 The quiet socialist republic of Laos has in recent years attracted scores of Western backpackers seeking the next exotic hotspot. If you can’t get there soon, Kim Mordaunt’s The Rocket may be the next best thing, deftly offering a devastating social critique while revealing a gorgeously filmed, uniquely Laotian cultural tale. Technically an Australian production (and submitted as that country’s Oscar bid for Best Foreign Film), The Rocket was banned from being released in Laos due to its depiction of villagers relocated by the construction of a massive hydroelectric dam. Such relocation is a highly sensitive issue in Asia (devastatingly explored in Yung Change’s 2007 documentary Up the Yangtze), but in Mordaunt’s fictional film the relocation just gets the narrative off the ground. Our guide is Ahlo (child actor Sitthiphon Disamoe in an award-winning performance), a young boy who was born a twin and therefore is, according to local tradition, cursed with bad luck for life. Misfortune does indeed follow Ahlo and strains tensions with his family as they traverse the highlands of Laos, refugees in their own country as so many before them were during the Vietnam War. A local village’s rocket competition offers a chance for Ahlo to finally break the curse that he himself has never believed. Fueled by fantasy, mysticism, allegory, and childlike innocence, The Rocket soars, and will take audiences along for a terrific ride. |  MSPIFF Monday, April 7, 4:45pm Monday, April 14, 6:45pm Director: Kim Mordaunt Producer: Sylvia Wilczynski Writers: Kim Mordaunt, Miro Bilbrough Cinematographer: Andrew Commis Editor: Nick Meyers Music: Caitlin Yeo Cast: Sitthiphon Disamoe, Loungnam Kaosainam, Suthep Po-ngam, Boonsri Yindee, Sumrit Warin, Alice Keohavong Runtime: 96m. Genre: Drama Countries: Australia, Thailand, Laos Premiere: February 10, 2013 – Berlin International Film Festival US Distributor: Kino Lorber |
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