A movie titled Welcome to Maula Prison produced by 4Kaya Filmz offers a rare glimpse into prison’s life in the Malawian context.
From the opening scenes, one is immediately greeted by the chaos which form the backline of the plot, if there is any. In the movie, inmates, old and young, unruly and pious, drunkards and sober, all mingle and mind their business amid the chaotic events.
Amid the frenzy, inmates secretely drink beer, play different games, lift weights, learn courses such as tailoring and read the bible.
Through the eyes of the main character Jaliwa, played by Amos Msekandiana, who finds himself in prison because of his involvement in forex fraud, one sees how dehumanising conditions of prison affect inmates.
Tumpe Mtaya again rolled into his Phwedo character name from his debut feature film School Days.
He did not just adopt his former character’s name, he has carried over his bullying traits and is a known notorius inmate who prides in snatching fellow inmate’s meals.
As if that is not enough, Phwedo, who also calls people from outside prison and tricks them into sending him money through mobile platforms, frames other inmates for things they did not do.
In portraying the struggle for survival made difficult by poor diet and limited space, the plot mirrors events in a lawless environment where only the strong survive.
Maula Prison has turned into a jungle where self-preservation is the ultimate goal.
Corrupt prison officers such as Ndolera, played by Kendall Kamwendo, who connive with outsiders to murder inmates for money and other inmates who violate human rights, contradicts the concept of reformation and rehabilitation.
Under modern prison services, inmates are not supposed to starve or sleep in packed spaces.
But all is not lost as amid that hopelessness, inmates are learning tailoring and vegetable farming which will help them become productive citizens after the expiry of their jail terms.
Seeing how distraught a young inmate is, Jaliwa consoles him: “All hope is not lost. At your age, you can start reading books so that you take part in national examinations. Who knows, you can make it to the university as other inmates before.”
While the movie may have successfully depicted random events in prison (in a modern context), there is no clear storyline.
A storyline is crucial in a movie because it offers a window for people to see or follow events. Although the movie uses Jaliwa a main character to tell how he survives murder plots twice, his story lacks a clear pattern of events to live up to a recognisable plot.
Just a reminder that a plot or movie’s action is a crucial element as it shows how events unfold. Nature, a plot shows events in chronological order or in cause and effect, as it were.
For instance, it appears that the corrupt senior prison officer Ndolera, who acts as an antagonist or villain, falls from his position and returns to the same prison as an inmate through the plotting of Jaliwa, Mrs Jaliwa (Desiree Namachotsa), other inmates and upright prison officers.
Yet, the movie fails to show how coordinated the scheme to defeat Ndolera was. It appears as if the president’s visit to the prison resulted in Ndolera’s downfall when it might have been a coincidence.
However, one should not confuse plot with story. On other hand, a story is what we see happening after the cause and effect of events. A scriptwriter has freedom to open his story/movie on a climax or at a low level and build the conflict as the story advances.
Failure to produce a plot with basic elements is an injustice to a movie because there is a saying that no good studio or best actor can redeem a bad script.
While still on plot, conflict is another crucial element. This can be internal or external. Although inmates clash at times and others appear distressed, these are just sporadic conflicts that are not tied to the main plot to add value to the story.
Also conspicuously missing is a soundtrack, whether it is by design or oversight, its missing has robbed an important aspect of the movie, mood. The beauty of watching a movie is that it evokes people’s emotions and this can be done in many ways, including the use of music or soundtrack.
Besides poor plotting, failure to depict conflict and creating many scenes that do not add value to the main plot, the other area producers might have overlooked is dialogue.
In a movie or play, dialogue is a window into the world created by the writer. However, dialogue in a movie is different from ordinary conversation in everyday life. In a movie, dialogue tells the story. It helps us know about what is happening, as such, any words spoken between characters or a soliloquy should add value to the movie.
In a positive way, the script writer nailed it with the introduction of a clown who plays the character of a drunkard.
This clown, a proverbial chitsilu cha mmudzi, delivers honest truths to fellow inmates, punctuating some lighter moments in a rather boring environment such as Maula Prison.
