Blood and Oil (TV 2010)

Alice, a British-Nigerian PR exec, travels to the Niger Delta to represent an oil firm during a hostage crisis.

Director:

David Attwood

Writer:

Guy Hibbert

Stars:

Naomie Harris, David Oyelowo, Jodhi May

1 win.

Cast

Credited cast:
Naomie Harris	...	Alice Omuka
David Oyelowo	...	Keme Tobodo
Jodhi May	...	Claire Unwin
Paterson Joseph	...	Ed Daly
Nyasha Hatendi	...	Noel Ijeoma
Chiké Okonkwo	...	Ebi
Osi Okerafor	...	Lucky
Sam Dede	...	Gorvenor
Katleho Ramaphakela	...	John Nanawe
Chinwe Odukwe	...	Voice Actor

Storyline

Mark Unwin is one of four employees of Krielsen International oil company captured by militant group MEND whilst they are working in Nigeria. His wife Claire flies out with Alice Onuko, Nigerian-born, British-raised P.R. for Krielsen. When the women arrive in Port Harcourt they are told a ransom has been agreed - as is the norm since MEND depends on ransoms to fund itself. However when civil rights worker Keme, acting as go-between, escorts the women to the handover place they find only the corpses of Mark and his co-workers. Next day Claire meets a journalist who tells her the men were killed by the Nigerian government after their release by MEND and he is himself later found dead. She also learns that he was having an affair with Angel, a prostitute, whom she confronts but who is whisked away in a car before she can say anything. Alice is equally shocked to find that her father has made his money less than scrupulously from oil. Keme is jailed but Alice levers Tunde, the police ...

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

UK

Release Date:

29 March 2010 (UK)

Also Known As:

Sweet Delta

Filming Locations:

South Africa

Company Credits

Production Co:

Film Afrika Worldwide, Tiger Aspect Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

160 min 160 min (2 episodes)

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Quotes

Ed Daly: There's no shame in it, Alice. Legitimate and illegitimate have no meaning, because everything is corrupt, and therefore nothing is corrupt.

User Reviews

Finely crafted drama

I almost did not bother watching this after reading the first two reviews on here, so thanks to jegpad for persuading me to give it a go. This was top notch both as a political thriller and a human drama, with fine performances from both the two female leads, Naomi Harris and Jodhi May. The script was constructed tightly, with twists and intrigues enough to hold the viewer's attention, yet filmed to allow the performances room to breathe, so the full emotional impact was felt.

The film also provided an enlightening insight into the politics of a part of the world our mass media largely shy away from, an issue touched on in the drama. We would rather not know. (A theme cleverly mirrored in the discoveries the two protagonists make about the men in their lives.) And while the crushing institutionalised corruption and exploitation were exposed, and with it our complicity as western consumers, there was sufficient sense of humanity to spare the film from utter bleakness.

Oh and to the poster who thought it too neat that "the one person who knows something and is willing to let her know is the kindly gardener she had met earlier", she had met him because he worked on the grounds of her husbands apartment, which was also the reason he knew of the comings and goings.