On Becoming a Guinea Fowl: Film Review
I knew nothing about On Becoming a Guinea Fowl except for the hero image (see above), which tells you essentially nothing. It was much darker than I expected but I really dug the story and how it tied into the title.
Written and directed by I Am Not A Witch’s Rungano Nyoni, this Zambian drama stars Susan Chardy as Shula, who is driving home from a fancy dress party late at night (dressed like Missy Elliott in Supa Dupa Fly no less) when she discovers her Uncle Fred lying dead in the road. As family members descend upon her mother’s house for the funeral, Shula discovers that one of her experiences with Fred was not an isolated incident.
On Becoming A Guinea Fowl begins more like a comedy with surreal touches before getting darker and more dramatic as it progresses. There are still some surreal moments and darkly comedic scenes – such as the family members blasting Fred’s widow for mourning too loudly – but it gets more serious as Fred’s history becomes more apparent. Nyoni slowly unravels the extent of his behaviour in her script, making the revelations all the more gripping. She doesn’t give us too much information – she respects our intelligence and shares just enough for us to make our own conclusions.
While I loved the last beat of the film and how it connected to the title, I wish the story had gone on a bit longer and offered us more of a pay-off and resolution. The final scene is really stressful to watch. Perhaps it was supposed to be darkly funny but I didn’t take it that way and felt so sorry for Fred’s widow. That being said, it ends on a glimmer of hope so I am holding on to the promise of resolution even if we didn’t see it.
The title and the opening sequence may be a little weird but don’t be put off because the meat of this film is very good.
In cinemas from Friday 6th December