Moi, capitaine

A film that allows you to evaluate a socio-political theme, strongly felt in Italy, from the perspective of the victims, first introducing the Senegalese culture and then following the migratory odyssey of two young boys towards an unknown Europe.

The journey from Dakar to Sicily, through the desert and sea, is inspired by real events lived by interviewed migrants.

The hardness and ruthlessness of these events is sweetened by dreamlike, magical, even mythological inserts, as if the told realities reached a level of incredibility such as to take the form of a fairy tale.

The choices of photography, screenplay and soundtracks are excellent and sometimes they elevate the raw scenes to a poetic level.

Seydou and Moussa from Senegal have saved some money to make their dream come true - go to Europe and hopefully become famous. We see a bit of their life in Dakar, and then their journey to Sicily, through the desert partly on foot, abandoned by traffickers who had promised to bring them to Libya, and then they cross the Mediterranean Sea with a rotting ship without any sailor who'd know how to steer it. The film makes you live the experience; this was what I came to see, and this is what I got. It is based on the experiences of at least one of the main actors (don't know for sure about others). The film has grim and sad moments, some suspense, some despicable behaviour, greedy and ruthless, but also some poetic dream sequences, heartwarming humanity, and even some inspiring optimism. It is a very tough and dangerous undertaking and nobody should be forced to put themselves through it. The acting was great and we get some impressive scenery and photography as well even though the protagonists are not there to enjoy it. Highly recommended, best film I saw this summer.

One aspect that made me think is that in the beginning the life of the two cousins in Dakar doesn't look all too gloomy, and furthermore some people give them very realistic warnings about what they are going to go through. They decide to leave their families and take on the "adventure" anyway, which can be seen as rather stupid or at least naive really, but given they are 16 years old and have some drive to distance themselves from their childhood, this has some credibility. Still already in the beginning we can think that even if they reach Europe, chances are their life there will be no better, and there will be a point at which they will regret this. Although the film conveys a lot of sympathy for them, and for what the refugees have to go through generally, it could also be used to argue that Europe should close borders more strictly and do what it can to stop people being attracted to Europe based on unrealistic hopes. Certainly the film makes no attempt to convince the spectators that the two protagonists suffer real hardship in their home country and need to go away to have a bearable life. Certainly there will be refugees like this, but is it a majority? I'd still imagine many of those who go have stronger reasons than these two. No criticism of the film as it is certainly credible, still I think we are better off having clearly in mind that not all of these stories are like this one.

I always had a negative mindset about illegal immigrants, but here, in this outstanding movie, I found it so much easier to understand how difficult it is to leave everything you have to live a normal life. It shows how unquestionably unfair life can be for some people, dealing with hundreds of difficulties just to be able to pursue a dream which can not be true in their own country. I believe, all of us, as humans have this amazing ability to find a better way to help preventing this mount of pain for people like these teenagers. And this movie changed my perspective about this crisis. I am expectantly waiting to see a better life for every human, regardless of where on this planet they are living.

This marvellous film is a real piece of art, beautiful and terribly painful at once. I left the theatre shivering and I could not think about much else for days.

This is the realistic story of a couple of young Senegalese boys, who want to go after their dreams and leave their homeland to get to Europe, mistakenly perceived as the land where dreams come true. Unfortunately their decision leads them to an ordeal, a hellish journey in which survival is all they are left with.

What hurts terribly is the fact that what you see on screen is what actually happens in reality, in a world which is falling apart more and more and in which humanity has lost every sense of being human.

We always think that the devil is an entity hidden in an outer dimension, but in my opinion it is actually in human beings themselves...

Nevertheless the most beautiful and moving aspect of this incredible movie is that the protagonists don't lose their humanity, their compassion and their love, they are not turned into the devils that captured them. This is exactly the point where we should all start from...

This is one of the most outstanding movies that I've seen in recent years, and one that should be compulsory viewing for all.

Illuminating, heart-breaking but ultimately uplifting, LO CAPITANO casts an unflinching eye upon the gruelling journey that so many illegal immigrants undertake in the hope of a better life.

The two innocents at the heart of the story are captivating in their naivety which is quickly crushed by the brutality of the heartless opportunists who exploit them at every step.

Yet, it also conveys a message of hope and triumph of the spirit. A superb film that's not to be missed. If I could rate it 11 out of 10, I would.