Breaking Baz @ Cannes: How The Filmmaking Esiri Brothers & Sophie Okonedo Put ‘Clarissa’ In The Spotlight
The Esiri brothers have adapted Virginia Woolf's novel Mrs. Dalloway into a contemporary film titled Clarissa. The film, set in present-day Lagos, features Sophie Okonedo as a more independent version of the character. The brothers aim to portray the character as a person beyond her relationship with her husband, reflecting on the role of women in Nigerian society.
- ▪Chuko and Arie Esiri's film Clarissa reinterprets Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway.
- ▪Sophie Okonedo plays the title role as a contemporary woman in Lagos, Nigeria.
- ▪The Esiri brothers emphasize the importance of portraying women as independent figures in a patriarchal society.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
Chuko and Arie Esiri Baz Bamigboye/Deadline When twin brothers Arie and Chuko Esiri decided to adapt Virginia Woolf’s 1925 novel Mrs. Dalloway and give it the title of Clarissa, her Christian name, they say they were “freeing her” from being someone’s property, someone’s wife. It’s as if the character has been freed from the shackles and allowed to be herself. “That’s the idea, for her to be a person more than Richard’s wife,” says Chuko, referring to the name of her husband. Sophie Okonedo plays Clarissa as a contemporary woman in present-day Lagos, Nigeria, and she seems more independent than how she’s characterized in the novel which is set in the years following the end of World War I.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Deadline.
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