In 1923 British Colonial Nigeria, Mister Johnson is an oddity -- an educated black man who doesn't really fit in with the natives or the British. He works for the local British magistrate, and considers himself English, though he has never been to England. He is always scheming, trying to get ahead, which lands him in a lot of hot water.
Acting
Maynard Eziashi's heartbreaking grin that never reaches his eyes.
Direction
Beresford finds warmth in cruelty without letting anyone off the hook.
Production
Nigeria locations that feel lived-in, not exotic wallpaper.
Director
Bruce Beresford
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Maynard Eziashi won Best Actor at Berlin for this, his first film role—Brosnan later called his performance 'humbling to watch.'
Based on Joyce Cary's 1939 novel, which Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe famously condemned for its colonial perspective—this adaptation complicates that reading by making Johnson's tragedy unmistakable.
US
