Queen of Katwe
Directed by: Mira Nair
Written by: William Wheeler - Based on the ESPN Magazine article and book by Tim Crothers
Starring: Madina Nalwanga, David Oyelowo, Lupita Nyong'o, Martin Kabanza, Taryn Kyaze, Ronald Ssemaganda, Ethan Nazario Lubega, Nikita Waligwa, Esther Tebandeke
Biography/Drama/Sport - 124 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 20 Sep 2016
Written by: William Wheeler - Based on the ESPN Magazine article and book by Tim Crothers
Starring: Madina Nalwanga, David Oyelowo, Lupita Nyong'o, Martin Kabanza, Taryn Kyaze, Ronald Ssemaganda, Ethan Nazario Lubega, Nikita Waligwa, Esther Tebandeke
Biography/Drama/Sport - 124 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 20 Sep 2016
Chess is a reliable narrative vehicle to tell someone from a particular social class or underprivileged location they cannot do something. It usually sounds like, “You are a kid from _____; therefore, you cannot play _____.” Substitute bobsledding and Jamaicans, cross country running and Mexican-American fruit pickers, or even ski jumping and British folk and you get the meaning. Queen of Katwe is one of many ‘chess for the unworthy’ films to come along recently including The Dark Horse out of New Zealand and Queen to Play about a housewife in Cyprus drawn to the game. Disney places its ‘based on a true story’ formula on top of a girl from a Ugandan slum exhibiting extraordinary strategic skills, lays on thick chess metaphors about never surrendering, and tells a mostly feel good but never-ending story about hope springing from the darkest places.
According to the still catchy ‘80s song by Murray Head, “One Night in Bangkok”, chess alludes to exotic locales such Iceland, the Philippines, and Hastings. The slums of Kampala, Uganda are a different variety of exotic. Not considered intellectual, elite, or established on the world stage for international competition, this third world locale is surprising in that it produces children extremely capable at holding their own in chess matches. Disney, collaborating with ESPN Films, showcases the first young girl to make a dent in chess news from Katwe and the teacher guiding a hard-scrabble group of illiterate youngsters to believe they can rise up from where they come from and make something of themselves.
According to the still catchy ‘80s song by Murray Head, “One Night in Bangkok”, chess alludes to exotic locales such Iceland, the Philippines, and Hastings. The slums of Kampala, Uganda are a different variety of exotic. Not considered intellectual, elite, or established on the world stage for international competition, this third world locale is surprising in that it produces children extremely capable at holding their own in chess matches. Disney, collaborating with ESPN Films, showcases the first young girl to make a dent in chess news from Katwe and the teacher guiding a hard-scrabble group of illiterate youngsters to believe they can rise up from where they come from and make something of themselves.
Newcomer Madina Nalwanga plays Phiona Mutesi, a girl attempting to sell corn to gridlocked drivers, helping to raise her two younger brothers, and aiding her mom, Harriet (Lupita Nyong’o, The Jungle Book), somehow make it another day. Phiona’s father died recently and Harriet has her hands full trying to keep the family together. There is no money or time for schooling because the family’s rusted tin shack comes with a demanding landlord. The kids are not allowed to play soccer because broken bones means doctors and there is no money for them either. Following her brother Brian (Martin Kabnza) one day, Phiona discovers The Pioneers, a chess club devoted to teaching kids the basics and maybe some life lessons along the way.
Robert Katende (David Oyelowo, Selma) began the club and quickly notices he has a couple astute students on his hands. Attempting to convince nearby schools and chess tournament officials to let his slum kids play is no easy feat and director Mira Nair establishes early on there is a defined class segregation system between those who have in Uganda and those who do not. The cliché scenes of Robert defending his students' right to play and Harriet yelling at both Phiona and Robert about how there is no room for chess in life when there is corn to sell are all present. Anyone who has seen a couple of these ‘true story’ tales knows where all of this leads but Queen of Katwe sports a few distinguishing characteristics to separate it from its cousins.
First of all, Madina Nalwanga as Phiona is convincing as a girl who is beginning to accept her limited role in life and cannot reconcile what she glimpses of life away from Katwe in wealthy Kampala subburbs, Sudan, and even Moscow. Phiona wins matches against girls from Egypt who mention government stipends and scholarships to study; why can’t Phiona have these since she bests these other girls on the game board? Mother Harriet recognizes the hope on Phiona’s face and warns her and Robert of the damage all this dreaming will lead to. Girls from Katwe do not escape to bigger and better things. A cautionary tale of this is Night (Taryn “Kay” Kyaze), Phiona’s older sister who discovers the ease of securing financial threads by ‘befriending’ older men with means. Harriet knows well enough where Night’s choices will lead and it isn’t out of Katwe.
Mira Nair, known for cultural celebrations such as Monsoon Wedding and deeper cross-cultural issues like The Reluctant Fundamentalist, has Uganda roots. She has had a home in Kampala for close to 30 years and started a film school for East Africans there. She knows the lay of the land and chose to film in and around the real-life Katwe. Director of Photography Sean Bobbitt (12 Years a Slave) shows off some impressive tricks bobbing and weaving around the red earth and garbage dumps the inhabitants live on. An early and memorable shot gliding over a foot bridge into a Katwe thoroughfare shows the audience we are going into Katwe proper; no synthetic sound stages here. Nair and Bobbitt even film in the real one-room church where Robert teaches the local kids.
Chess is the conduit Robert uses to teach Katwe kids about the skills they will need to break free from the poverty they were born into. However, Nair includes every technique in the filmmaker’s guide to ‘based on a true story’ movies to create an overly long exposé from Phiona’s dire straits, Robert’s persistence, Harriet’s resistance, and quick editing during chess matches to try and make the game look interesting on film. It boils down to Queen of Katwe: Short Story Long. You will need the endurance of a Chess Master not to grow restless as Phiona’s quest drags on an on when all we want is the Checkmate.
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