by Annette Basile
Worth: $17.50
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Vanthiva Saysana, Sonedala Sihavong, Itthiphone Sonepho
Intro:
… one of those films that leaves you feeling quietly blown away.
There’s an understated, fable-like quality to this beautiful film, which is set in Laos and made by a Welshman.
Satu – Year of the Rabbit begins with a woman wading through high water. She’s holding a baby – who will grow to fear water – and she’s about to tearfully abandon him at the steps of a Buddhist monastery. She leaves a note, and when Satu (Itthiphone Sonepho) grows a little – to around primary school age – he will learn her name, and the name of her village.
Meanwhile, Bo (Vanthiva Saysana) is a 17-year-old high school student who intends to study photojournalism. She is also the film’s narrator. After a shocking night at home – the kind of night we realise she’s experienced before – she runs away from her abusive, drunken father, making her getaway on a moped. Unplanned, Bo ends up at the monastery and meets Satu, both orphans in a sense, and they form a bond.
While the monastery is under threat from unexploded bombs that have been exposed by floodwaters, Bo and Satu (and Satu’s pet rabbit) set off on the moped to find Dara (Sonedala Sihavong), Satu’s mother.
What follows is something that breathes energy into the sometimes stale, overdone format of the road movie. There are adventures and conflict. There is the unexpected. And there are the mountains – huge and green and towering above our heroes.
The sense of nature is all around. Apart from a subtle musical score that’s sparingly used, the soundtrack is that of nature’s – of birds, that are as ever-present as those ancient mountains.
The story is layered, and while focused on the road trip, there are other strands regarding Satu’s mother and the monks – who loved and cared for Satu, and gave their blessing for the boy to search for his mother.
Writer/director Joshua Trigg has made a quietly astonishing feature debut with this somewhat symbolic and philosophical tale. The performances he gets out of his non-professional cast are incredible. Both leads are naturals, their bond is believable … and you may actually fall in love with them.
Satu’s themes are about loss and longing, as well as hope and determination. It’s one of those films that leaves you feeling quietly blown away. And you will think about it over the next few days – especially when the birds are chirping.
