The Rocket | Review

Silver Linings: Morduant’s Debut a Breezy, Formulaic Crowd Pleaser

After winning awards and audience accolades at nearly every film festival it’s screened at (including Berlin, Tribeca, and AFI), Australian documentarian Kim Morduant’s narrative debut, The Rocket, is sure to become an art-house favorite for its heartwarming tale of a young Laotian boy’s struggles, presented as it is without douses of miserablism, melodrama, or exploitation. A unique locale and cinematically underexplored group of people serves an intriguing jumping point into a tale that’s otherwise quite predictable, though enhanced by its ability to remain, simply, a tale of overcoming unfortunate circumstances.

In the Northern mountains of Laos, Mali (Alice Keohavong) gives birth to her son Ahlo, whose large testicles earn him the immediate nickname of “Little Balls” by grandmother Taitok (Bunsri Yindi). But soon after his delivery, she discovers that she’s about to give birth to twins, a bad sign to the superstitious villagers that believe one twin is always cursed, meaning both children must be killed to avoid calamity. Mali’s second baby is stillborn, and she refuses to let Taitok kill Ahlo, so they secretly bury his dead twin and go about their business. Several years pass and Ahlo grows into a young boy, sharing a warm relationship with Mali. The peaceful existence of Ahlo’s family is disrupted when they’re informed that they must relocate as their village is about to be flooded due to a hydroelectric dam to be constructed downstream. As his grandmother and parents set off on an arduous journey to the relocation site, tragedy befalls them, setting off a chain of events that soon has everyone believing Taitok’s prophecy that Ahlo is a cursed child. It doesn’t help that Ahlo befriends the village’s other pariahs, a young girl named Kia (Loungnam Kaosainam) and her James Brown loving uncle, Purple (Thep Phongam), an outcast for helping the Americans during Vietnam. An annual rocket festival is being held in a nearby community, where crowds gather to light off rockets, awarding a cash prize to the most spectacular. Convinced he can scrabble together materials resting in the war torn landscape (and bat shit from a bat cave) to make a spectacular rocket, Ahlo sets out to prove he’s not a cursed twin.

Despite its rather downtrodden setup, touching quietly on a history of exploitation and violence as well as a continued carelessness for the welfare of a population forced to relocate, The Rocket remains surprisingly upbeat. Morduant carefully avoids the schmaltz, though the James Brown obsessed Purple is pure quirky distraction, as is the twee Kia, seemingly placed for audiences that desperately need continual comic distraction when faced with decidedly dire depictions of unfortunate circumstances.

More resolute is the enjoyable performance from Sitthiphon Disamoe as Ahlo, a young boy in mourning trying to prove himself to his rather weak willed father (Sumrit Warin). The lush, mountainous landscape provides The Rocket with some spectacular shots, and it’s a rare glimpse at a place not often depicted in the realm of narrative cinema. But as a whole, the film is really about believing in oneself and not letting the criticism of others become self-fulfilling prophecy, told with a warmth and generosity that certainly explains its vibrantly celebrated reception. At the same time, it’s formulaic and predictable, and having that in mind, it will be either more or less than what you want it to be.