Director Mira Nair’s recent film, Queen of Katwe, is a riveting story adapted from a book about a young chess prodigy in Uganda, and not at all the bundle of clichés alluded to in many reviews. Yes, the children are adorable, causing us to laugh many times, and the movie has a happy ending, as far as it goes; but there are no clichés in this true story where the daily struggle for food and drinking water predominates.
Video: Queen of Katwe – Youtube Preview
With empathy and respect for her characters, Nair frames this tale to underscore the common values shared by cultures that are oceans apart. Her film is a beautiful tribute to African women and all those on the continent who struggle to make a positive difference in the world.
The central figure, Phiona Mutesi from Kampala, Uganda, was still only 20 years old when Disney Studios released the film last year – just six years after writer Tim Crothers first met her as a young teenager in the slums of Katwe. Crothers’s book about Phiona’s remarkable achievements led to this movie. The film traces Phiona’s journey from being a hungry, unwashed child of the slums to her emergence as an international chess competitor.
Referring to the all-black cast, Nair is reported to have quipped, “This is probably the first time Disney has made a film in Africa without animals.” Shot on location in Kampala, the film includes Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong’o as Phiona’s mother Nakku Harriet, and the phenomenal David Oyelowo as chess coach Robert Katende. Ugandan teenager Madina Nalwanga, discovered in a community dance group, makes her acting debut as Phiona.
/ AFP PHOTO / ISAAC KASAMANI
The vibrancy of the characters and the bright look of the equatorial locale cannot hide the filth and wretchedness of the living conditions. The camera lingers long enough to make sure viewers notice the unpaved streets, the lack of sanitation, and the destruction of pitiful huts from tropical storms. Crothers said, “I knew very early on that Katwe was one of the characters in this story.”
The plot is an upbeat tale on one level. When the story begins, Phiona is living with her mother Harriet, her sister, and two brothers in a one-room shack. Phiona is no longer in school because even the children must hustle if the family is to eat.
One day, curiosity guides Phiona to a chess clinic for children run by a missionary group. Robert Katende had started the chess clinic for those who could not participate in the soccer clinics. Seeing Phiona’s determination and natural gift for the game, Katende persuades a reluctant Harriet that her daughter’s talent is worth supporting.
Determination is a key factor in this Rocky-style storyline. But for me, the most compelling conflict in the film is not Phiona’s chess career, but the family’s daily effort to survive. At one point the family is left homeless when Phiona uses the rent money to pay for her brother’s transport to the hospital after a traffic accident.
I was awed by the portrayal of Phiona’s widowed mother, Harriet, who seems to be constantly railing at her children to do a better job of contributing to the family income. In a not uncommon mother/daughter conflict, Harriet’s oldest child leaves the family rather than submit to her mother’s demand for help with the younger children.
The family is falling apart, but Harriet refuses to sacrifice her dignity and take the easy way out, as some friends urge, and find a man who will help with financial support. This is a courageous stance in the face of such destitution, and reflects a universal maternal instinct to protect her children as best she can.
Wait! I know this story! It is my grandmother’s!
My maternal grandmother was also widowed at a young age and left with four children, and her teenage daughter left to get married a year later. I often heard the story from my mother, who was 11 at the time, that her uncles urged my grandmother to put her and her siblings in an orphanage. My grandmother refused, and with some help, struggled to keep her family intact. The entire episode left my mother fearful and scarred all her life.
Chess and soccer coach Robert Katende is the selfless, compassionate individual whose determination brought so much to the community of Katwe, and Phiona in particular. His own hardscrabble childhood is described in a short film about him made by Nair.
Video Documentary about Robert Katende: “A Fork, a Spoon, and a Knight”
It is a wonder that the film did not do better at the box office, bringing in only a little more than half of its $15 million production costs. Were American audiences not interested, or did the film just need more time, better promotion? Was there not enough of an audience left after Hidden Figures and Moonlight?
I do not think the poor box office was because of the all-black cast. My husband thinks it is because the movie was about chess, and he may have a point. Moonlight and Fences both made money and had all-black casts, and Slumdog Millionaire, shot in India, knocked the ball out of the park with $141 million – but it was a whimsical tale about a game show winner and had a love interest. How can chess compete?
It Queen of Katwe does have one flaw, I think it is length – it is over two hours. But I can not rave enough about it. This is a brilliant film that shines a light on human virtues that continue to bloom in even the direst of circumstances – compassion, courage, dignity, and determination. Thank you, Mira Nair.
The Back Story – How Did Queen of Katwe Become a Film?
The back story of the film’s creation is a tale in itself, with more than a little irony. Phiona’s accomplishments were first shared with a world audience by sports writer Tim Crothers in 2011.
What does sports have to do with chess tournaments? The year before, Crothers had received a tip from a friend who had read about Phiona in a monthly newsletter put out by a Christian missionary group called Sports Outreach Institute.
The soccer coach, Robert Katende (played by David Oyelowo), who had been hired in part by Sports Outreach to teach soccer to the kids in the slum (and feed clinic attendees), had also started a chess clinic for those who could not play. When Phiona followed her brother to the chess clinic one day, Katende persuaded her to stay.
The story of Phiona’s ability found its way into the missionary newsletter. Even though the game was chess, Crothers successfully pitched the story to ESPN The Magazine, and traveled to Uganda and the Chess Olympiad in Siberia in 2010. Crothers’s story was published as Game of her Life, Jan. 10, 2011.
After his article appeared, Crothers published a book, “Queen of Katwe,” which was optioned by Disney Studios. And in the ultimate ironic twist, Disney proposed the project to Nair – who lives in Kampala with her husband part of every year!
As Nair told the LA Times in an interview, “…a major Hollywood studio comes to my homme and offers me a film about something down the street is just too ironic.”
Nair is the quintessential citizen of the world, born and raised in India, she attended Harvard on a full scholarship, and met her husband in Kampala when she was working on “Mississippi Masala”, a movie about a carpet cleaner in Mississippi who falls in love with the daughter of a displaced Indian family. Nair, who is a native of Indian, shares a home with her husband, Professor Mahmood Mamdani, in Kampala for part of the year.
Morning Echo 
An excellent review on a movie I missed. I am compelled to see this movie ASAP. Your article beckons me to do so.
Thank you for your blog. Much success in your outreach to building community through diversity and to spreading love.
VW
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Thank you, Vickie. I value your opinion. Carol
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