David Oyelowo Lupita Nyong’o Madina Nalwanga
Mira Nair is known for quality filmmaking (Salaam Bombay, Mississippi Masala, Monsoon
Wedding), and in Queen of Katwe,
which is based on a true story, she excels in her conceptualization and import
of the film, and directs an outstanding cast and crew to deliver a
comprehensive work that is cross-cultural, and has heart, soul, and
entertainment value. Her choices
of Alex Heffes to compose and incorporate African sounds in the music and Sean
Bobbitt to do his magical cinematography (e.g., making chess matches
interesting and exciting and capturing the facial expressions of the native
players and observers) show her perceptiveness and attention to detail. It helps that for a story about
Africans that is to be strongly cultural, Nair has filmed in Uganda before (Mississippi Masala), where she met and
married an Ugandan and now has a home there.
The film stars, David Oyelowo, a native
Nigerian, and Lupita Nyong’o, born in Mexico of Kenyan parents and reared in
Kenya, are likewise excellent choices because of their backgrounds as well as
their acting talent and skill. The
central main character, Phiona, is played by Madina Nalwanga, a native of Katwe
and a first-time actor who gives a flawless rendition of the girl from the
slums who is taught to play chess and turns out to have an uncanny gift for the
game (e.g., she can reason out and see the next eight moves she will
make). Nair wisely chose all the
rest of the actors from the area around Katwe, who give naturalistic
expressions when they see the other actors in the story and interact with them. A prime example is when Oyelowo
graphically acts out a sequence in which he is telling the “Katwe Pioneers” the
story of a dog chasing another animal for food who escapes, and hearing the
principle behind it—running for a meal
vs. running for your life. It’s clear that the child actors have
not heard this before and are completely enthralled.
Mira Nair began considering this feature film
after making a short documentary (“A Fork, a Spoon, and a Knight”) about the
teacher, Robert Katende. Katende
was an engineer in Uganda who couldn’t land a job in that profession and began
teaching soccer and chess to children in the slums who didn’t have a prayer for
an education, or even learning to read.
He astutely identified a girl
(horror to male egos young and old) who seemed to have not only the ability to
strategize and plan ahead, but was a fighter.
Phiona (Nalwanga) was an outcast even in her
poor neighborhood, but when she and her brother began to learn chess, it was
clear that she had an uncommon talent for it. The acclaim she began to receive was a boost to her ego, and
as a result she adopted better social skills. Katende (played by Oyelowo) was a “born teacher”—with all
the selflessness that implies. He
often taught by telling stories as well as direct instruction, and he wisely
thought chess would be especially valuable to poor children in the discipline,
persistence and planning ahead that it requires. After he talked a few kids into coming and learning the
game, Katende got hooked on leading this young group of chess players to
national chess championships. His
talent in hustling enabled him to jump over the hoops thrown out to the lower
classes by the system, and get his kids to tournaments. (Gratifyingly in the story, it is
pointed out that his wife plays an important role in her understanding of his
decisions and aims so that she goes along with him, encourages him, and agrees
to house them and teach many needy children to read in her home).
The screenplay by William Wheeler is based on
an ESPN Magazine article and a book by Tim Crothers with the same title as the
film.
In an after-screening satellite interview,
Nair, Oyelowo, Nyong’o, and Nalwanga responded to questions from the host Dave
Karger and the audience. Oyelowo
stated that he was most inspired by Nair’s decision to make the film from the
perspective of a woman, a woman of color,
and to make the central character be a female, rather than the male teacher,
Katende. At one point in the film,
a chess tournament official states about Phiona: “Such aggressiveness in a girl is quite a treasure.” He
also praised Nyong’o for her ability to convincingly play a woman living in a
slum, selling corn in order to support her large family, given that Nyong’o is
a famous movie star and Oscar winner and a fashion icon. He began his compliment by saying he
had the most fun watching her practice walking like Phiona’s mother, and even
demonstrated it for us (making everyone laugh), and then explained why that was
such a feat, given who the actress is in real life. The film’s appeal to Lupita was in its depiction of a small
girl with a big dream, which came from her becoming aware of her passion for
something.
In regard to cast selection, Nair said she
first met Phiona and Katende in New York during a chess match. She observed Phiona’s feistiness and
pluck at the time, and when she met her mother back in Uganda, she could see
where the daughter had gotten it.
So she chose actors who could recapture that spunk, Lupita Nyong’o and
Madina Nalwanga.
An interesting observation is that the real
Phiona and Madina (who had never acted in a movie before) had never seen a film
before this one, except for Jurassic
World, which the child actors were shown after shooting began. Madina said that her role seemed like
she was acting out her own story, because she is a native of Katwe.
A heartwarming touch at the end of the film is
Nair’s idea to take photographs of the actors with their real person
counterparts standing side by side.
In addition, Phiona and Katende were in the telecast audience for us to
see them as well.
An inspirational story about a most
unlikely chess player.
Grade: A By Donna
R. Copeland
