Farming (2018)

Directed by: Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje | 101 minutes | drama | Actors: Damson Idris, Kate Beckinsale, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Leke Adebayo, Ademola Adedoyin, Adejola Adeyemi, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Michael Akinsulire, David Alase, Zephan Hanson Amissah, Brooklyn Appiah, Shane Attwooll, Zach Ban Ajovery,, The Rachael Barklem-Biggs, Cosmo Jarvis, John Dagleish

Not much is known about the phenomenon of ‘farming’ outside the UK. In the 1960s and 1970s, immigrants from West Africa in particular housed their newborn offspring with white, working-class families in British cities. In this way, both the father and the mother could follow an education or work full-time and the white stay-at-home mothers looked after their child(ren). Of course this was done for a fee and in principle it was a temporary arrangement. The immigrant parents also felt that their children would be better off in the poor but relatively quiet white working-class neighborhoods than in their own neighbourhood. However, the film ‘Farming’ (2018) by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje proves that ‘farming’ left an undeniable mark on the child. The Brit with Nigerian roots, who we mainly know as an actor from films such as ‘The Mummy Returns’ (2001), ‘The Bourne Identity’ (2002) and ‘Suicide Squad’ (2016) and TV series such as “Oz”, “ Lost” and “Game of Thrones” make a very personal debut as a writer and director with this film. He based the story on his own experiences, although the events here and there are a bit too strong to achieve the desired effect on the viewer.

It’s late 1967 when the parents of the just six-week-old Enitan – the alter ego of Akinnuoye-Agbaje – deliver their child to the white working class Carpenter family in the port town of Tilbury, in the south east of the United Kingdom. If the Carpenters take care of their child, Enitan’s Nigerian parents can complete their studies in London so that they can secure a good future for their offspring at a later date. Although small, Ingrid (Kate Beckinsale) and Jack (Lee Ross) Carpenter bring in as many African children as possible; they find easy money. Because Jack is a truck driver and therefore often away from home, the children are mainly at the mercy of Ingrid, who is not necessarily heartless but who does have her mean moments and – probably barely consciously – regularly racially treats the children. She also has her favourites, and the introverted dreamer Enitan (Zephan Hanson Amissah) certainly isn’t. She hits him harder than the other kids. Even on the street and at school, Enitan does not have an easy time in the poor and for the most part snow white community in Tilbury. It goes so far as to hate his own skin color and try to scrub the black off with soap or try to ‘whitewash’ himself with talcum powder.

When he is about eight years old, his parents have finished their studies and they take the young Enitan to Nigeria. But he is also out of place there; the rituals of the tribe to which his family belongs frighten him and he does not understand the language. In fact, you can say that he does not really belong anywhere and does not find the safety and security that a child needs. He is sent back to the UK, where he continues to be treated as a second-class citizen. In his teens, Enitan (now portrayed by the enigmatic Damson Idris) is targeted by a local group of skinheads, led by the sadistic Levi (John Dagleish), who seems unerringly sensing Enitan’s racial identity. and therefore, after having first severely humiliated and mistreated him, admits him into the group. Not because he begins to like the boy, but to exploit him as bait, perverted mascot and scapegoat. Enitan finally has a sense of belonging and is even tempted to attack innocent black victims. Ingrid is furious with the boy, but tries to convince him that he is wrong. Also, the gentle teacher Ms. Dapo (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) throws out a lifebuoy several times, but both can’t stop Enitan from sliding into a nihilistic skinhead life, which inevitably leads to life-threatening violence.

Akinnuoye-Agbaje, who, in addition to being a writer, director and producer, has also taken on the role of Enitan’s father Femi, worked on this film for no less than fifteen years. For the sake of authenticity, he filmed as much as possible in the locations from his childhood, including in the actual home of the Carpenters. Although his own childhood was not nearly as extreme as that of the protagonist in his film, there are great parallels to be drawn: apart from his own experiences with farming and a short-lived return to Nigeria that didn’t turn out well, Akinnuoye-Agbaje went through much like Enitan suffered an identity crisis in his teens that led him to flirt with the skinhead movement. The film exudes that personal involvement in every possible way. Nevertheless, the debuting filmmaker made certain choices to make his story smoother, for example by boosting his experiences as a skinhead. The story doesn’t need that; we are captivated enough, especially thanks to the strong acting of the two young actors who take on the role of Enitan. The bigger names in the cast, Beckinsale and Mbatha-Raw, unfortunately don’t come into their own. The latter because her role is simply not developed enough, Beckinsale because she is completely miscast as a cockney mother hen of the ‘big mouth, small heart’ type. There are a lot of actresses in the UK who could have played the role of Ingrid more convincingly. With the exception of Enitan, the characters are quite stereotypical, especially the skinheads who have an intriguing front man with Dagleish, but they seem less human than the skins in, for example, ‘This is England’ (2007).

It is brave of Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje to dare to share his personal experiences with the outside world in the form of this film. He put his heart and soul into the film and the message he wanted to tell has come across. Certainly for a debut film ‘Farming’ is more than successful, thanks also to the great young protagonist Damson Idris, although there is plenty of room for improvement and it could all be a bit more subtle and refined