Review: Queen of Katwe
The real-life figures stand alongside the actors who portray them in the end credits of Queen of Katwe, and those few minutes are far more affecting that most anything depicted in director Mira Nair's characteristically vibrant but curiously flat dramatisation of how Phiona Mutesi, a ten-year-old Ugandan girl became a world-renowned chess champion.
Inherently inspirational, we first observe Phiona (played by charismatic newcomer (Madina Nalwanga) in her impoverished shantytown of Katwe, peddling fruit and vegetables along with her mother Harriet (Lupita Nyong'o) and two younger brothers. Teenage sister Night (Taryn "Kay" Kyaze), meanwhile, is a source of frustration for single mother Harriet when she takes up with an older man. For Harriet, keeping her family together and extolling a good work ethic over deceptively easy but morally draining ways of earning money is key.
Which is why Harriet is conflicted when an opportunity presents itself to Phiona, who has been secretly attending a chess club in an abandoned church overseen by Robert Katende (David Oyelowo). Katende is a husband and father who coaches soccer for the local children as a means of biding his time for more lucrative employment, and he instantly recognises and nurtures Phiona's natural skill. As Phiona gains confidence from her wins in the series of tournaments in which she and the chess club participate, the young girl becomes determined to reach the level of grandmaster despite her circumstances. For Harriet, having her daughter experience more of the world could lead to disappointment if her dreams aren't realised. How could Phiona possibly be satisfied living in the slums after being having been in fancy hotels and witnessing what the world has to offer. As Katende notes, "Sometimes the place you're used to is not the place where you belong."
Queen of Katwe is bolstered by Nair's eye for cultural specificity - the surroundings are as textured and colourful as Mobolaji Dawodu's costumes - and her actors. Nalwanga ably conveys Phiona's struggle to remain a dutiful daughter whilst following her own path. Oyelowo beautifully embodies Katende's generosity of spirit, decency, and unwavering belief in his students, whilst Nyong'o displays a ferocity that is bracing in its power.
The problem with the film, however, seems to lie in journalist William Wheeler's adaptation of the book by Tim Crothers. Though the various tournaments do a good job in conveying the social and economic disparities between the Ugandan children and their more sophisticated competitors, one never senses the progression of Phiona's empowerment. Thus, the scenes and the overall film are lacking in any sort of dramatic friction and the moments when the internal and external conflicts do come to a head seem predictable and tacked on rather than organic and substantial. It's a sports movie that deprives its heroine of her moment of victory.
Queen of Katwe
Directed by: Mira Nair
Written by: William Wheeler; based on the ESPN article and book by Tim Crothers
Starring: Lupita Nyong'o, David Oyelowo, Madina Nalwanga, Martin Kabanza, Taryn Kyaze
