One of the most talented filmmakers emerging right now, Rungano Nyoni directed I Am Not a Witch, which won her a 2018 BAFTA Award. BAFTA) for Outstanding Debut, her career hasn’t lost any momentum. This time; we shift focus to become a guinea fowlThis family saga follows an evil uncle of a middle-class family in Zambia who harbors secrets that are resurrected after his death. This movie feels like the perfect antidote to all those “he had a heart of gold” news reports that follow the dead; when you realize that not everyone can be perfect, and not everyone deserves to be remembered fondly – As tradition suggests.
Many movies begin with this premise: a young man returns to his hometown from the big city and faces the conflict between family tradition and modern identity. It’s a formula – you’ve seen it before, everywhere, the UK, the US, even Australia. However become a guinea fowl Subverting that – the rage, the anger – it suggests that you can never really go home, lest you be forced to see that things never really change. It’s a quiet chasm – the anguish that runs through Shula’s central character is palpable beneath the façade brought to life by the talented Susan Chardy – stoic, mature, holding her emotions in check – while her family surrounds her When she breaks down, she is able to show her grief over her husband’s death without crying, only to attack and persecute the widow for failing to protect him. I would challenge anyone not to be angry at the route this family took – they felt so bound by tradition that they never thought to check out the secrets of the dead.
There are movies with louder sounds. There are even louder movies. But it’s a testament to how powerful this shot is that the final shot feels like it will linger in your mind for years, even decades. powerful. Quiet. Angry. It’s fitting that the guinea fowl warns others of the danger – you see Shula has tried it; warned Uncle Fred’s family over and over again, but they wouldn’t listen. Multiple people from different generations have the same story to tell. The more people who come forward, the angrier you get – because the family is doing nothing, and worse yet, the family is siding with Uncle Fred. It turns into a darkly tragic comedy at times – in the opening scene where Shula tries to call her father to help her dispose of Fred’s body, which is found on the roadside outside a brothel, we learn how Zambian culture transcends tradition .
The old characters are useless. They don’t provide a solution to the problem. Just a condescending “Can we hate our own people?” comment – and her anger was ignored even by her own father, who would rather invite her to party with him for the night than spend time mourning Frey Uncle De, or fighting his memory. Like Uncle Fred, they are protected by tradition. become a guinea fowl Quiet enough to make you angry. If this was a Hollywood movie; there would be a happy ending. But this isn’t a Hollywood movie – and that’s even better. You sit there, forced to watch as tradition fails Shura and the younger generation. Her support of the American Self-Help Podcast and the team’s call to make the film a part of the cultural repertoire of families in the modern world is a gateway into the bleakness that ensues.
Don’t expect easy answers, but become a guinea fowl is a silently rewarding and powerful film that focuses on tradition and takes risks that most would not dare to take. It turns formulas on their head; challenging conventions within Zambian culture and filmmaking. Extraordinary and worthy of being remembered as one of the best films of the year – its blend of tragedy and black comedy, with sometimes Uncut Diamond levels of tension in its frenetic, hilarious script – ultimately adds to its power. Forget the Oscar front-runner – this is one of the best films of the year and deserves the recognition it deserves.
