Historically speaking, Living in Bondage is not the first Nigerian home video. A few others like the barely remembered "okpuru anyanwu(Under the Sun}" had been made but with mediocre results. But LIB because of its nationwide success launched what will later become known as the Nollywood Industry.
The story of a man sacrificing his wife for money is not really an original one as we have heard such stories in our everyday lives. But to portray it in a film was the first time it was being done.
The film still remains a classic although with the benefit of hindsight, it is easy to see that there were unnecessary scenes that dragged the films,and some that were downright ridiculous.
Some of the ridiculous sins were the ritualistic scenes that showed the ritualists salivating comically for a taste of blood and brief strangulation in the part 2 that was stupid.
But by and large the acting from Kenneth Okonkwo(the anti hero) of the movie and others were fair. The person who really stood out was the Chief Priest. He was really menacing and chilling and it was obvious he enjoyed his role.
Of course the film provided one of the most memorable movie Nollywood quotes which roughly translates to "Paulo, you did not explain this very well to me" The directing and cinematography was also one dimensional. All this may be forgiven considering both cast and crew were largely experimenting with making a main stream movie.
Stll their courage and pioneering spirit is highly laudable and despite its flaws, the film is still an entertaining one to millions of Nigerians even in comparison to modern Nollywood movies.
2 out of 3 found this helpful