, breath of life, breath of life. So we felt that it would be a good one for the marketing, especially as it is a phase that we are all used to, to help drive the movie. The film is about purpose, giving breath for a reason and then about a journey of man’s entire life.”

He disclosed that the initial drive was to tell a story about male to male relationships. “We do not often do movies around male to male relationships in Nigeria. We always talk about male to female, in fact women dominate Nollywood. The stories are typically skewed towards women, may be because more women watch Nollywood. You even find a lot of women to women relationships, sisters, cousins, colleagues, people who are chasing the same guys, all kinds of things. But you just never find male-to-male relationships.

“So, it was when we arrived at that, we then started to build the characters around the theme. It became pretty early to us that one of the most touching or most warming is likely to be relationship between employers and employees because one of the big things around us is class separation, and hierarchy. We have this distinct gap in Nigeria, especially as the middle class is no longer visible.

“We have some upper and upper middle class and we have some lower class. And inside that spread of gap, I found out that we often have some meaningful relationships that we never often talked about because we live as a community, and a village in Africa. This is as opposed to in other western world.

“Even though the upper class may be in the top one percent, but that one top percent in Nigeria and nay Africa has a driver, maid and others that are very close to him. I thought one of the quickest, most impactful relationships is to show that ultimate divide in class and how that relationship goes and then to make it to be forced together. Like I said, if you take that top one per cent, he has a number of support staff around him. So, I felt what if we make it someone who doesn’t have anybody around him, no family, no business, no other people around him, and then you see how you shorten that gap between that person and any other person from a different part of the world and background.

“And once we forced these two people together, the rest of things started to make themselves. So, we talk about Timi’s past, who has a beautiful wife, Bridget and their daughter. And then Elijah, who has his own romantic interest, so Hannah showed up. So, it kept going. It was just sourced from how could we tell a male to male relationship that is not normally meant to be together.”

On what is the central message, Sasore said it about living for a purpose. He added that is about getting people to ponder if they are really making impacts with their efforts and engagement.

“Are we giving purpose to what we are doing and even from personal standpoint? It is a question of what significant is your journey and how did you grow in your life, because the older we get, we find out this life is nothing.”

On the contrast in the film where a wealthy and clergy relied on a maid to weather the storm was deliberate, Sasore said it was very much so. “What was interesting about Elijah’s character is that he does not want to live a life of servitude. And that is true about most people. You find yourself in domestic service not because you wanted to grow up to be a houseboy. It is situation that makes ‘crayfish to bend’. But Elijah’s case was particular because he was a graduate and just could not find a job anywhere, so he picked up being a houseboy.

“For instance, there is a guy where I go to play basketball, he is a security guard. When you talk to him, you will know he is a graduate, extremely eloquent and extremely sharp. And anytime he sees an opportunity to engage anyone he feels could help his cause, he will say, I’m looking for a job, I have some certification. And you will just realise that it is a failure of our society, that someone like that is working for N28,000 a month as a security guard. That is what we meant; life humbles you into a position sometimes. But the interesting thing about Elijah was the way he approached his situation with all sense of diligence, and always wanted to be the best at what he does. And this reflected in his attitude and engagement.”

The producer, Eku Edewor, spotlighted the character of Elijah saying he does his task well and with a sense of diligence, reason he calls himself house manager, when he was referred to as house boy.

For the Executive Director, Derin Adeyokunnu, at what point did he think of creating something around the central message. He said: “Because of limited resources and budget we have access to in Nollywood, we can’t do a proper action movie, that involves destroying cars, and blowing up houses. So, you cannot do so many things.

“As a result, we think of what kind of story can we tell giving the budget that we have and the resources we have access to. But sometimes ago, when I hanged out at BB Sasore’s house, with the mum, the brothers around and at times we gist around the stories of past years including how their dad acted and engaged them then, and it is usually always hilarious. So, I felt if we can recreate some of these stuffs in film. There are too many stories about their dad who dealt with 10 boys in the house.

“So, I felt how can we make a film of this and we started thinking about other movies we have seen in the past that have men dealing with sons or younger men in their life or that they mentored. And a number of films came to mind. And most of us in Nigeria grow up with a father that we don’t communicate with as much as we would like to but we know they love us and they take care of us. So, we wanted to explore that too.”

Breath of Life features a stellar cast of talented actors such as Wale Ojo who delivered a compelling performance as Timi; Chimezie Imo brought warmth and authenticity to the role of Elijah, the humble young man who becomes Timi’s housekeeper. And then Genoveva Umeh, Ademola Adedoyin, and Eku Edewor lend their talents to supporting roles, adding depth and dimension to the film’s narrative. Sam Dede, Tina Mba, and Sambasa Nzeribe brought their veteran presence to the cast, enriching the film with their captivating portrayals.

Zubair (ANIPR) is Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to Honourable Minister, FMHAPA.