Oscar Nominated Tale of Terrible Travel Travails Piles on Protagonists’ Plight
DIRECTED BY MATTEO GARRONE/WOLOF, FRENCH/2023
BLU-RAY STREET DATE: MAY 28, 2024/COHEN MEDIA GROUP (via Kino Lorber)
Engaging yet lacking in narrative definition, Io capitano has been described as “A Homeric fairy tale that tells the adventurous journey of two young boys, Seydou and Moussa, who leave Dakar to reach Europe”. I suppose that’s true in a kinda-sorta type of way. Homer’s hero Odysseus certainly encountered his share of travails on his way to his destination, his home and family. By major contrast, the protagonists of Io capitano (‘Me Captain‘ in Italian), sixteen-year-old cousins Seydou (Seydou Sarr) and Moussa (Moustapha Fall) are heading the opposite direction. To be more accurate, they set off from their dusty home village to find their fortune in Italy. Would that it were so simple…
Almost immediately, it’s apparent that con men, crooks, and bandits will be the only consistent elements of this journey. We realize this far sooner than Seydou and Moussa, reducing an otherwise beautiful visual accomplishment to an exercise in anxiety viewing. It’s rough sledding, having to sit back and watch two musically talented naive teenagers suffer what could generously be described as a Libertarian hell of unregulated lawlessness forcibly dictated by the unscrupulous.
What keeps us watching are the magnetically sympathetic portrayals of the leads, particularly the deeply emotive Seydou Sarr. But, as naturalistic and compellingly fantastic as the actors truly are, Io capitano finds itself adrift sooner than later. Filmmaker Matteo Garrone, no spring chicken when it comes to crafting bleakness on screen, veers completely into the ill-advised bad-to-worse-to-just-don’t-die! journey of the big-hearted Seydou and the tenacious Moussa. (And yes, the film-length trek is literally ill advised… the beginning stresses maternal pleas and warnings that the determined boys not go).
Though Garrone is also no stranger to the fantastical (Tale of Tales; 2019’s Pinocchio), he dials that aspect back for Io capitano. Only once in the film is there a moment of whimsy, as Seydou imagines himself rescuing a fallen fellow traveler during their foot trek trip through the desert by pulling her along like a helium balloon. This image, though incongruous to the crushing reality tone of the rest of it, nevertheless manages to be Io capitano’s central image (and the cover of this Blu-ray). Thematically, the moment can be read as a key character moment, demonstrating how Seydou desires to help others… would that it were so simple.
Garrone utilizes an aesthetic of deep-fried saturation which altogether heightens Io capitano‘s expansive world. At times, the bright, sharp colorful cinematography seems in conflict with the brutal nature of the story. Yet without it, Io capitano would be a lesser project. This is Garrone and company imbuing a necessary palatability to what is said to be a partially true tale.
The film’s remarkable vibrancy pours through on the new Blu-ray edition from Cohen Media Group. Those interested in adding Io capitano to their physical media film collection should not be disappointed by the disc. In addition to the movie, Cohen has included two different post-screening Q&A videos collectively featuring Seydou Sarr, Moustapha Fall, Mamadou Kouassi and Matteo Garrone. Finally, there’s also the theatrical trailer.
Bear in mind that my lukewarm take on Io capitano is a minority opinion, as the film received much acclaim throughout the 2024 film awards season, culminating with an Oscar nomination for Best International Feature Film. So, your milage may vary… even as Seydou’s and Moussa’s is increasingly abysmal. Even towards the end, as Seydou finds himself forced into a position of tremendous responsibility that he does not want, an uncertain future is the best he can hope for.