One of Viola Davis’ most iconic roles is already her most recent turn in ‘The Woman King’ as Nanisca, a warrior who led the real-life Dahomey Amazons.
The film, which is available on Netflix, was one of the big absentees at the Oscars, but at the 2023 SAG Awards it was recognized in at least three categories, one of which was best actress for Viola Davis.
Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, the film is based on true events and here we tell you what changes and liberties ‘The Woman King’ took, all about the Agojie warriors, as well as the characters that existed in real life.
The movie “The Woman King” is based on true events
In the film, the story unfolds when a war threatens the West African region and European colonization also begins to loom over the kingdom of Dahomey in the 1820s.
In “The Woman King” the family of rebellious young Nawi (Mbedu) makes her join the Agojie, a fierce group of highly trained warriors charged with protecting their home from any threat.
There he meets the leader and general Nanisca (Viola Davis) and the rest of the Agojie warriors. However, amidst attacks from neighboring kingdoms and European slave traders, there is a secret that threatens the kingdom.
In real life, the kingdom of Dahomey had its heyday in 1840, when it had an army of about 6,000 warriors and was headed by a king. As in the movie, their biggest rivals were their neighbors, the Oyo Empire.
‘The Woman King’: Who Were The Agojie Warriors In Real Life?
In the case of the Agojie, their ferocity and brutality was recognized by their enemies as they attacked villages in the dark, captured and cut off the heads of enemies to take to their king as war trophies.
Thanks to their great strength and show of strength, the Agojie were christened by the French as the Amazons of Dahomey, due to their resemblance to the warrior women of Greek mythology.
But this isn’t the first time the female warrior’s legendary reputation has made it to Hollywood, as the Dora Milaje military force in the MCU’s ‘Black Panther’ films is based on Agojie.
The film faithfully shows how warriors evolved from the tradition of elephant hunting to become a military force of thousands of women. As well as the intense training they did from a young age.
Although each of the Agojie featured in the film is fantastic. In the case of Nanisca and Nawi, there are historical records of warriors named that, but they did not experience anything similar to the characters in the film.
Real Life Events That Inspired ‘The Woman King’
King Ghezo (John Boyega) did exist and as reported by ‘Smithsonian Magazine’ in September 2022, some of the things and the timeline of his reign seen in the film actually happened.
As studied by Lynne Ellsworth Larsen, a historian and researcher of gender dynamics in Dahomey, King Ghezo ruled from 1818 to 1858, before Dahomey’s heyday and golden age.
Just as in the beginning of the movie the warriors freed the captives by attacking the Oyo Empire at night and rebelling against the obligation to pay them tribute, in real life Ghezo managed to free his people from these tributes in 1823.
As “The Woman King” shows, the kingdom of Dahomey began its period of prosperity in part because of its alliance with the Europeans by supplying them with black slaves, who were the people they captured in their battles.
The kingdom’s dependence on the slave trade increased its economy, until the mid-19th century, when it abolished the slave trade in European territories and the Americas, causing the decline of Dahomey.
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Source: univision
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
