Phiri), Shula embarks on an odyssey that’s littered with indignities and absurdities, including appearing on a TV talk show where she’s asked to hawk magic “Shula eggs” to the audience like an infomercial huckster. Under the guidance of government official Mr.
This insane real-life scenario is brought to bleakly satiric life by I Am Not a Witch, Rungano Nyoni’s directorial debut about a young girl dubbed Shula (Maggie Mulubwa) whose world is turned upside-down after authorities determine she’s a witch. In Zambia, women are still accused of being witches-and then sent to live in camps, forced to perform manual labor, and (most stunning of all) compelled to preside over criminal trials, where they’re supposed to use their supernatural powers to make judgments. It’s further confirmation that the legendary filmmaker hasn’t lost his nimble, self-referential touch. Full of ladies’ man charm and self-deprecating wit, his turn is as assured as his typically efficient direction, which balances suspense and poignancy with aplomb. Pursued by Bradley Cooper’s ambitious DEA agent, who’s similarly striving to meet the requirements of a demanding boss (Laurence Fishburne), Eastwood’s protagonist proves another one of his broken-down big-screen warriors. Eastwood’s lined visage and creaky comportment can’t dull his fiery spirit in this based-on-real-events drama, which finds the Hollywood icon amusingly raging against modernity’s Internet-and-smartphone addictions, even as his down-on-his-luck character grapples with the familial cost of putting personal obsessions above all else.
In his first performance in six years, Clint Eastwood brings an elegiac gracefulness and good humor-not to mention defiant toughness-to the role of a 90-year-old flower aficionado named Earl who opts to work as a drug runner in The Mule.
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