A Homeric fairy tale that tells the adventurous journey of two young boys, Seydou and Moussa, who leave Dakar to reach Europe.A Homeric fairy tale that tells the adventurous journey of two young boys, Seydou and Moussa, who leave Dakar to reach Europe.A Homeric fairy tale that tells the adventurous journey of two young boys, Seydou and Moussa, who leave Dakar to reach Europe.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 38 wins & 35 nominations total
Ndeye Khady Sy
- Madre di Seydou
- (as Khady Sy)
Oumar Diaw
- Sisko
- (as Cheick Oumar Diaw)
Affif Ben Badra
- Autista pickup
- (as Afif Ben Badra)
Jackie Zappa
- Middle man
- (as Jacky Zappa)
Featured reviews
People are always drawn to the idea of a better life, and all too many of them are fooled (or fool themselves) into believing that all they have to do is to find their way to America or Australia or (as here) Europe, and they will have found paradise. Many thousands of people set out on these journeys of hope every year. What proportion of them make it? No-one knows, but it's unlikely to be that high. What proportion of those that make it think it was worthwhile? No-one knows that either.
Seydou and Moussa are teenaged cousins from Senegal who have come to believe in the dream. They've saved what they think is enough money, and set out without telling their families.
Then they face reality. Their journey leads from Senegal to Mali; to Niger; to Libya; and then across the Mediterranean to Italy. Or so they hope. What they soon realise is that the the people-traffickers through whose hands they pass are simply after their money. If some poor souls die along they way, who cares? The least brutal encounter is with a border guard who says "I recognise a fake passport when I see one. Fifty dollars to ignore it." The most brutal is very brutal indeed.
At one point the cousins are separated, and the film follows Seydou. He makes it to the shores of Libya via a stroke of luck that strikes the viewer as a bit too convenient. He is then reunited with his cousin via another all-too-convenient stroke of luck.
The last act of the film is the crossing of the Mediterranean, with Seydou tricked into skippering a boat that looks as though it's already been scrapped twice (hence the title, Io Capitano which means I am the Captain. Most of the cast speak a dialect which it took me a while even to recognise as a sort of Pidgin French).
The film is beautifully shot and the cast (largely non-professional as far as I could make out) are superb throughout. I do, however, have a problem with the ending. It's too optimistic, too upbeat. The mass migration of so many desperate people (and their ruthless exploitation) is the great crisis of our age. I'm not going to pretend I have an answer, other than the fact that the necessary first step is for as many people as possible to know what's going on. To this end, I would've thought a more brutal - even depressing - ending would've driven the necessary message home more effectively.
Still, this is a first-class film, which will live long in the memory.
Seydou and Moussa are teenaged cousins from Senegal who have come to believe in the dream. They've saved what they think is enough money, and set out without telling their families.
Then they face reality. Their journey leads from Senegal to Mali; to Niger; to Libya; and then across the Mediterranean to Italy. Or so they hope. What they soon realise is that the the people-traffickers through whose hands they pass are simply after their money. If some poor souls die along they way, who cares? The least brutal encounter is with a border guard who says "I recognise a fake passport when I see one. Fifty dollars to ignore it." The most brutal is very brutal indeed.
At one point the cousins are separated, and the film follows Seydou. He makes it to the shores of Libya via a stroke of luck that strikes the viewer as a bit too convenient. He is then reunited with his cousin via another all-too-convenient stroke of luck.
The last act of the film is the crossing of the Mediterranean, with Seydou tricked into skippering a boat that looks as though it's already been scrapped twice (hence the title, Io Capitano which means I am the Captain. Most of the cast speak a dialect which it took me a while even to recognise as a sort of Pidgin French).
The film is beautifully shot and the cast (largely non-professional as far as I could make out) are superb throughout. I do, however, have a problem with the ending. It's too optimistic, too upbeat. The mass migration of so many desperate people (and their ruthless exploitation) is the great crisis of our age. I'm not going to pretend I have an answer, other than the fact that the necessary first step is for as many people as possible to know what's going on. To this end, I would've thought a more brutal - even depressing - ending would've driven the necessary message home more effectively.
Still, this is a first-class film, which will live long in the memory.
An emotional rollercoaster of a film charting the journey of two young Senegalese cousins as they cross the Sahara and the Mediterranean to find their fortune in Europe. It gives the lie to those who demonise, to advance their political ambitions, such migrants. Technically, the film is astonishing, especially notable for Paolo Carnera's superb cinematography and. Marco Spoletini's sensitive editing. Everyone in the large, mainly non-professional, cast is superb, with a massive shout-out to Seydou Sarr, who finds himself as the eponymous captain. Director and co-writer Matteo Garrone, a great filmmaker, has delivered another masterwork.
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 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...
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.
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.
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.
Did you know
- TriviaFilm debut of Moustapha Fall.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The Oscars (2024)
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Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official site
- Languages
- Also known as
- Tôi Là Thuyền Trưởng
- Filming locations
- Casablanca, Morocco(as Tripoli)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- €12,113,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $150,048
- Gross worldwide
- $7,636,951
- Runtime2 hours 1 minute
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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