MOVIE REVIEW: "Queen of Katwe" (2016)
Synopsis: Phiona is a young girl living under precarious conditions with her family in a Ugandan slum. One day she decides to do something different and ends up attending a chess class. By becoming more interested in the game than expected, she becomes a great chess player.
Many real-life story movie tend to make the mistake of dramatizing a situation too much and end up making the mistake of overdose to the point of making the end result super exaggerated (in a bad sense), thus devaluing its essence... Fortunately, this copy comes as a good example, illustrating that for the most part: less really can be more.
Focusing on addressing all the dramatic problematizations of history (just to name a few examples: poverty, lack of growth perspective, and social invisibility that translates into devaluation as an individual in a medium) under the view of a pre-child / teenager, the script hits the point of creating a strong bond with the audience, who effortlessly buys the narrative after a short time of projection.
If told by an adult's vision, it would probably not have the same impact, and one of the things that makes it clear is that the young protagonist always faces her problems - and those of her family - with a look that most Scenes is very naive. Although she is aware that she lives in terrible conditions, she always keeps the hope that everything will get better and finds in chess an exhaust valve for that.
The unexpected (and unusual, at least for her) sport becomes her lifebuoy to get out of that difficult daily situation and the more she finds out how good she is, the more knowledge she wants to acquire and plans to fly higher and higher. This happens when she is encouraged by her coach, but to get there, she has many obstacles ahead... Including a lack of self-confidence (which always tends to get worse when family problems start wanting to speak up).
In its development, the script does not take long to establish and can get right to the point. However, at times it tends to appeal to predictable situations and this blurs the narrative path a bit. In the midst of parallel arches, history suffers some shortcomings because it deconcentrates chess as a central element, treating it only as an adjunct. The good thing is that the script realizes the mistake and goes back on track without losing much of its quality.
The whole trajectory shown in the movie is very beautiful, it brings a lot of truth, it overflows with inspiration and although it is all very didactic (sometimes everything is explained to excess and there is no need for it) the good cast ensures that this happens (Madina Nalwanga, Lupita Nyong'o and David Oyelowo form a talented trio), because the characters are convincing, well-developed - as far as possible - and their acting lives up to the story being told.
The technical part that helps set the stage is worth some praise. Among them, I highlight a very realistic photograph (because there really is a dimension about the place where all the scenes take place... especially the open plan ones, outside), the almost poetic soundtrack (which may even sound a little cliché, but it is very interesting and inserted at the right times) and an art edition very consistent with the facts.
Mira Nair is the director and she puts all the energy into her work by betting on a simple yet very synonymous approach because she tries to show the public a different perspective on the facts that would normally be more harshly, more rigidly and probably heavier. This is not to say that her choice is to make the movie something always "light", but to try to huaminize the problems mentioned using chess as a central element and also as a fundamental element of transformation.
Queen of Katwe is an engaging, reflective, exciting movie that tries to emphasize something in particular: a sleeping force can always exist within a human being when a life purpose is found - even if it's accidentally - and that struggling to make it in a new reality is just a matter of willpower. Find yours, make it happen, and be happy.
MOVIE URL:
https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/317557-queen-of-katwe?language=en-US
MY RATING: AAA (9,0/10)
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