If you’re looking for a dark portrayal of life in Manila, you’ve come to the right place. In Manila there’s social problems, political corruption, and injustice hidden behind the tropes of the Hollywood noir genre. You’ll meet a few characters of the city, but the focus is always on the city of Manila and its sounds, sights, and life.
If you always like supporting the underdog, you’ll enjoy following ‘Little Balls’ in The Rocket. As he was born a twin, his family think he’s cursed and destined to bring bad luck to the family. What they don’t see is that he’s the future of their traditional way of life. The more they blame him, the more distant their link to their heritage becomes.
Kapila is born during a solar eclipse in the opening of When the Stars Meet the Sea. According to traditional Madagascan beliefs this gives him destructive powers, so his father secretly leaves him in a cattle pen to be trampled. He’s permanently crippled, but before the cows kill him, he’s saved by Raivo, who takes him to the city to raise as her own child. However, even though he’s brought up by a loving adoptive mother, he’s never able to fit into the community because of his crippled leg and growing supernatural powers. So he starts to question his roots, and with the help of a mystical blind woman he starts a journey into his past.
A dark Madagascan version of Hercules
When the Stars Meet the Sea feels a bit like a modest Madagascan version of Hercules. In both, a child with supernatural powers is left to die but is saved by a humble villager that raises him as their own. Similarly, they both grow up with supernatural powers and realize that their humble families are not their own. So they go on a quest to find their true identity. However, whilst Hercules is destined for greatness, Kapila is cursed to use his powers for destruction.
Taming Vengeance with Love
Kapila’s journey therefore becomes his battle with destiny. Society believes he’s evil because of his birth date, and the glimpses of his destructive supernatural power justify their fears. It appears in his weakest moments: when’s he’s bullied or grieving. In order to allay his power, he has to quell his desires for vengeance against those who cross him, and replace those desires with love. In this way, his journey resembles that of Siddhartha: he can achieve peace and happiness if he tunes out his anger and desires for vengeance. It’s a journey of purification and finding peace with oneself.
The Landscape Holds the Ultimate Journey
When the Stars Meet the Sea infuses the landscape into the story. As Kapila walks through the Madagascan landscape on his way home he passes through the desert, woodland, mountains, and the savannah. The variety of scenery may look like an advertisement for the beautiful landscapes of Madagascar, but it’s also representative of the diversity of our own lives. In traditional Madagascan beliefs, the sky (where Kapila draws his supernatural powers) and the sea (where he journeys towards) represent birth and death. The earth represents the life in between. His journeys through the different Madagascan landscapes therefore represent the diversity of life and its challenges whilst his journey towards the sea represents life’s ultimate journey in this world: from birth to death.
What to Watch Next
If you’re looking for more African films in which the main character embarks on a magical quest, check out Zerzura from Niger. It features a psychedelic journey into the desert to fight the Djinn. You could also watch the brilliantly animated Kirikou and the Sorceresswhich features a magical baby that takes on an evil sorceress that demands human tributes from his village or Sleepwalking Land which features a post-apocalyptic Mozambique.
Otherwise if you’re looking for more films with a bit of magic and family secrets, go watch Eve’s Bayou, an American film set in rural Louisiana.
Kings of Mulberry Street feels like it could have been your 9 year old self’s favorite film. A film that your parents would happily let you watch when you’ve grown out of Disney animation, or that your teachers might put on at school when it’s raining at break-time. A film that the adults would end up staying to watch it with you, because it’s a fun coming-of-age story that everyone can enjoy, set in an Indian community in South Africa.
The first minute immediately sets the tone for the rest of the film. It’s where we first meet 11 year old Ticky dancing along to a classic Bollywood action film projected on the big screen in front of him. He knows all the words and all the action routines. He wants to be the next Amitabh Bachchan, and judging by his confidence, his dreams don’t look too farfetched. The opening establishes Ticky’s charisma and energy; a playful energy and humor that carries through Kings of Mulberry Street.
In the next scene we meet his future sidekick Harold, a chubby kid spoiled by his single dad. They’re posh Indians, as demonstrated by their knitted jumpers and English accents. Harold’s dad even pop quizzes his son on his spelling on their way to their new house. They arrive in Ticky’s neighborhood and immediately try to stay away from mingling with any of the neighbors. Even though they’ve just moved to the hood, and the dad is now writing obituaries for a little local paper, they still see themselves as better then everyone else. They’re the stereotypical wannabe English upper class, complete with the stiff upper lips, that want to stay away from anyone that might disrupt their peace and quiet (see Elton’s dad in Rocketmanor Stevens in Remains for the Dayfor two examples). However, despite Harold’s dad’s efforts to keep him from mixing with the local rabble, inevitably, Harold and Ticky become best friends.
Ticky is Harold’s antidote to his reserved ‘English’ inspired father. He helps him break from his dad’s mold to become ‘more Indian’. Ticky teaches him Indian slang, feeds him Indian food, and introduces him to his big family. Bu,t most importantly, Ticky introduces him to Bollywood film, whose heroes provide the inspiration for them to take back their bike from the local crime boss. In welcoming Harold into the community, Ticky helps tug Harold away from the bland English culture that his father lives by, and into the colorful Indian culture that helps dispel his loneliness. It also helps to break their class boundaries by connecting them through their shared cultural roots. It’s a heartwarming message at the center of a fun coming of age film.
Have you ever met someone who has crossed an Ocean/Sea in a canoe to find work? Here’s your chance to find out more about why some choose to migrate illegally, and about the perilous journey’s they take to find work. Watch Atlantiques for free here (Amazon – link may expire by 22.04.18).
Why Watch Atlantiques?
Learn why some people choose to illegally migrate to Europe
Hear about the perilous journeys some immigrants take
To put yourself in the shoes of an immigrant and question what you might do if you had nothing to eat
It’s a short film directed by a female director!
The Breakdown
One day, Serigne chose to board a pirogue (a big canoe, often with sails) to travel from Senegal to Europe. The journey almost killed him. Waves as high as multi-story buildings whipped the pirogue that he was on making him feel like he was in a building that was tumbling to the ground. Simply put, the journey illegal immigrants undertake is often not pleasant.
Plus, the journey isn’t always the worst part…
You could reach your destination after a perilous and often expensive journey and immediately getting deported.
You have to say goodbye to your family, not knowing if you’ll ever come back home and see them again.
So why do so many people try and migrate every year? Serigne migrated because he had nothing but dust in his pockets and his family didn’t have anything to eat. Migrating was his attempt to put himself in a position to be able to feed his starving family.
How Mati Diop uses setting to bring the character’s and audience closer together
Most of the film is shot around a camp fire where Serigne and his friends debate migration and tell each other their experiences. It’s an intimate setting which draws us closer into their conversation and closer to their thoughts and experiences. Mati Diop deliberately chooses this setting because it brings the audience closer to the characters and to illegal immigration. By introducing us to Serigne (an illegal immigrant) in an intimate setting, we are more likely to sympathise with him and his experience, rather than judge him and illegal immigration without trying to understand it.
Conclusion and What to Watch Next
For more Senegalese film, check out the brilliant Black Girl , the story of one Senegalese girl brought to France to work for a French family. It’s full of injustice and currently available to watch here on YouTube.
If you’re interested in seeing more films about illegal immigration, check out the Central American thriller Sin Nombre. Also check out the brilliant Ali: Fear Eats the Soul and the family friendly Paddington (Amazon) for films about the migrant experience.
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