“The perfect time will never come. You’re always either too young, too old, too busy, too tired, or whatever. If you are constantly worried about choosing the perfect moment, it will never come. So act now and don’t put it off for later. Jason Friede Matteo Garrone is known for his film Gomorrah about the Neapolitan mafia.This film, in my opinion ... a tandem of modernism and postmodernism and magical realism. But the film is good not only the author’s style, which is visible and structurally drowned in perfectionism.The film is good for the brilliant acting work of Seydou Sarr (non-professional actor), it amazingly conveys feelings of horror, or joy or participation. And so he was recognized in Venice as the best and awarded the prize of Marcello Mastroianni. To my taste and opinion, Garrone in this film retained the intonation of the logical plan... the tape “Scary tales”. Although in a couple of scenes in the second half - deliberately the rhythm of the picture slows down due to the decorative edging. I liked the movie. It is without moral notes and edification, but just smoothly presented history without too sacrificial points. Good movie. I recommend it. 👏
Watching Matteo Garrone’s movie is a painful affair. And not only because watching the ordeal of two Senegalese teenagers traveling across the desert and sea to coveted Europe is the most joyful thing to do. It's much worse. The director drives the viewer into an ethical trap. You just have to sympathize with the guys who were swindled and robbed and beaten, and forced to walk across the desert, and sent on a rusty trough into the sea. But instead of empathizing with shame, you begin to notice that there is growing irritation inside. Stupid questions, why in such a difficult and dangerous way ventured fellow travelers teenagers - deeply pregnant, weak and exhausted, do not give rest. Perhaps the point is that we cannot imagine the depths of desperation of life in the canonvilles of African capitals. Maybe. But it is also possible that the director simply shamelessly exploits the empathy and guilt of a citizen of “civilized” countries in front of those who are not too lucky with the place of birth. And in favor of the second version, not only the natural psychological defense begins to work - and what is my fault? - but also the fabric of the film itself. Garrone certainly took a big risk. Documentary footage from the island of Lampedusa, where those who are lucky enough to survive in the sands, waves and among thugs, did not see only the lazy. Both these shots and these faces are not a very pleasant background for this playful picture. Willingly or unwittingly, all the passion-faces in the film Garrone begin to acquire an operetta hue. It's predictable. No sooner did the recruiter appear in the frame on a trip across the Sahara, an experienced viewer already understands - a fraud. If someone on a particularly steep barchan falls from the back of an SUV, rest assured - they will be thrown in the desert and will not sneeze. The film reaches the peak of decorativeness in the most terrible scenes - in the dungeons of Libyan bandits. Footage of outright atrocities savor Garrone so enthusiastically and in detail that it looks like a staged gran guignol. Consciousness involuntarily leads to other questions that have nothing to do with the film: I wonder if these ghouls under Gaddafi already existed or this mass beastlikeness is a gift of "civilized" humanity to "uncivilized"? The appearance in the quasi-realistic world of visions of spirits and African gods looks like a frank mannerism, which is designed to give a kind of supremacy to the not quite political, not completely social film.
And despite all this, the film suddenly takes off in the finale. Extremely strange directorial strategy - almost two hours to lead the viewer by the nose in the last 10 minutes to capture the attention in a complete and unconditional captivity. But Garrone is an experienced director. I knew what I was doing. He actually served a long liturgy of the congregation, so that only the faithful remained in the hall by the end. And only the director will tell you about the movie. And it is not about the hardships of the terrible path, not about how the third world desperately reaches for the first, not even about the spirits of ancestors and local gods. It is about the dream of a captain, for whom the most important thing will be that all the passengers of his rusty ship will eventually survive. Yes, 16-year-old Seydu does not know how to alleviate the suffering of a woman in labor and how to calm down the fringes. He's not even ready for a potential storm. He just wants all these deprived, not of great mind, ugly rags to stay alive, get to the coveted shore and go live their not the happiest lives on. And that desire will be enough. In such a final design, even the flights of spirits cease to look like Christmas tinsel. Spirits can't do anything either. But at least they do.
'I'm the Captain' is an Italian Odyssey about two Senegalese migrants who go through Dantevo hell for a ghostly dream
Matteo Garrone is the best in Italy to talk about the lives of the disadvantaged. He immortalized the name of the radical "Gomorroi", so to imagine in his filmography something like "I am the captain" can not be very squinting.
And recent experiments like Pinocchio with Benigni came out much worse, although moderately gloomy. In this film, which Italy predictably sent to the Oscars, two main constants in Garrone’s creative paradigm converge – the poverty that kills the human spirit and the succession of suffering that elevates it.
The main characters of "I'm Captain" are two Senegalese teenagers Musa and Seidu. They survive in the conditions of the Dakar slums, at important events wear counterfeit T-shirts "Barça" and "Real", and at night dream of a mysterious Italy, where you must definitely go. Secretly from their parents, Musa and Seydu are working in the port to save up for the way to Europe, naively in a teenager unaware of how many nightmares they will have to endure.
Garrone seems to be following the guys with a camera. Together with them passes through false prophets, hopeless battles with the elements and human capabilities. Mali, Niger, Libya, the waves of the Mediterranean and finally the shores of Sicily - "I am captain" alternates locations, exposes new dangers, but does not change the main task - to survive at any cost.
The horror of Garrone’s idea is that for the plot of the film he used real stories of migrants and newspaper chronicles. In the main roles, he took non-professional actors who know what life is like in the Senegalese ghetto. And it seems that "I'm the captain" here has to be too realistic. But that's not happening. Instead, the director offers a different realism, magical, but magical in African.
All the way to the Paradise of Musa and Seydou imagining extraterrestrial forces. The age-old covenant with the souls of ancestors through the metaphor of shamanistic campaigns protects teenagers and promises that they will reach the goal alive. Garrone periodically reminds us of this, inserting that episode with a flying woman, teleportation in space, then sudden rescues in hopeless situations. The soul of Africa is not as it is, but as seen from Italy. Seductive, but sometimes artificial.
For all the horrors of this hellish promenade and the adventure basis of the narrative, I'm Captain is lost in genres, playing either Slumdog Millionaire, any Aliche Rorwacher movie, or the standard migrant drama of the Dardenne brothers. For some, this will be an obvious plus, and someone will consider the looseness of the whole story. Both will be right.
As a result, "I am captain" is a powerful statement about the strength of units and the weakness of thousands. Holiness in aspiration and vice in indifference. Garrone once again speaks openly to Italian (and wider Western) society - don't look at those below you with prejudice. Take out the cardboard, sit next to him and listen to his story. And then tell her. At least my friends are quiet.
The myth of the hero’s journey through Joseph Campbell lies at the heart of the scripting manuals. Home, call of fate, doubt, decision, path, difficulties, magical helper, opponent, exit. Often on this scheme made fantastic films in more or less exaggerated form. But what if there are such stories in real life? The answer to this question is given by Italian director Matteo Garrone.
I haven't seen his previous work. I had no conviction in his storytelling talent. In the film “I am the captain” you do not see innovative directing, bold dramatic decisions. Everything is done classically, clearly, in the best traditions of big Hollywood cinema. But this is no less bad or stingy. After all, the form of presentation in such films goes a little to the background, since the events in which the characters themselves are exciting, amazing, stuff a lump into the throat. Two Senegalese boys dream of being in Europe, in the process fall into slavery, get injured, exhausted from thirst, break down and get up. An example of human perseverance, sometimes recklessness, but faith in purpose can overcome any external weather. Love for family, for neighbor, for their work makes these guys go through unthinkable difficulties, which we never dreamed of, while we sit and watch this picture in a cozy cinema after a shift in a warm office.
The African setting rarely sees the sophisticated European bourgeois, but in vain. The point of this film is not so moralizing banal pathetics about colonialism, but to try to equalize people as such. Wherever you are, there are barriers in the form of toxic parents or dangerous routes. The color of the skin does not determine the strength and valor of a person, but only his intentions. So this film is an example of a surprisingly universal story of the search for a better life, as well as a good and high-quality story of growing up, faith and salvation.
Two Senegalese sixteen-year-old boys, after earning money on construction, decided to move to Europe. Despite the dissuading of experienced people, they ran away from home and went on a road full of danger, cruelty and brutal hatred. Their path is more like documentary filming, but still in many ways the film softened what would have happened. Sensitive people are not advised to watch.
One of the main European projects of the past year was the new tape of Italian Matteo Garrone. The director of Dogman, Gomorrah and Scary Tales turned his attention to the burning theme of migration flows.
I Am Captain is the story of two Senegalese teenagers who set out to conquer Europe. They secretly earn money, collect the necessary amount of money and, without telling their parents, leave.
So begins their brutal and deadly odyssey. Very quickly, they will realize that their lives mean absolutely nothing and that they can be killed or enslaved at any moment. They are deceived, tortured, robbed of money, used as slaves and almost killed. . .
I Am Captain is a masterfully crafted film that tells the truly heartbreaking story of two boys who fall victim not so much to specific bandits as to the modern injustice of world order. An order where money is more important than life.
The film has high ratings, enthusiastic ratings of viewers and critics, and a collection of awards. All deserved.
But...
I’ve been watching movies about migrants for 20 years. They are all very heartbreaking, all telling of the horrors experienced by migrants in their homeland, during relocation and even in their destination country. All these films are similar to each other and merge into one big sad tale of hopelessness.
Every year there are at least one or two such masterpieces. Critics will write articles full of humanistic ideas and admire the magnificent performance of non-professional actors who played migrants. The directors are pushing speeches about the importance of this issue and collecting a crop of awards. Every year. Year after year. Same thing. Same thing. Decades in a row. Only the details change.
Therefore, watching the masterpiece “I am captain”, the main emotion was not sympathy, but irritation. How much do you feel when you see these sad stories? There is absolutely no point in these films.
Countries’ migration policies are not getting better. People's attitudes toward migrants, whom they see in reality rather than on a movie screen, are not getting better. This endless stream of migrant masterpieces does not become the basis for any significant socio-political discussions.
Everyone just ticks the “migration” box. Like a film or two shot, so the problem is not hidden and allegedly engaged in it. The film community distributed the award, so it is good, everything that depended on them was done - their business to make films, so they shoot. Viewers of these films watch, admire and even cry - well, this has contributed to migration problems. You can mentally hang a medal for tolerance on your chest. . .
But movies like I'm Captain will never improve reality. Just because 99% of them are imbued with false humanism. Matteo Garrone, for example, manipulates the emotions of the audience, exposing his protagonist as talented, unhappy, strong and noble. Like, look dear viewer and be surprised - this is not just another useless black climbed out of poverty-stricken Africa. He's a good and decent man. And he is tormented and life is very unfair to him. Let's feel for the poor guy. He's actually very good.
Such arrogant films, which are created by arrogant filmmakers who sincerely believe in their own humanism, are the absolute majority. In Western culture, the term "appropriation" is now popular - whites are criticized for appropriating elements of the culture of oppressed peoples. And this stream of migrant films is probably some sort of "appropriation of misfortune." The rich, well-fed inhabitants of the Earth appropriate stories of migrant suffering, make films about it and enjoy the significance and nobility of their creations. . .
Therefore, by the way, it is not surprising that despite the huge number of migrant films, you will hardly find a feature film that is based on real events and tells the story of some specific people. This movie is based on real stories, but it has to be a thing. It should be just a screen reality and glorify filmmakers, and not poke people in the face of harsh reality and its real victims.
Therefore, choosing between another migrant masterpiece like I Am Captain, Green Border, Tory and Lokita, etc., I would rather choose a truly humanistic film than an exploitative one, Memories of Paris 2023. Or 2020’s “No Distinguished” is a Mexican-made film that tells a hellish migrant story, but shows a human story with human eyes, rather than offering to be surprised that migrants are also human and that life is very hard for them.