The Rocket

Synopsis: Ahlo (Sitthiphon Disamoe) is a kid growing up in Laos. Believed by his grandmother to be cursed he acts out his supposed destiny as his family is forcibly relocated from their village to make way for a dam. During the move his mother dies, leaving a grieving father and son and a grandmother who believes he’s cursed.

There are films which you immediately recognise as being special but for which you’re just not in the mood. This was my experience with The Rocket. Opening on a troubled birth and teasing us with a mystery of why twin children are bad luck we’re introduced to a loving mother, a superstitious grandmother and the child who will be our guide to the ensuing tale. It’s beautifully handled and cuts rapidly to the events of the main narrative. The village is being relocated to make way for a dam and the inhabitant are promised nice homes and money. We know this isn’t going to pan out, since forced relocations in third world countries never end well.

My main problem with the film was more often than not that I wanted to throttle the impish child at the centre of the story. The curse of twins is explained simply: one will be bad, one will be good. Ahlo doesn’t know which he is but everyone else believes he’s probably the bad luck one, so he acts up a lot. I found him hard to like, as he roams around doing silly, selfish things. But he also does a lot of good or well-meaning things too. At heart, he’s just a kid and he doesn’t know what he’s doing.

Like I said, I was in a grumpy mood, so I wasn’t feeling particularly forgiving. Intellectually, however, I could appreciate what was going on, and there was a lot going on -  the hazards of living in a former war zone, forced relocations and homelessness, superstition and corruption, to name the most evident  - packed into an uplifting story. The ending is a bit too twee but it’s still engaging.

The Rocket is a special film. It deserves the awards it has won. The cinematography is spectacular and should be seen on as big a screen as you can find. Just be in a good mood when you do, otherwise you’ll end up like me, admiring from a distance rather than being swept up in it all. I think I missed out.

 

 

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