The second time she does so, at a school tournament which Katende has to fight to get them into, an incredulous and nervous Phiona turns to her coach and asks: “Did he let me win?” Few more tournaments later, she has won a trophy that attests her as “best in boys”. The first time she beats a boy at the game she realises what winning could mean. It’s when chess has found Phiona in turn that Queen of Katwe takes a decisive turn.
Earlier, Brian only agrees to play chess because, as he tells Katende, he can’t play football: “It can cause injuries, and mother says we can’t afford doctors”. They learn it at a centre run by Katende (Oyelowo), who while looking for an engineering job is working with a Ugandan Ministry of Sports outreach programme for children.
The film is still finding its feet while establishing the dire ground from where Phiona comes, Harriet’s daily struggles, and even Phiona’s tentative introduction to chess through brother Brian. Phiona, mother Harriet (Nyong’o), and brother Brian (Kabanza) speak an English that seems stilted and awkward. Queen of Katwe, in fact, almost disappoints at the start when Nair gives us her first glimpse of Kampala with surround music and predictable noises of the street. It lies in the streets, drains, sludge, tattered windows, door-less, roof-less houses that she inhabits when away from that world. However, Queen of Katwe’s power lies far from the distant, ascetic tournament halls that Phiona finds herself in. ESPN has partnered with Disney to bring the film to screen, lending it a credible stamp of authenticity.
Based on the true story of Phiona Mutesi (Nalwanga), a pre-teen living in Kampala’s slum Katwe who became among the first chess masters of her country, it has been adapted from a book on her life by Tim Crothers.
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