On Becoming a Guinea Fowl
Rungano Nyoni's surreal second feature returns to Zambia, the country of her birth.
Image courtesy of Picturehouse Entertainment.
Rungano Nyoni grew up in Wales but she had been born in Zambia just nine years before her parents migrated to the UK. However, when she developed a career in cinema as a writer/director she chose to set her highly praised first feature, 2017’s I Am Not a Witch, in the country of her birth. Now offering us her second feature, On Becoming a Guinea Fowl, she has again opted to make it a film about life in Zambia and it has already won a number of awards.
In the light of all the praise that she has received, I should perhaps acknowledge that, in contrast to the view of many others, my own response to I Am Not a Witch was decidedly muted. Undoubtedly serious at heart, the film dealt with the oppression of women in Zambia. Its central figure is accused of witchcraft and what happens to her thereafter is a tale of unbearable human distress brought about by an unjust society. But, despite her deep concern for the realities behind the tale, Nyoni opted to incorporate elements of surrealism and humour. While not my favourite mode, it was not the surreal touches that put me off but the comic element since, unlike others, I found that the tragedy inherent in the piece prevented me from being able to laugh.
If On Becoming a Guinea Fowl is not without some humorous touches, they are far less central this time and that is also the case when it comes to anything surreal that is included. But this time around I encountered a very different problem with her film although it once again stems from Nyoni’s screenplay. Since it is part of the purpose of any review to indicate the subject matter being dealt with, I would find it surprising if a review of On Becoming a Guinea Fowl did not indicate that it was a family tale that starts when Shula (Susan Chardy) is driving home one night after a party and comes across the body of her Uncle Fred lying in the road. Since that is insufficient in itself to indicate the character of the piece, I would equally anticipate that it would then be stated that Shula, like two of her cousins, Nsansa (Elizabeth Chisela) and Bupe (Esther Singini), had suffered sexual abuse from the dead man. What follows portrays the way in which for the funeral and mourning rites the family want to praise the deceased and to overlook his appalling behaviour even though many of those present must be aware of what he had done.
Such material has obvious dramatic potential and could easily have yielded a powerful film, one which also possesses the interest of reflecting the ways of Zambian people today. The large cast assembled for the purpose are all competent players and Susan Chardy is an actress with real presence which makes her good casting for the central role of Shula. But what unexpectedly undermines this endeavour is the way in which Nyoni’s screenplay offers so little by way of real development. Uncle Fred may be dead within the film’s first five minutes but half an hour passes before he is described as a pervert and just a little longer before sexual abuse is indicated. It's a delay that seems seriously misjudged because, while the family members are all persuasive characters, they are not presented with sufficient detail for the early scenes to feel in any way compelling. On Becoming a Guinea Fowl is a slow-paced work that spends almost its entire length spelling out the basic situation which most viewers will know about before entering the cinema.
Admittedly there is what could just about be described as a sub-plot because the film also shows how Uncle Fred's family take against his young widow (Norah Mwansa) doubtless due to resenting the fact that she is probably entitled to his property which might otherwise have been shared by them. But once again Nyoni never builds this up in a manner that gives real weight to it. On the other hand, this is a film made with a very individual eye and one that is adroit when it comes to looking at things from the female perspective (even if their standing in this society is greater, the men are seen as very ineffective figures).
As against that there are off-putting oddities in Nyoni's approach when it comes to inserting occasional surreal touches. The opening sequence in which Shula discovers Fred’s body incorporates a sudden shot of another woman seemingly also present and I gather that this is meant to be the younger Shula. But there is nothing to make that clear to the viewer. Earlier still it's obviously deliberately bizarre that our first sight of Shula at the wheel should show her wearing headgear not unsuited to a figure in a science fiction tale and Nyoni only chooses to explain it much later when mention is made of Shula having attended a fancy-dress party that evening. However, Nyoni’s eye for apt compositions adds greatly to the visual impact of the piece and, as with her previous feature, she has David Gallego making his own valuable contribution as her photographer. But the film’s qualities are undermined by the fact that if you know what the film is about then there is so little to discover on seeing it. Because the title is such a strange one some critics have also opted to explain its relevance which only emerges on screen in the last few minutes of the film, even if clips of an old TV show about guinea fowl are inserted earlier. This review will at least leave that as something for the film itself to disclose. There is social observation here that is doubtless valid and valuable but the tale needed to be developed far more to become a truly effective feature film.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Cast: Susan Chardy, Elizabeth Chisela. Esther Singini, Norah Mwansa, Gillian Sakala, Carol Natasha Mwale, Loveness Nakwiza, Henry B.J. Phiri, Doris Naulapwa, Esther Yobe, Sombo Kapole.
Dir Rungano Nyoni, Pro Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe and Tim Cole, Screenplay Rungano Nyoni, Ph David Gallego, Pro Des Malin Lindholm, Ed Nathan Nugent, Music Lucrecia Dalt, Costumes Estelle Don Banda.
A24/BBC Film/Element Pictures/Fremantle-Picturehouse Entertainment.
98 mins. UK/Zambia/Ireland. 2024. UK Rel: 6 December 2024. Cert. 12A.
