The debut feature film from acclaimed documentary filmmaker Kim Mordaunt, The Rocket is a disarmingly charming coming of age film set in war ravaged Laos. Mordaunt previously made Bomb Harvest, which followed a bomb disposal expert training a new team to deal with the unexploded bombs from the US's secret war against Cambodia from the 70s still littering the landscape. Obviously Mordaunt has drawn elements of this fictitious story from that film. According to local lore, when twins are born, one is blessed and one is cursed. Ahlo (played by 10-year old newcomer Sitthiphon Disamoe) is the survivor of twins born to Mali (Alice Keohavong) but his grandmother believes that he is cursed. A number of incidents seem to bear this out - his village is due to be flooded to make way for a new dam; his mother is killed in a freak accident while relocating; he causes his house to be burnt down by angry neighbours. The only people who believe in Ahlo are the young girl Kia (Loungnam Kaosainam) and her uncle (Thep Phogam), who styles himself after the great blues singer James Brown. A bond develops between these outcasts. Ahlo competes in an annual rocket building competition, the winner of which receives money and great respect, hoping to change his family's fortunes. Can Ahlo change his family's fortunes, or is he indeed cursed? Beautifully filmed on location in Laos by cinematographer Andrew Commis (Mabo, The Slap, etc), The Rocket looks superb and provides an engaging insight into this exotic land and its rich culture. Mordaunt draws naturalistic performances from the small cast of largely non professional actors.
Review of The Rocket
The Rocket
(2013)
provides an engaging insight into this exotic land and its rich culture
22 July 2013
Warning: Spoilers