ReelWorld Film Festival: The Rocket Review - NP Approved

The Rocket (2013)

Cast: Sitthiphon Disamoe, Loungnam Kaosainam, Suthep Po-ngam
Director: Kim Mordaunt
Country: Australia | Thailand | Laos
Genre: Drama
Official Site: Here

Editor’s Notes: The following review is part of our coverage for the 2014 ReelWorld Film Festival. For more information on the festival visit www.reelworld.ca and follow ReelWorld on Twitter at @ReelWorldFilm.

There are moments in The Rocket that stunned me, others that delighted me and still others that moved me and all of the moments in the film reminded me of the power of film.  It’s uplifting and also sad as it tells its simple story.  Every performance, even (especially) those from the children, is pitch perfect and ring true.  The film is beautifully shot and gorgeously directed.  The Rocket is why we go to the movies.

The story is of Ahlo (Sitthiphon Disamoe), born a twin to a Laotian tribe that dictates twins be killed at birth because one is blessed and the other cursed and instead of taking a chance, better both be killed.  His twin didn’t survive birth (strangled by the umbilical cord) so his mother Mali (Alice Keohavong) convinces her mother-in-law Taitok (Boonsri Yindee) that because both didn’t live, she didn’t have twins and Ahlo is kept alive.  His father Toma (Sumrit Warin) knows nothing about Ahlo’s brother until the family is forced to leave their village because of a dam that is being built and their village is in the spillway that will be flooded.  Ahlo, now about 10, wants to take his boat with them, but is told he can’t by his father and grandmother.  His mother lets him take it and while they are traveling up a hill, struggling with the boat (with the help of a neighbor’s bull), the line snaps and kills Mali.

There are moments in The Rocket that stunned me, others that delighted me and still others that moved me and all of the moments in the film reminded me of the power of film. 

At the new settlement, where the villagers were promised new homes with electricity and running water, they find a shanty town and the homes not completed.  Ahlo meets Kia (Loungnam Kaosainam), a girl of about 6 or 7, who lives with her uncle (nicknamed Uncle Purple, played by Suthep Po-ngam, so nicknamed because of his omnipresent purple suit inspired by his idol James Brown with a hairstyle to match) after her parents both died of malaria.  He befriends both of them, who become traveling companions with Ahlo’s family after his mischief causes them to have to leave the settlement.

Eventually they come to a town that holds an annual rocket festival in order to appeal to the sky gods to make it rain.  Ahlo wants to build a rocket so they can win the prize money and buy land to settle down (and plant the mangos his mother wanted them to plant from a 400 year old tree when they finally found a place to live).  Taitok forbids it, because she firmly believes Ahlo is the cursed twin and a rocket that he has anything to do with will certainly kill anyone and everyone around it.  Uncle Purple, a former soldier during the American incursion into Laos, tells Ahlo how to make explosives out of guano and how to make colors with ammonia, sulfur and other things.

The marvel of this film is that the time passes without you realizing it.  When you think you’ve been watching for 30 minutes, it’s actually been 60.  The flow and movement of the film is elegant and fantastically paced.  Due to its story, you’d think that there would be some downtime where things may get a little boring, but not in The Rocket.  Writer/director Kim Mordaunt has structured the film in an episodic fashion that never gets repetitive or dull.  He crafted a superlative screenplay that has deep and layered characters and placed them into believable situations.

Writer/director Kim Mordaunt has structured the film in an episodic fashion that never gets repetitive or dull.  He crafted a superlative screenplay that has deep and layered characters and placed them into believable situations.

Added to the stellar screenplay, Mordaunt and his cinematographer Andrew Commis give the film an energetic, natural look to the film.  The location shooting is certainly an added bonus, but Commis makes everything look organic and real.  The film looks alive with vibrant colors and camera work that breathes.  There’s nothing flashy, nothing that calls too much attention to the camera.  Mordaunt keeps a sure hand while letting the film feel lose and free.  That feeling connects it to the character of Ahlo, because he is himself a free spirit who loves his family and feels guilty when it’s revealed that he is believed to be a cursed twin.

Disamoe is a hell of a find, too.  He doesn’t have any other credits than this film, but he acts like he’s been at it longer than he’s been alive.  He gives a performance that is sensitive and knowing beyond his years.  The same should be said of Kaosainam, also a first-time actor.  The others are professionals, but with limited screen roles.  Each and every one of them gives brilliant performances that elevate the screenplay to new levels.  Disamoe is the real focus and he deserves it.  His work is amazing and deserves as much credit and praise as can be showered upon him.

There are so many things at work in The Rocket that changes it from a normal family drama.  All of the things I mentioned work to favor those changes, along with the great score by Caitlin Yeo that is punctuated by some well-placed James Brown songs.  The soul, however, is the characters that Mordaunt created.  From the first, there is a connection to these characters that is odd considering they really don’t do much at the start to connect you to them.  By the time Mali dies, and the way it happens, gives the viewer a start and suddenly, that’s when I knew the film had me hooked and I was willing to go anywhere it took me.  I was along for the ride and I was not sorry for it by the end.  Everything is so rich and detailed you feel like you are with them on the road, trying to help them find a new home where they can all be happy.

The Rocket is a glorious film that never disappoints, even if the end is a little predictable (and by little, I mean literally the last shot. The rest of the ending is frankly a little odd, but perfect).  There are no false steps or sentimentality in the film, everything about it rings true, every emotion felt is real.  This is a masterpiece for Mordaunt, one that will be hard to top.