An unlikely underdog-story from Australia, "The Rocket" showcases the struggles of a Laotian family as they go in search of a new home after the construction of a dam forces them to abandon their native village, a situation that is emblematic of how indigenous people the world over are callously pushed aside to make way for an impersonal modern world.
Young Ahlo (Sitthiphon Disamoe), the central character in the story, comes from a culture that believes that twins are by their very nature either good or evil, and since Ahlo is himself a surviving twin (his brother having been stillborn), the family - his mild-mannered father and cantankerous, superstitious grandmother - can't quite decide whether he's a good luck charm or a bad luck charm, though they suspect he is probably the latter. This puts Ahlo in the rather awkward position of feeling like every time some calamity befalls the family, he is somehow indirectly responsible for it. The three travelers are accompanied by an elderly Laotian who, as a child, fought on the side of the Americans during the war and who's so obsessed with James Brown that he dresses like him and carries his recordings with him wherever he goes, and his feisty little niece who quickly becomes Ahlo's confidante and companion on the journey.
The crux of the plot is Ahlo's attempts to win a cash prize for the best homemade rocket built out of the many un-detonated explosives that lie strewn across the countryside, a sad and painful remnant of the long-ago war that, all these years later, continues to cast an indomitable shadow over the region. It's a contest with its roots planted partly in science and partly in traditional superstition, since the goal is to appease the gods by seeding the clouds in the hope of making it rain.
Improbable as it is at times, the movie demonstrates that, even among the have-nots in this world, there is often still a caste system designed to keep a person from advancing in life, but that with a little ingenuity, determination and a few handy resources, it's hard to keep an optimistic and spirited boy down.
Young Ahlo (Sitthiphon Disamoe), the central character in the story, comes from a culture that believes that twins are by their very nature either good or evil, and since Ahlo is himself a surviving twin (his brother having been stillborn), the family - his mild-mannered father and cantankerous, superstitious grandmother - can't quite decide whether he's a good luck charm or a bad luck charm, though they suspect he is probably the latter. This puts Ahlo in the rather awkward position of feeling like every time some calamity befalls the family, he is somehow indirectly responsible for it. The three travelers are accompanied by an elderly Laotian who, as a child, fought on the side of the Americans during the war and who's so obsessed with James Brown that he dresses like him and carries his recordings with him wherever he goes, and his feisty little niece who quickly becomes Ahlo's confidante and companion on the journey.
The crux of the plot is Ahlo's attempts to win a cash prize for the best homemade rocket built out of the many un-detonated explosives that lie strewn across the countryside, a sad and painful remnant of the long-ago war that, all these years later, continues to cast an indomitable shadow over the region. It's a contest with its roots planted partly in science and partly in traditional superstition, since the goal is to appease the gods by seeding the clouds in the hope of making it rain.
Improbable as it is at times, the movie demonstrates that, even among the have-nots in this world, there is often still a caste system designed to keep a person from advancing in life, but that with a little ingenuity, determination and a few handy resources, it's hard to keep an optimistic and spirited boy down.