The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind follows young William Kamkwamba, played by Maxwell Simba, the son of farmers Trywell and Agnes, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor and Aissa Maiga, respectively, who also enjoys fixing radios for his friends in the village of Wimbe. When a drought hits, causing famine to spread through his village, riots begin occurring while many of the villagers depart. Looking to save everyone who remains, William comes up with a plan to build a windmill to power a waster pump and allow the crops to succeed once more.
The film is Ejiofor’s first directorial outing, and right off the bat, the actor proves he has a keen eye behind the camera. The film’s scenery and visuals are easily some of its strongest qualities, and it gives the movie a very grounded, realistic feel. The way in which scenes are lit perfectly capture whatever mood they’re trying to set. Early on in the film, while the village is still prospering, the scenes have a brighter, more colorful feel. And as the famine hits, the color palette becomes much darker.
And it’s not even just in the lighting that really captures the overall feel. This film’s soundtrack plays a big part in setting the feel from scene to scene. Never does it really overpower any of the acting or the dialogue. It often feels subdued, and compliments the situation at hand perfectly. It will give the film either a laid-back, easy-going sort of feel early on while things are still fine for the village, or this feeling of despair once it hits the second act, or even this sense of hope as William begins to devise his plans for the windmill.
While the film is very laid-back, at times it can often feel a bit too much so. Clocking in at about a two hour run time, the film tends to take its time with building up some of the dramatic tension. There are shots dedicated to lingering on characters as they’re reacting to certain pieces of information, as well as moments that are mainly just shots of the scenery and the environment. While the movie is beautifully filmed, the run time can be felt plenty of times due to the slow moving pace, and the film would have benefited from some tighter pacing.
And even when the film does get to certain dramatic beats, the way in which they are handled feels often familiar. While the film is based on a true story, specifically from William’s memoirs, there’s really only one major unique element of this film that makes it stand out from any inspirational, true-to-life story, which is William’s achievement of building the windmill to save his village. Beyond that, the rest of the story is fairly by-the-numbers in terms of conflict and dramatic beats.
Everything in this movie simply builds towards that one major moment of the windmills being built, and the film often uses tropes and cliches to get there. This is especially apparent in many of the conflicts between William and the adults. There are countless scenes such as William being immediately dismissed by an adult because he doesn’t know any better, scenes in which he tries to contribute something and gets yelled at, and scenes in which adults just make an executive decision because they know better, only to realize the error of their ways later on.
Despite the film feeling overly familiar at times, it’s still enjoyable thanks to the acting, especially that of Maxwell Simba and Chiewetel Ejiofor. Simba makes for a very compelling lead and has a strong enough personality that allows him to elevate much of the more generic familiar. While Ejiofor’s character follows many beats that the typical “parent who constantly dismisses his child” trope embodies, he’s an actor who’s very hard to dislike, and really gives it his all here, and the scenes in which these two get to play off each other are some of the strongest scenes in the film. Like the two lead actors, much of the supporting cast also do a fine job with the film, especially The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’s Joseph Marcell in a complete change of pace for the actor as the commanding chief the village. The only shame of all this is that the story isn’t as unique as each of their performances are.
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind doesn’t have much in terms of story that makes it truly distinguishable, following many of the same dramatic beats as other films that are inspired by a true story. And the film does take its time getting to each of these major plot points, with a laid-back, easy going pace that causes it to move a bit too slow at times. Despite its faults, it does show that Chiewetel Ejiofor has what it takes behind the camera as well as in front of the camera. The film’s direction is spot on, and the performances by both Ejiofor and Maxwell Simba are much better than the material they have to work with. While this is a mixed bag, those who are simply looking for a feel-good film that plays it relatively safe may find plenty to enjoy in this.
Recommendation: Proceed With Caution
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