Treating Luckie’s “Silence Is Golden”

Luckie Lawson has certainly come of age. In her debut effort as producer/actress, she brings this maturity to the fore in treating very tactfully the story of Kayla [Luckie Lawson], a modern day regular wife who decides to pursue her dream of becoming a writer. Though her endeavors turn out very well, it resorts in a stand-off with her husband, Xavier[Ramsey Nouah], which threatens to destroy her once very happy marriage.

The subject matter in this movie is not new. Matter of fact, it is part of an age long debate over the ability of a woman to become successful in her chosen career and still manage to please her husband and family.

Credit must be given to Luckie as she uses tart and wit in her portrayal of her on screen characters thus allowing her audience to warm up to them right from the start. Kayla does not come off from the start as a fiercely independent career woman. On the contrary she’s more subdued, a pretty and faithful wife who abandons her dreams to follow her husband’s and will obviously do all to make him happy; never mind that she is very bad at her job. Xavier is treated as a caring husband, who does not seem to mind his wife’s incompetence’s as his work assistant so far as she continues to work for him.  It is only when she decides to follow her dreams and actually succeeds at it, that there begins to be friction between husband and wife.  At this point, her independent woman nature as well as his chauvinistic tendencies begins to shine through.

It’s been 5 years since her decision to follow her dreams and write her book; by doing so she left his company and his heart. In those years she seems to have paid more attention to her literary endeavors , leaving her husband feeling neglected in the process. Her book has becomes a bestseller and his company is on the brink of bankruptcy. In the midst of all her fame and his problems, one cannot blame the man for feeling a tinge of jealousy and inadequacy.  His chauvinistic nature therefore manifests itself in his sudden chagrin for her success and stand off-ish behavior towards her. Kayla however is a different kind of independent woman character,she tries to make amends for all the time that has passed between but is  met with rejection at every attempt. In this sense, Luckie explores a different kind of feminist in Kayla.  She is less fiercely independent and tries to encourage her husband to bask in her success as well and will keep trying despite his rejection. Xavier on the hand is your regular African male, intimidated by his wife’s success in the face of his own problems and will see every action or inaction on her part as  her way of  disrespecting him. Statements as, “Well, Kayla has always done what she wanted, and it’s gone well for her,so I leave it to her to decide for herself ,”  and  “Oh I totally forgot that my opinions don’t matter anymore, ” were a clear indication of his state of mind at this time. To be fair to the man as well, it is not quite right that the husband be neglected while his wife pursues her ambitions, only to be expected to succumb easily when she needs him once again.

When Xavier gets an opportunity to save his dying company by sleeping outside his marriage, he goes in for it. One might view it as exacting revenge on his wife for her neglect;but on the other he may just have done it to save his company and prove his worth as a man who could match up to his wife’s success. In an ironic role reversal, the resulting affair puts chauvinistic Xavier right under the manipulative control of Aisha[Chika Ike], his influential mistress.

Again Kayla’s independent woman nature is brought to the fore when she finds out about the man’s infidelity. While most women would make a scene and get dramatic; she decides to just move out, be on her own and concentrate on her work. The man is therefore left playing the role of the vulnerable heartbroken lover.

The women certainly seem to have it all, with Xavier having to contend with searching for his wife and having to co-tow to the whims of his manipulative mistress.

Jimmy Bangoura’s vast experience in film directing shows through in this production, the scenes do not drag on for longer than necessary and the acting is superb. Luckie’s plays the lead creditably and the on screen chemistry between her and Ramsey Nouah will leave audiences enthralled for most of the movie. The on screen characters are few, and they certainly impress. The dialogue however seemed a little restrained and always sounded incomplete for some reason.

Nonetheless, Luckie was obviously looking to do a contemporary Ghanaian production, and she did it quite well. The costuming is absolutely chic, especially Ramsey’s collection of suits worn throughout the movie. The locations are some of Accra’s very best, and the D.O.P’s shots of the Royal Richester,   The ending to this movie is quite gratifying to the audience and though not quite unpredictable, Luckie made sure to leave a few interesting twists in there for her on-screen characters and the audience alike. Quite a good watch!

Story by Derrick Addai