Officially and conceptually, this is an Australian film. Linguistically and thematically, it is a Lao one, while practically and physically, it is very much Thai. Never mind nationality, a good film is a good film. And in a dream that seems wild but certainly not the wildest, The Rocket is perhaps good enough (it has to be lucky enough too) to make it to the shortlist for the best foreign language Oscar, which means the Lao and Thai actors, along with the Australian filmmakers, will get to saunter down the famous red carpet in Los Angeles next February to present this lovely film.
From left, not including the driver in orange shirt, Sumrit Warin as Toma, Sitthiphon Disamoe as Ahlo, Thep Phongam as Purple, Loungnam Kaosainam as Kia and Bunsri Yindi as Taitok.
A long shot? Yes, but not that long.
Set in Laos, shot in northern Thailand and in the Lao town of Vang Vieng, The Rocket was directed by an Australian but smells of authentic, poignant Indochinese soil. At heart a coming-of-age narrative about a boy looking for a home in a bomb-scarred land, the underdog tragi-comic story also touches on the deeper issues of modernisation, tradition, land appropriation, dam construction (we're familiar with that here) and the complex relationships between rich countries and their interests _ philanthropic or opportunistic _ in poorer ones.
Directed by Kim Mordaunt and starring a host of Thai actors including comedian Thep Phongam, The Rocket has had a high-flying year. It has gathered an impressive string of awards since its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival in February, where it bagged the top prize in the children's film competition. At the Tribeca Film Festival in New York, it won the best narrative feature award, while Sitthiphon Disamoe, a Thai teen of northeastern origin who plays the lead, won the best actor award. In Sydney and Melbourne, it was voted best film by audiences. Along the way, it picked up glowing reviews from the US to Ukraine, with more best-film trophies from the Amsterdam, Denmark, Calgary and Kosovo cine fests.
Sensing success, Australia submitted The Rocket to the Oscar's best foreign language race _ the shortlist will be decided in mid-January. To Thai audiences who wish to see the infectiously zany Thep in one of his career highlights, the film will be shown here for the first time next Friday at the opening of the World Film Festival, with regular theatrical release coming soon after.
Speaking to us last week via Skype while he was presenting the film in Brazil, Mordaunt said that his bond with Laos was developed in the mid-2000s when he travelled extensively around the land-locked nation to make a documentary called Bomb Harvest, about an Australian bomb specialist working in what is, according Mordaunt, ``the most bombed country per capita on the planet''.
Director Kim Mordaunt with Sitthiphon Disamoe as Ahlo.
``In terms of history, once you've been in a country that experienced war and you've worked with the people on the ground, something never leaves you,'' said Mordaunt. ``Working in Laos was life-changing for me.
``Laos is going through incredible times of change, and [what also interests me] is that Australia has a lot of enterprises in Laos. The relationship between First World and Third World countries is something we thought we should explore further.''
Couching big social issues in the snug clothes of adolescent adventure, The Rocket tells the story of Ahlo, a boy believed to be eternally jinxed because his twin brother died when he was born. When Ahlo's family is ordered to relocate from their village to clear the way for a new hydropower dam _ to be built by an Australian firm _ the boy treks through the rugged country plagued by rusty, abandoned bombs to find a place for his father and grandmother to settle down. On the way, he befriends a James Brown impersonator named Purple (Thep, stealing the show with his eccentric, reptilian tics), and his young niece. The band of misfits make their way to a village where a bung fai carnival _ the bamboo rocket festival celebrated in both Laos and northeastern Thailand to bring rain _ is taking place, and the ironic relationships between the tragedy of a bomb-strewn landscape and the joy of home-made rockets, between the concrete dam that will bring water and the superstitious merry-making to beg the clouds for rain, become young Ahlo's life lesson.
``When we made Bomb Harvest, we heard that some children tried to put the explosive from the bombs [left from the war] in the bung fai,'' said Mordaunt. ``We took our Australian bomb specialist to the rocket festival and he said, `I'd prefer to take apart a thousand-pound bomb than be at this crazy festival that is so unpredictable!'. To me, the bung fai is part of the history of bombs _ it's as if the Lao fire the bomb away from themselves to turn it into something positive, that is water. There's something terrifying and beautiful about the rocket festival. It's exciting, ancient. It's about fertility. It's also about war, and it's cathartic in a way.''
The Rocket is a feel-good film that doesn't shy away from the feel-bad chapters life inevitably brings. It has a humble, delicate touch, and what stands out is how the film has its feet firmly planted on the Lao earth: it feels genuine and on-the-ground, like a real Lao film and not an exotic trip to the dusty Third World by excited foreigners.
``I think if the director doesn't respect the people he works with, the film will never feel authentic,'' said Mordaunt. ``We didn't go to Laos once and then make the film; we had been to Laos 15 times [before shooting]. I did research for years and made a draft, which [associate producer] Pauline Phayvanh Phoumind translated into Lao. When I cast the film, I listened to the people's voices and started rewriting around who these people are. Sylvia Wilczynski [the producer] chose the right people to work with, especially the Thai production team, and that's another factor.''
Thep Phongam was Mordaunt's first choice to play Purple, a village madman with a mysterious past who becomes Ahlo's unlikely mentor. Thep, speaking to us on the phone, said he didn't really want to take the role at first ``because they wanted me to go to an audition, but I've never done an audition in my life. I even recommended many actors for them to choose from, but they said they wanted me'', said the 64-year-old professional oddball, adding that when the film was shown in Berlin in February, he experienced something he never did before in his long career: goose bumps, as the whole auditorium stood up to applaud the film.
``When we started, they let me design the character. They let me read the script and I could do what I wanted with Purple. We had to rehearse a lot anyway _ this is the Western style I think. In Thai films we don't have to rehearse, we just go in and do it,'' said Thep.
``We watched some of Thep's works, and we thought this man is amazing,'' Mordaunt said. ``He's one of the best physical actors. I thought there was no way we were going to get him because he's too big. But when I met him, he was such a sweet human being. We didn't think that it would happen, but it did.'' The presence of Purple, a cartoonish character, is a comic stroke that doesn't soften the film's fundamental thought on the issues of development _ and of dam construction.
``The dam got into the film because it's something we observed while making Bomb Harvest,'' said Mordaunt.
``Australia has a lot of ethical businesses in Asia, including Laos and Thailand. But we also have some `cowboys', those who're not giving back enough but taking too much from people. In Australia, we're told by our government that Asia is our neighbour. But often this relationship is economic opportunism _ it's about taking and not real relationships.
``And so we thought we would challenge our own country on this. Or maybe it's not just our country, because I think all First World countries have this kind of relationship with the developing world.''
That sometimes uneasy relationship sends out ripples both ways. While Australia now champions The Rocket and pushes it for the Oscar, the Lao government, while allowing the film to be shot in Vang Vieng, naturally feels, to use Mordaunt's word, ``sensitive'' about the film and the depiction of the politics around dam construction, especially the relocation of the villagers from their homes.
``The Lao government was very helpful,'' said Mordaunt. ``There was nothing antagonistic about that, but they do have have a censorship board which is more like a ratings system, like you can have this much conflict or this much politics. That's their law and we have to respect that.'' And as Bangkok will see the film next week and as a shot at the Oscar is still a possibility, The Rocket will find it hard to be launched in its spiritual home.
``It will take a while for the film to be shown there, because of the politics of the film,'' said Mordaunt, ``But I'm sure people in Laos will find a way to see it.''
Asean movies in the frame
As The Rocket, a Lao language film starring Thai actors, represents Australia in the Oscar's best foreign language race, we take a look at the films submitted by other Southeast Asian countries to vie for the Academy Award.
The Missing Picture
Cambodia
Directed by Paris-based Rithy Panh, The Missing Picture is a poignant documentary about the Khmer Rouge era, told through the personal voice of the director. Rithy spent this childhood in one of Pol Pot's work camps, and he retells his experience through a mix of clay animation, still photos and propaganda footage.
Ilo Ilo
Singapore
Directed by Anthony Chen, Ilo Ilo is a modestly touching story about a Singaporean boy and his Filipina maid. The story is set during the financial crisis in the late 1990s, and it carefully details the domestic life of a family in the face of social trouble. It won the Camera d'Or prize at Cannes Film Festival. The film was released in Bangkok last month.
Sang Kiai
Indonesia
Directed by Rako Prijanto, the film is set during the Japanese occupation of Java, focusing on local Islamic scholars who refuse to bow to the image of Japan's Emperor Hirohito because they consider it idolatrous.
Countdown
Thailand
Directed by Nattawut Poonpiriya, this Thai thriller is set in New York on New Year's Eve. A group of Thai students order marijuana from a dealer, who turns out to be a torture artist and punishment reincarnated.
Thep Phongam as Purple, on a bomb truck.
