A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE MOVIE MISTER JOHNSON

 INTRODUCTION
 Mister Johnson is a 1990 American drama film based on the 1939 novel by Irish author Joyce Cary. The film, set in 1929, stars first-time actor Maynard Eziashi as a Nigerian who works as a clerk for the British civil service and adopts the style of the British colonialists in the belief that he is a true Englishman. It was the first American film to be shot on location in Nigeria. The film was given a PG-13 rating in the United States and a 12 rating by the British Board of Film Classification.

 SYNOPSIS
 The title character in Mister Johnson, Bruce Beresford’s colonial drama, is a smilingly cheery Nigerian clerk who sports a pith helmet and a cream-colored three-piece suit and considers himself, in spirit, a true Englishman. Mister Johnson is tanty and eager, and he’s an expert at charming the British officials who have come to West Africa to expand their empire. Yet he doesn’t make enough money to support his relatively cushy life-style (which includes a beautiful African wife whom he has purchased, on a kind of monthly lease basis(he pays her bride price on monthly basis) from the neighboring tribe). And so he steals from the coffers of his white employer, stolid district officer Harry Rudbeck to met up with his luxurious needs. He got caught up with his stealing habit and was sacked from his job.this was bad news for him because he need to pay his monthly bride price to keep his wife, so he decided to steal one more time but his plans didn’t work out, he ended up killing his boss and that was the end for him. He was sentence to death.

SYNATAGMATIC REVIEW
The movie “mister Johnson ”starts with a slide play displaying the names of the casts and crew with music followed in the background. The first scene was introduced with a long shot of Mister Johnson with his soon-to-be wife Laughing and making sexual remarks as she washes clothes in a pond .the next scene shows mister Johnson on his way to work, the camera was focused on the people heading his direction to ask their for money , he succeeds to pass through after convincing the people their money will be returned . The third scene opens with a medium shot allowing the audience to receive the message being pass out, here his boss(harry Rudbeek) asked him why he was late for work and he replied the cloak was fast today and gave other excuses to save himself . For the most scenet Mister Johnson is exuberant, glib and carefree, with a measure of diligence included. These traits stand Mister Johnson well, as he encounters one adversity after another in the course of his career. The story continue with a follow up scene of Harry Rudbeck displaying his obsession to build a great road into the wilderness and connect his outpost with the capital. Perhaps he sees himself as a local version of an empire-builder of the earlier generation, Cecil Rhodes, who dreamed of an all-British route all the way from Cape Town to Cairo. There is, alas, not enough money for the road, and it looks like work will have to be halted until Johnson suggests to Rudbeck that they juggle the books a little, robbing Peter to pay Paul, until the next year's budget comes through. Rudbeck agrees, but when the deception is discovered it is Johnson who must be dismissed for the bookkeeping infraction. Loss of his position and status is a serious blow for Johnson, who has a good many debts to pay. But he soon finds another job, working as a clerk for Sargy Gollup, the hard-drinking British owner of the local general store. Gollup has a drunken love-hate relationship with Africans, whom he sometimes beats "for their own good," and the desperate Mister Johnson agrees with him - partly because he has no other choice, but also because in his increasingly confused mind, he identifies with him. There is obviously going to be a tragedy, and it is equally obvious that it is Johnson who is going to suffer, despite all of the glories of British justice that he so admires. There is a genuine sadness in the scene is where Johnson forgives Harry Rudbeck for the sentence he has to carry out, and even sympathizes with him and tries to cheer him up, these scene was introduced with sad music and close up shot to get details . Rudbeck maintains silence about his own guilt even while outwardly continuing to be a humane and reasonable administrator, and the film's last scenes take on a terrible sadness because of this silence. The continuous shot, scene and sequences achieved through cuts, fades and dissolves added beauty to the whole movie and different camera shot and angles which created different effects

 PARADIGMATIC ANALYSIS OF MISTER JOHNSON
 Setting of the movie
 The film was shot in Toro, Nigeria, using mostly local actors.[5] It was the first American film to be shot on location in Nigeria. The setting of the movie was that of the colonial era in the northern part of Nigeria.

 The dominant themes
: The major theme in this book is the colonialism of Nigeria by the British. This period lasted from 1901 to 1960. Johnson was educated at a mission and want to be very much like the British rulers, even though they where very condescending to him. A good example is how Celia called him Mr Wog, or how Blore couldn’t even be bother the be angry at him. Johnson wanted his wife to be a proper English woman, which of course she had no interest in. But that is not the only theme. Johnson was very eager to please everyone around him, and as such ran up debts, which got him in a cycle of debt that ultimately lead to his fate. He is childish in many ways.
 Clash in culture
 Racism

 Shot And How The Were Used in Mister Johnson All type of camera shots were used in Mister Johnson for different purpose, to create an impression on the audience
Extremely long shot: these shot were used in different scene to establish the fact that the environment was that of the colonial era filled with mountains, hills, streams and forest,etc.the first two scene was introduced with a extremely long shot making the environment known to the viewers.these shot is use to capture all the characters at the same time
Long shot : these short is always used to introduced a scene before any other shot could be use in Mister johnson. long shot focuses on the characters and their role.
 Medium shot; scenes that involved communication between the character made used of medium shot so the audience can get the message that is being delivered. These shot was used in most of the scene e.g the first scene after being introduced with an extremely long shot, the medium shot was used when the was a dialogue between Johnson and bamu ( his wife)
 Close up shot: these shot were used in the movie to get details of character or object. The scene Johnson was captured for murdering his former boss, close up shot was applied to get details of how bad his conditions was at that moment
 . Extremely close up shot :these shots were used to capture the expression of the character or an object, this shot focuses on a particular area of an object or character eg : the firstsl scene where jobnson express how beautiful bamu breast was, extremely close up shot was used to view the breast area
 CAMERA ANGLES UTILIZED
 Camera angle used in the production of Mister Johnson are : Eye level shot Above eye level Below eye level shot High angle shot low angle shot. This shot were all used in different scene to create anImpression on the veiwers.
 SOUND
 The soundtrack, too, is commendable, especially in quieter moments once Johnson realizes his fate and, in the scene that probably won Eziashi Best Actor at the 1990 Venice Film Festival, the careful balance of him singing and ambient noise amplify the inevitably tragic end. Music and other other that were used in the movie were perfect
 CHARACTERS AND THEIR ROLES
Mister Johnson : Mister Johnson,"mister Johnson is an African civil servant, known to all as Mister Johnson, who works as a clerk in the office of the British district administrator. Mister Johnson, played in a performance of great humor, grace and desperation, has adopted the values of Britain so enthusiastically that he even thinks of himself as British, and wears a white tropical suit and leather dress shoes even in the summer's fierce heat. He speaks of "our" standards and "our" institutions, and places his trust in his district officer while failing to understand that the purpose of British law in Nigeria is to protect the British and subdue Africans like himself.
 HARRY RUDBEEK: harry is mister Johnson boss, he is portrayed to be kind, smart, and forgives most of mister Johnson mistakes. His obsession with building a road was one of the road. That lead to death of mister Johnson. He is a true friend to mister Johnson, this attributes was shown in the the scene where he sent expensive wine to Johnson while he was in prison and his decision to shoot johnson instead of hanging him to death which was in accordance to the law. He lost lost his job as the official general for being a good friend
 SARGY GOLLUP : he is the owner of the shop where mister Johnson used to work before he was caught stealing and sacked for it. Sargy was kind to mister Johnson and even liked him, he shared his wine with Johnson and praise him for being so intelligent. Thou mister Johnson accidentally murdered him while trying to escape after caught stealing.
 CELIA RUDBECK : she is the wife of harry rudbeek and was also fond of mister Johnson, she even cried she he was executed. BAMI: she is mister Johnson wife, her bride price was paid monthly basis . she is simple and easy going , her husband forces her to wear English cloths but she refuses and says the make her feel u comfortable .
BENJAMIN: he works with mister Johnson at sargy gollup shop. He also visited mister Johnson when he was in prison
 WAZIRI;He is the traditional officer who is incahrge of solving little cases in the community. He ask mister Johnson to steal his boss document and pays him for it

 LIGHTING
 The amount of light used in the movie was perfect. Directional and diffussional lighting were used in the production of the movie Mister Johnson
OBJECT AND SCENIC ELEMENT
 Calabash: bamu used Calabash in fetching water in the stream
 Guns : A gun was used by harry Rudbeck to shoot mister Johnson in the second to the last scene
Hats: hats were worn by the white men to protect theirself from the sun in The movie and mister Johnson also wore hat in most of the scene.
 Machetes hoes and sticks: the village used this object in clearing the bushes in the process of building the road.

 GRAPHICS
The graphics of the movies mister Johnson was perfect . Considering the year (1991)the movie was produced the pictures came out very detailed and clear to the viewers. The graphics of the movie stands out till today as one of the best of its time
 RHETORICAL TROPES
These are aesthetic elements that are used to persuade viewer in believing something is real. These could be seen in the scene where mister Johnson was shot with a gun, the gun shot sound and the blood flowing from his body were used to persuade the audience to believe that he was really shot. Connotations and denotation

 REFERENCE
 1. D'Angelo, Mike. "The director of Driving Miss Daisy chased that Oscar winner with Mister Johnson". Film.
2.^ a b c Sinyard, Neil. "Mister Johnson: Off the Beaten Track". The Criterion Collection.
 3. ^ a b Tunney, Tom (1 January 2000). "Mister Johnson". Empire.
 4. ^ a b c Fitzgerald, Michael (2015). "A Dream Fulfilled: Michael Fitzgerald". Mister Johnson (DVD). Criterion Collection
 5. ^ a b Beresford, Bruce (2015). "The Stuff of Drama: Bruce Beresford". Mister Johnson (DVD). Criterion Collection.
 6. ^ Maslin, Janet (22 March 1991). "Master of Manipulation: Cary's 'Mister Johnson' via Beresford" – via NYTimes.com.