Very Cool!!!

Did you people see the same film I saw?

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

A viewer would do tremendous justice to "The Rocket" by describing it as a film loaded with joyful entertainment albeit coupled with an earnest message. The film begins in a shocking manner as viewers are shown how during a delivery of twins, one of the baby dies. At a latter stage, the boy who has survived death is censured for having taken his mother's life in a freak accident. This incident points to numerous illogical acts of superstitions which continue to prevail in many countries. According to them, a person is directly or indirectly responsible for the life or the death of another person. 'The Rocket' starts as a drama but quickly transforms itself into a comedy with a message. It makes a lot of sense to viewers who want to know about the handling of serious issues in films as one gets a frank view of what happens when people are displaced due to the construction of dams. What makes "The Rocket" special for adults is that this film is able to strike a perfect chord with young children and teenage viewers.It shows them why the world of children is highly unpredictable as it cannot be fully understood by adults.

Tired of the Oscar race and its obviously-baiting nominees? The Rocket, set in Laos, is more unusual and imaginative than anything you will see, even Her, under the Oscar umbrella. Ahlo (Sitthiphon Disamoe), a surviving Laotian twin at birth and therefore potentially bad luck for his family, travels with his family and two friends to find a new home after being displaced by plans for another dam.Not only is Ahlo played by a new young actor who keeps your sympathy, but also Kia (Loungnman Kaosainam), his girl friend (he can't be more than 10 and she about 9) is equally charming and intelligent. Their journey is plagued by setbacks, yet Ahlo remains intrepid and creative as he finally plans to nix this curse and become a hero.So far the film is filled with bizarre adventures, mostly suggesting he is a curse on the family as bad luck plagues it (It's not Little Miss Sunshine's pleasant turbulence; however, Rocket's family is an eccentric crew). One of the most interesting fairs to be seen ever in film is the Rocket Contest, held each year to send missiles to the clouds to induce rain, to "poke the gods' arse," or something like that. This event is the Holy Grail of the family's journey, a way to gain prize money and to counter the bad karma of Ahlo's birth.The natural performances of Beasts of the Southern Wild echo in The Rocket, both leads believable as intrepid young, underprivileged waifs of pluck and imagination. The relationship between Ahlo and his loving but too vulnerable father, Toma (Sumrit Warin) is reminiscent of father and son in Vittorio DeSica's Bicycle Thief. Caitlin Yeo's original score, never obtrusive, like the film itself, tells the story with dignity and respect for the characters. Writer-director Kim Mordaunt has balanced the disparate elements perfectly. And best of all, it is not some exploitative tome about the emerging third world. It's about family! Its formulaic nature and slight drift to the sentimental do not keep it from being an original work of merit.The Rocket, winner of the World Narrative prize at the Tribeca Film Festival, is one of the year's best movies with a plot as imaginative as anything else out there.

Wonderful documentary style story. Scenes still have great impact on me. The casual acting styles of the children were captivating & led to credence all the way through the film. Confronting issues & imagery were simply presented without sentimental or 'fluffy' enhancement. The stories of each character were presented so realistically by apparently unsophisticated actors, with the cinematography displaying facial & scenic imagery so beautifully & again simply, so as to encourage the feel of realism & the documentary style. Would expect more awards to be coming this films way. Started out as a 'bookclub' task & left me with a lifelong impact.

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.