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On Becoming a Guinea Fowl

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7.7/10 • 9

2024-12-061h 39m

ComedyDrama

On an empty road in the middle of the night, Shula stumbles across the body of her uncle. As funeral proceedings begin around them, she and her cousins bring to light the buried secrets of their middle-class Zambian family.

Directors
Rungano Nyoni
Writters
Rungano Nyoni
Editors
Rungano Nyoni, Nathan Nugent

Top Billed Cast

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  1. Susan Chardy

    Susan Chardy

    Shula

  2. Elizabeth Chisela

    Elizabeth Chisela

    Nsansa

  3. Esther Singini

    Esther Singini

    Bupe

  4. Blessings Bhamjee

    Blessings Bhamjee

    Young Shula

  5. Doris Naulapwa

    Doris Naulapwa

    Shula's Mother

  6. Henry B.J. Phiri

    Henry B.J. Phiri

    Shula's Father

  7. Roy Chisha

    Roy Chisha

    Uncle Fred

  8. Benson Mumba

    Benson Mumba

    Joseph

  9. Chungu Bwalya

    Chungu Bwalya

    Farm Club Presenter 1

Reviews2

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CinemaSerf Avatar

CinemaSerf

Dec 7, 2024

7/10

"Shula" (Susan Chardy) is returning from a fancy dress party late one evening when she encounters a corpse on the road. A quick investigation reveals the body as that of her "Uncle Fred". She doesn't appear terribly upset at the news and neither does her partying father when she calls to tell him! Her evening doesn't get any better with the arrival of her drunken cousin "Nsansa" (Elizabeth Chisela) and when the police tell her they don't have enough vehicles to come and deal with it til the morning, she has to sleep in her car. What follows now sees us immersed in some of the rituals and traditions of a Zambian funeral, with grief - real and not so real - presented in a semi-comedic mix of ancient and modern behaviour. What also become clear is that "Shula" has a reason for her indifference and that this family, indeed their whole village, has unsavoury secrets to keep. What was curious for me, given the nature of the man's behaviour, was the extent to which the men were largely oblivious and the women almost entirely defensive of his true nature. Not of his behaviour in life, but of his reputation thereafter. He was clearly no great loss, yet his sisters grieve profoundly and lay the blame for his death squarely at his much younger wife who obviously hadn't looked after him properly. What's this to to with a guinea fowl, you might ask? Well it appears that they frequently serve as an early warning system for wildlife when predators approach, and so the allegory with the characterisation of "Shula" is clear to see as the story shines a light on established patterns of behaviour that still consider women as chattels. Aside from some engaging light-relief from the almost permanently sozzled "Nsansa", there isn't really enough development of the personas here and there's also not so much dialogue, per se. Just a great deal of plausible family chatter, angst and wailing amongst a community that treats death respectfully as the photography gets it's sleeves rolled up and takes us quite effectively into this bereft commune where there are spoils to be had, too. A lot of this is left to our own imagination and judgement, which is fine but a little lazy on the part of the writers who maybe hadn't quite the courage of their convictions when it came to delivering a more directly potent thrust, but it's still well worth a watch.

Media

  • On Becoming a Guinea Fowl poster
  • On Becoming a Guinea Fowl poster
  • On Becoming a Guinea Fowl poster
  • On Becoming a Guinea Fowl poster
  • On Becoming a Guinea Fowl poster
  • On Becoming a Guinea Fowl poster
  • On Becoming a Guinea Fowl poster
  • On Becoming a Guinea Fowl poster
  • On Becoming a Guinea Fowl poster

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Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
--
Revenue
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