From time to time we need an injection of
humanity and happy endings from our films. This being from Disney I was expecting
that and I got it in lovely sprinkles of goodness. I have been watching nearly
only genre films of late - crime, Shaw Brothers, samurai, spy and so on -
life affirming feels nearly at odds with the world we are currently living
in but this one was just what I needed. And based on a true story which made
it all the more emotionally resonant. Every time the young girl said "checkmate"
it felt like a small victory for mankind.
Chess films tend to come in two groups - those that focus on the game as
a self-destructive obsession like Pawn Sacrifice and the Luzhin Defense and
those that are uplifting stories on how chess took them to another level.
You often come across true life stories of under privileged students and
their schools becoming the best. That is the wonderful thing about chess.
All you need is a board and the 16 pieces that sit patiently waiting for
orders. No matter your status in life once you are sitting in front of a
chess board with the first move yet to be made, all is equal. And that is
basically what this film teaches us. In front of the chess board you can
be the equal of anyone. Or better. It is a humbling game as well because
no matter how good you think you are you will eventually run into someone
better. And if you can see five moves ahead, you will lose to someone who
can think eight moves ahead.
Katwe is on the outskirts of Kampala, Uganda. It is a slum area, not in the
sense that we usually think of slums as part of an urban setting, but just
a large patch of the very poor who live in one room huts with no electricity
or running water, no schools, dirt streets that turn to mud in the rains
and an air of not so much hopelessness as acceptance. Nothing good ever comes
out of Katwe. Everyone struggles to get by. Harriet (Lupita Nyong'o) is doing
all she can to bring up four children to live good and honest lives but every
time the rent is due it is all hands on deck to sell enough maize to pay
it. One of her small sons begins to vanish in the afternoons and the daughter
Phiona Mutesi (Madina Nalwanga) follows him to a chess club being run by
Robert Katende (David Oyelowo) to a group of children. Phiona watches for
a while and joins in. That changes everything. She is a prodigy and over
the next few years becomes the best in Uganda and has gone on to university.
In Katwe she is a hero. So is Katenda for his efforts to take so many of
the children on to better things.
This is a first rate production which isn't too surprising as it was directed
by Mira Nair who has previously directed The Namesake, Monsoon Wedding and
Salaam Bombay. It just looks great. The acting from Oyelowo (Selma) and Lupita
(Black Panther, Star Wars) is terrific, Madina in her debut and still pretty
much her only film is fine. I have to assume that the Katwa they show is
on a set - but at least to me it feels fairly authentic with the milling
of life and constant activity. The best is left for last - when all the actors
meet the people they are playing, give them a hug and a short narrative on
their lives is etched on the screen since the time in which the film ended
2012. It is all good.
