Rocket powered by a twin engine

MOVIE REVIEW: A tough-skinned, yet tender-hearted coming-of-age drama, The Rocket effortlessly launches itself in viewers' affections, and remains there throughout.

Raw talent: (left to right) Sitthiphon Disamoe, Thep Phongam and Loungnam Kaosainam.

MOVIE REVIEW: A tough-skinned, yet tender-hearted coming-of-age drama, The Rocket effortlessly launches itself in viewers' affections, and remains there throughout.

Filmed in the war-ravaged nation of Laos by Australian filmmaker Kim Mourdant, The Rocket is the story of a young boy named Ahlo (Sitthiphon Disamoe).

A resourceful child, Ahlo was born a twin, a status that has cast a shadow over his short life.

In Laotian culture, some believe one twin will embody all that is good in the world, while the other will never be more than a living menace.

Since he was a baby, Ahlo has been filed away in the latter category by his flinty grandma. Any bad luck that comes his family's way - and there has been plenty of it - has been lumped on Ahlo's shoulders.

He must prove the fates wrong, and The Rocket (which takes its name from a fireworks festival which forms a key element of the movie) offers an irresistible ground-level view of the mountainous quest before him. Shot in highly rustic circumstances with a mostly amateur cast - Mourdant's extensive experience in documentaries serves him well here - The Rocket shows us a world and a way of life far removed from our own.

Nevertheless, the warmth of its humour and the intense feeling of the more emotional scenes speak a universal language all will understand.

Highly recommended.

> THE ROCKET [PG]

Director: Kim Mourdant (feature debut)

Starring: Sitthiphon Disamoe, Loungnam Kaosainam, Thep Phongam, Bunsri Yindi

Rating: 4/5

"We have lift-off"