La Dame de Katwe

Here is another beautiful film by Mira Nair who made 'Monsoon Wedding'. The cinematography captures the true colors and life in a slum of Uganda, Africa. The characters were really believable and the acting was excellent. Madina Nalwanga's acting was very convincing and true to her heart. She understands how to portray her emotions in front of the camera. The children in the film were brilliant and all the cast gave good performances. Some scenes were heartbreaking and moving. Mira Nair directs her actors with great skill and confidence which is visible on the screen. Its really beautiful to experience another culture and I was very happy to experience Uganda. A big congrats to Mira Nair for a good film. I met Mira Nair few years ago when she came to San Francisco for a film premiere. She was very nice and sweet lady.

A film with a warm heart and good intentions may be at risk of misrepresenting itself a little. A true life sports film (if we count chess as a sport) that hits all the beats of the typical sports film whilst pulling off the neat trick of being accessible to all ages but not soft-selling the realities of poverty pf the complex issues of what it means to seek to move upward on society in such circumstances. It's never not fun, and though the two central actors take most attention, the real prizes should go to the largely untested local cast who embody and exude their roles beautifully. It's a genuine, kind-spirited film that deserves wider attention.

This film tells the story of a teenage girl from a Ugandan ghetto. She is discovered by a chess teacher to be brilliant in chess, and hence she embark on a journey on international chess championships to lift her out of the ghetto.

"Queen of Katwe" tells a story that inspires people across the socioeconomic spectrum. Phiona and her family struggles to make ends meet, and yet she does something that is not conventionally economically active. The hardship of living in a ghetto is well depicted in the film, especially in the eviction scene and the car accident scene. The story is touching, especially when it tells how Phiona is under pressure. I notice how they depict Phiona under pressure during a chess game, and the opponents looking confident by staring fiercely into Phiona. This adds dimension to the story.

I was hesitant to see the movie, although I marked it for my 2016 must watch list some time ago. There were things that discouraged me to prioritize this movie before all the other I have seen from 2016 so far - like its Disney poster, its genre of "from the bottom to the top" (always a danger to fall into clichés), and lack of exposure and reviews.

I am glad I finally watched it today, as it successfully managed to avoid clichés and 2D story-line so often seen in this genre and clichés of over-romanticizing of poverty and Africa in general. I think that the main reason this movie didn't succeed much in USA or Europe on commercial merit is that people didn't really get through those clichés yet. That, and perhaps the African accent that to some western ears may sound "too stupid and slow", so people often correlate that with intelligence of people who speak it.

For me, it was refreshing to see finally a good movie set out in Africa and even more so, I applaud the director's decision to shoot it in actual Katwe. It added up on the scale of authenticity and I bet it helped to facilitate actors performance as well- which is also on very high level. I especially liked Lupita Nyong'o's portrayal of the mother of Phiona - the main hero of the story. But surprisingly all child actors are really good too, even though most of them (I heard) never stood before camera (or maybe exactly because of that).

As I mentioned the story is classical "from the bottom to the top" genre, but what sets this movie apart from its stereotype genre is willingness to explore characters depth, and not only that of the protagonist (Phiona), but movie managed also to depict other characters with depth and I'd say there are three protagonists in this movie: Phiona (chess prodigy), her mother, and her coach Robert Katende. Story explores their limitations and strength, with nuance, character and intelligence. There are some beautiful scenes where characters above realize their own limitations and as they try to find the way to support each other's strength despite their embarrassment. So mainly this emotional intelligence and nuance set the movie apart from clichés of its genre.

Also there are many subtle references to class prejudices in Uganda (which, I think, people from every country can relate to). So bonus point for that too. We saw not just poor slums of Uganda - the dirt, poverty and tacit acceptance of it, we also saw middle class Uganda and upper rich class of Western-like style of Uganda. It was all too familiar to watch the power relations withing Uganda, although with different colour and context.

All in all, a story that deserved to be told. I thought it's impossible to make a movie about chess, but this movie kind of made me thinking about learning it! And all in all, a movie that deserves to be watched and acknowledged.I definitely liked it a lot and even managed to shed a tear here and there! I also liked the final credits where you could see the actors standing besides the real people they portrayed in the movie.

I can see why this type of film would be hard to market. It may not be as complex to appeal to an adult audience and it may also not appeal to kids of young ages. I feel like it could have made a splash at the Academy Awards had it been handled better with its release. As it is, it's a good film and pretty much everything that I expected. Its screenplay is good, if predictable, and the performances really elevate the story and make all of its more formulaic emotional beats work as well. Oyelowo and Nyong'o really bring a lot of heart to the story in the background while Nalwanga is able to carry the film. Definitely recommended, although it's probably not for all types of audiences.