My Problem with Film

The film is "good", with stellar performances, but I can't help feeling I've seen it all before. It's like a checklist of what'll make a good film. The film is taken from a child's perspective (cliche coming of age) and shows them surpassing unobtainable obsticales to reach a goal (and thus achieves the feel-good factor). Fill it with quirky characters, namely one who says "you can do it" and one who says "Its impossible" and tries to stop the protagonist at every chance they can. Add some good visuals to show off the country and some minor cultural references and VOILA YOU HAVE SUCCESS!!!

It worked for Wadjda. It worked for Beasts of the Southern Wild. It worked for The Selfish Giant. Its worked for countless other films.

Typically when countries enter the movie scene, they create films, the like we have never seen before. The German Expressionism of the 1920s, the Japanese Golden era in the 1950s, the kitchen sink dramas of Britain in the 1960s, The Taiwanese New Wave at the end of the 80s and the Iranian New Wave during the 90s. As the world is becoming more interlocked and globalisation is taking full effect, we should be seeing more countries with their unique take on film, and this in turn, rejuvenates cinema itself and keeps it from being stale. However, as the world becomes more Globalized, film-makers are turning to America for inspiration for their films. I understand this was made by an Australian, but I feel Laos should be creating their own cinema instead of it being thrust upon them. If any more films are going to be made in Laos now, they are going to look at The Rocket, and make a film similar. Wadjda was Saudi Arabia's first feature film, and the plot (notice I don't say "story") is identical to The Rocket (with the main character being a girl instead of a boy). The shots are beautiful, again like The Rocket, but again, is nothing new.

Take a look at Apichatpong Weerasethakul's films from Thailand, and see how they are unlike anything ever made before. A film like "When the Tenth Month Comes" from Vietnam is another good example.

Going into it I was hoping for something like"The Himalayan Boy and the TV Set", which is a Bhutanese documentary about the effects of technology entering a remote Himalayan village, on a boy (similar to the one in The Rocket but he is a monk) and his family. The film's extraordinary in how it tackles an enormous and important subject in a unique way "unlike anything else". Sadly The Rocket wasn't like this. No doubt I'll forget The Rocket. Its hard for me to say that, as the kid in the film was brilliant and I feel the film had a lot of potential.

But yeah. Feel free to discuss and share opinions. With the amount of love the film is getting I guess I'll be condemned like crazy.