“The Woman King,” directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, was inspired by the actual events of the all-women warriors in the 1800s that protected the African kingdom of Dahomey with skills and fierceness that are unlike anything that has been seen before.
The film is an excellent lesson about the history some people may not know and it highlights women as the strong, independent and powerful humans that they are, which is something you don’t see very often in movies today.
Not only was this move action-packed from the start, but it was also very significant to watch production-wise and was genuinely a good look into what the Agojie tribe did in West Africa. Although “The Woman King” was based on actual events, it was also fictionalized and dramatized.
In interviews, leading star Viola Davis describes the process of making this movie as a lot of hard work. It’s not that she was just acting as a warrior, but she had to become one for sure and it was challenging.
“I was 56 when I trained to be this warrior, five hours a day, an hour and a half of weight training, three and a half hours of martial arts, punching, 10.0 on the treadmill. This is the god complex – and as I was running on that treadmill, I said I’m gonna have a heart attack,” said Davis.
Not only was the training process very difficult, but the movie also took about seven years to film because of everything that went into it and Hollywood movies tend to take longer.
The acting that was in this film was phenomenal and it could have Davis up for an Oscar because of it.
While some of it was dramatized, the tribe was real and there were about 6,000 members at one point. The Dahomey society had an extremely high view of women, and the idea of the Woman King did in fact exist.
There was some controversy when “The Woman King,” came out due to some of the events not being exactly how it was in reality. For example, the slave trade and the ending of it weren’t the most accurate, but it was still a great film.
Overall this movie should be watched not only for its history but also because it was an adrenaline rush throughout the film. The showcasing of women was spectacular and overpowering, which can influence the views of females everywhere.