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| Edited By: Bryan Durham |Source: DNA |Updated: Oct 07, 2016, 11:16 PM IST
In a rather run-down Ugandan slum, it's a hand-to-mouth existence for Phiona Mutesi (Nalwanga), her mother Nakku Harriet (Nyong'o), brother Mugabi Brian (Martin Kabanza), sister Night (Taryn "Kay" Kyaze) and kid brother Richard (Ivan Jacobo/Nicholas Levesque). Selling corn at street corners is no easy task when all your transactions are on a credit/barter system.
While Nakku is a proud woman who wants a better life for her children, Night wants an easier way out and elopes with her boyfriend, leaving a distraught Nakku to convince Phiona and Brian to work harder and help her around. When Phiona chances on Brian practising chess with do-gooder Robert Katende (Oyelowo) and his Pioneers, she wants in.
The motley chess-learning children's group practise and practise between meals of porridge and it isn't long before Nakku finds out where her children have been spending time. Turns out, Phiona is a natural at chess and a quick learner to boot. She quickly moves up the ladder through tournaments and championships, thanks to Katende's help and soon, eyes an Olympiad spot.
Will she realise her dreams?
The performances are the highlight of this film. Lupita as Nakku becomes the mother hen to beat all mother hens She is fortress around which her family is built. But it Madina who takes your breath away as Phiona. The young actress is a photogenic and her character graph really leaves nothing to be desired. Mira gives each character time to grow, breathe and live. The photography, even at its bleakest (or alternatively, the gaudiest) points, makes for some really good images that stay with you long after the film is done. Certain scenes drive the point home without words. It is also most heartening to see people like Katende being played by celebrated, charismatic actors like David Oyelowo. The supporting cast of kids are also competent. All in all, it's a good film to bring home certain values and principles to young adults.
While being an adaptation of a true story, it can't run free of cliches and tropes that usually follow such an underdog story. The wayward sister, the private tragedies, the disconnect from reality following success have all been explored before. Shackled by the limitations of a common pattern, it does well to work within those constraints. But the absence of almost any conflict, apart from a little ambition, makes you wonder if this needed a feature-length treatment. Also, it could do with subtitles throughout. In most places, the accent is too thick to be understood.
Catch this film for sure. It isn't for everyone, though. Save for those who need to believe that better days will come for everyone, even the worst off among us. You just have to find a way out.
