![]() ![]() It’s a role that could have been a shrewish caricature, but Nyong’o’s performance makes Harriet a woman of complex motivations. She fears that chess will put dreams and ideas into Phiona’s head that will be impossible to fulfill, leaving the girl unhappy and discontented with her lot in life. A proud widow and mother of four, she does the utmost to support them all – but can’t even come close. As her mother Nakku Harriet, Lupita Nyong’o (the 12 Years a Slave Oscar winner) is a marvel, capable of displaying a world of emotions with a single glance. Not only is she able to convey Phiona’s preternatural abilities, but also the trepidation and fears that arise once the child gets a sense of her own keenness and a glimpse of how life is lived outside the slums of Katwe. ![]() Newcomer Madina Nalwanga stars as Phiona Mutesi, the real-life chess champion. Yes, there are dozens of metaphors about how the strategies of the chess game also apply to the rules of life, but Nair’s able direction and the subtleties of her central performers provide a fresh and believable break from the old banalities and sports-movie conventions. ![]() William Wheeler wrote the screenplay and it is directed by Mira Nair ( The Reluctant Fundamentalist, The Namesake, Mississippi Masala, Salaam Bombay!).Īgainst the odds, Queen of Katwe rises above the usual underdog sports cliches to become something quite affecting and distinctive, an outcome made all the more remarkable given that this is a Disney production. This is the story of Queen of Katwe, the movie based on an ESPN Magazine article and book by Tim Crothers. Against the odds, an illiterate, dirt-poor girl from the slums outside Kampala, Uganda, discovers that she is a chess prodigy, and, with help from her coach, pursues her dream to become a grand master and move her family out of their grinding poverty. ![]()
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