Queen of Katwe

Mira Nair previously focused on Uganda in 1991's "Mississippi Masala" (about an Indian family forced into exile by Idi Amin). "Queen of Katwe" is the true story of Phiona Mutesi, who started playing chess to get out of Kampala's slums. Katwe is the sort of place where you have to bribe people to do even minimal tasks. Lupita Nyong'o plays Phiona's mother, the sort of person who knows the slums all too well and isn't thrilled with her daughter's goal.

One of the most effective scenes is when the Katwe children compete against the students of King's College: the Katwe children wear the traditional Ugandan attire while the rich children wear western clothes, showing the disconnect between the social classes (a scene towards the end of "Mississippi Masala" showed something similar: when the father returns to Uganda, he looks westernized while the Ugandans wear the traditional clothes).

Admittedly, I don't know how accurate the movie is, especially since I had never heard of the story before the movie's release. Nonetheless, it's a powerful, uplifting story. The people involved in this movie deserve ample recognition for their contributions, and I hope that it draws more attention to Phiona Mutesi's achievements.

Mira Nair returns to Uganda once again, three decades after she made Mississipi Masala. This is a much better film. While Mississipi Masala centered around an upper middle class Indian-Ugandan family, Queen of Katwe is set in the slums of Uganda. Nair doesn't attempt to go easy on the slum visuals here. The filth and squalor are in your face here, from beginning to end. I haven't seen a film depicting poverty in this way for a long time. Even Slumdog Millionaire wasn't so strong. Otherwise Queen of Kawate is a fairly predictable story of an under-privileged girl rising to success against the odds. The medium of her rise is chess. She's the pawn who turns into a queen, as sometimes happens in chess. The performances are uniformly good, especially given that most of them are child actors (Mira Nair's first film was Salaam Bombay and she is pretty good at handling children). I found the end credits rather moving, where the real characters pose with the actors who played them on screen. All in all a very warm, watchable film.

Loved it well made and well acted. Teary in parts. It has been a while since a movie has had all the components of this movie. It captures how privileged we are in the west and out of pure will and following your passion you can come to be whom you really are against all odds.

The actors portrayed the story with great depth and conviction. I loved the end and hope all true story's have the chance to show (Those that are still living) their real persons as I felt it adds a realness to the story and movie final. Well directed as well.

There is a star in the making with actress Madina Nalwanga i am sure we will see allot more of her out standing performance.

From the trailers one would guess that The Queen of Katwe is the typical formulaic and inspirational sports story, but it is much more. While segments of it are the same old story told and retold so beautifully, with a few unexpected twist and turns, is also a study of how success affects family ties and how character is king, even in the grim slums of Uganda. It offers a realistic and harshly honest, for a Disney film, look at Africa, with prostitution references and poor medical care reoccurring throughout the story. While the harsh environment might not make the viewer feel good, it makes the story all the more inspiring. The cinematography is excellent, with great shots of the children reacting to a world they had never seen before, be it an upper crust school, snow or the view from a airplane window. Great performances from the cast.

I highly recommend The Queen of Katwe.

Queen of Katwe goes far beyond the usual cliché movie: underdog overcomes adversity to win championship. Here, wonderful actors depict real people struggling with the realities of their lives: single motherhood, overcoming poverty, feeling out of place, and the challenges of playing high level chess. Particularly compelling is the story of Phiona's mother who lost her husband and struggles to provide for four children by selling cooked maize in the market. The actress who portrays her depicts her strength, and also her limitations with integrity. A wonderful performance. Of course, Phiona's story as a chess prodigy from the slums of Katwe, Uganda is harrowing, inspiring and insightful. The movie doesn't settle for a trophy as the outcome, focusing on the impacts on Phiona and her family along the way. The story of Phiona's coach is as inspiring as her story. His sacrifices, his wife's sacrifices and his challenges providing for his family as he tries to help the children of Katwe is a movie unto itself. That's why the whole thing is so satisfying. It is an amazing story of real people, only lightly changed for film-making, well acted and compelling.