Movie Review: The Boy Who Harnassed the Wind

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind ** ½ / *****

Directed by: Chiwetel Ejiofor.

Written by: Chiwetel Ejiofor based on the book by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer.

Starring: Maxwell Simba (William Kamkwamba), Chiwetel Ejiofor (Trywell Kamkwamba), Aïssa Maïga (Agnes Kamkwamba), Lily Banda (Annie), Noma Dumezweni (Edith Sikelo), Joseph Marcell (Chief Wembe), Philbert Falakeza (Gilbert Wimbe), Lemogang Tsipa (Mike Kachigunda).

 

Chiwetel Ejiofor is an undeniably great actor – from the film that I first remember him for, Stephan Frears’ great, underrated Dirty Pretty Things, to his Oscar nominated turn in 12 Years a Slave, and nearly everything else he’s been in, Ejiofor has a distinctive screen presence. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind is his directorial debut – and while it certainly shows that Ejiofor could be a great director, it is not a great film. The remarkable true story of William Kamkwamba, who with little education and few books, essentially taught himself to be an engineer – and build a windmill to help his poor, farming family in the African country Malawi, is the type of inspirational story that gets movies made all the time. And yet, as writer and director, Ejiofor barely seems interested in that story – he’s more interested in the day-to-day realities of life in Malawi, the government corruption that hurts the people, the climate, the weather, etc. and everything around William than in William himself. This, by itself, didn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing – acknowledging the darker reality around an inspirational true story is usually a good thing. The problem is that the film feels like it’s being pulled in two different directions – that Ejiofor feels he has to give you the feel good stuff to get you to watch the rest of it. As such, neither side feels full developed.

 

The film opens with William (newcomer Maxwell Simba – a very talented young actor) going off to school, as his father Trywell (Ejiofor) stays at home to work the fields that he has farmed for years – up until recently, alongside his brother who died in those same fields. Their village is poor – and getting poorer since the big tobacco plantation has moved away. That tobacco company is back though – they want to buy the village trees. Trywell and the Chief (Joseph Marcell – best known as the butler from Fresh Prince of Bel Air, and very good here) don’t want to. Those trees are the only things that will protect them against flooding during the rainy season. But the rest of the town doesn’t listen. And you know what happens when the rainy season does come. That is followed by a drought – that threatens to leave the whole village starving. Trywell cannot afford to pay for William to continue his schooling – but a teacher (who happens to be in love with William’s sister – although they keep that love quiet) and a librarian help William at least get some books. William is a naturally gifted engineer – he’s figured out ingenious ways to drain as much energy as possible from batteries, and does a lot with what most people view as garbage.

 

A lot of the movie is pretty good – without ever really becoming gripping. Part of the problem is that Ejiofor’s heart seems to be more with his own character than with William. Trywell is clearly the most complicated and conflicted character in the movie – a stubborn man who has always tried to do the right thing, who is now paying for that because it has left him defenseless. He most assuredly is not a perfect character – he seems like he may be in the beginning – but Ejiofor gives him a lot more shades of grey to play, something he doesn’t allow in any of the other characters. Everyone else seems to basically be one thing or another. Simba is a talented actor, and his confidence and determination is admirable – but your kind of wish that the film gave him something more to play. Were there moments of self-doubt? He doesn’t even seem all that sad when some fairly big upheavals happen in his life.

 

The movie’s reason for existing would seem to be William building that windmill to help his poor community be able to farm even during the dry season. But the film pretty much backloads that, and it’s really only the final 20 minutes or so that it becomes the focus of the movie. In that time, Ejiofor the director hits all the notes you expect him too – but in part because it feels so shoehorned in, it doesn’t quite hit you the way it should.

 

It really does feel to me that Ejiofor wanted to make a film about people like Trywell, in a place like Malawi, and felt that the only way that he would allowed to do so is if he wrapped it up in this well-known, feel good story. Ejiofor has the instincts of a filmmaker – but here, he may have picked the wrong vehicle to tell the story he really wants to tell.