Dark Side of the Sun: Biyi Bandele on his Struggle to Adapt a Modern Classic

Nigerian novelist and playwright (and now filmmaker) Biyi Bandele on his hard-fought adaptation of Orange Prize-winning novel Half of a Yellow Sun

Feature by Alan Bett | 31 Mar 2014

Biyi Bandele is a large imposing man, deep voiced, yet dwarfed by his own infectious laugh, which he releases liberally. He is 46 years old and adorned with long dreadlocks and a silver specked goatee, blending to give an impression of cool assurance. It’s easy to imagine that his arresting personality played its part in securing the rights and funding for a huge debut feature, the adaptation of the Orange Prize-winning novel Half of a Yellow Sun, the epic story of post-colonial independence and civil war in Nigeria.  

A polymath – successful playwright and novelist are among his many achievements – he’d originally spent years trying and failing to adapt the short story Girls of War by Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe when he ran into Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in London, who told him she had spent the last five years working on a book, Half of a Yellow Sun, and her principal inspiration was, serendipitously enough, Girls at War. A year later Bandele read it “...and it was Girls at War, and more, and more, and more.” Somehow, in place of a short window of Nigerian history, he was now working on a grand composition for his debut film. “Well, you know, it’s called insanity,” he says, laughing deeply.

We discuss whether a Nigerian director was a prescribed part in telling this story of the nation, which opens on its Independence Day celebrations and then moves on to the advent of the horrific civil conflict of the Biafran War in the late 60s. “Right from the start, the moment I read the book, I had a vision,” he explains. “It wasn’t so much I felt it had to be directed by a Nigerian,” he pauses, smiles. “But it had to be directed by me!” And the thunderous laugh rolls out again. 


“A movie has more in common with a short story than a novel” – Biyi Bandele


But was shooting on location in Nigeria a necessity? “I fought really hard for that. You talk about anything set in Africa, the default is for the money people to say, ‘Let’s shoot it in South Africa, it has the infrastructure and crews.’ I’ve been to South Africa many times, I love the country and its people, but it’s not Nigeria. It’s not West Africa. The people have a completely different body language.” 

The plan was for the distinctive character and culture of the land to infuse into Oscar-nominated actor Chiwetel Ejiofor and others making up this strong cast – Thandie Newton and the scene stealing American actress Anika Noni Rose. But Nigerian character is not all that rubbed off. “First I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and on the same day diagnosed with typhoid,” Bandele says, “and a few days later Thandie and about 40 members of my crew had typhoid and another 40 malaria. And we just soldiered on. It wasn’t until I was editing the movie several months later that I found myself just shaking and thinking, ‘Wow, we almost didn’t get this.’” 

Their scheduled eight week shoot was quickly reduced to five, the budget ridiculously meagre for the task. Bandele seemed to be biting off more than he could chew, but on viewing the film it’s clear that if only he had the financial backing to chew a little longer then some flaws might have been polished away. The characters' viewpoints, personified in the very personal first person prose of the novel, are replaced by a more public, third person overview of events. It’s a rare example, these days, of a film that would benefit from a longer running time, something additional budget would have allowed, and something it seems Bandele agrees with in principal.

“A movie has more in common with a short story than a novel,” he explains. “If you’re going to make a completely literally faithful adaptation of a novel you shouldn’t make a movie, you should make a TV series. I’ve written a script that has more in common with a short story – I’ve distilled it to its essence.” When asked if his influences came from the page or screen, the answer is instant and emphatic: “Cinema, my god!” While Bandele’s film may be leaner than Lean, there are certain similarities in its scope and vision, but Bandele is reluctant to agree because, he says chuckling, “they’re going to shoot me down!”

So, after the struggle, the stunted shooting schedule, the typhoid and malaria – all those obstacles screaming that this was never to be – an act by his costume designer runs contrary and guaranteed a plush production packed with period detail. “Over a year ago some company in South Africa had an auction of Nigerian costumes from the 60s, and she bought them, but she had no Nigerian project, she just bought it.”  Evidence of a grand design? He looks at me, full of the belief that made this film happen, and the disbelief that it actually did. “Yeah – I mean seriously!” And I’m treated to a final glorious laugh.

Half of a Yellow Sun is released 11 Apr by Soda Pictures