Io Capitano, review
Io Capitano
UK release: 5 April 2024
Director: Matteo Garrone
Review by Drew Chateau
A pursuit of happiness occurring across two continents, the audience is treated to this heart wrenching, familial triumph against adversity. Seydou [Seydou Sarr] and Moussa [Moustapha Fall], 16-year-old cousins and best friends, dream of leaving Senegal and becoming stars in Italy. They are not yet alive to all that entails, but soon grow beyond their years during their labyrinthine journey across the Sahara Desert, the corrupt underbelly of Libya and the Mediterranean Sea. At a time where anti-immigration sentiment is rife across Europe, Io Capitano is a punchy call to humanise those brave enough to risk it all in aid of a promised oasis.
Directed by Matteo Garrone, this 121-minute dramatic adventure follows Seydou and Moussa, who are working hard to leave for Europe––a place, in their mind, full of hope, wealth and untapped potential. Quickly, we become cognisant of Seydou’s tender and supporting countenance, and the rambunctious rugged confidence of Moussa. Together, they are a joint voice that dreams of becoming so famous that the whites will be asking for their autographs.
Whilst we understand that their families do not have a lot, Seydou sleeping on a mattress in a shared room with his four sisters, their poverty is not the chosen lens through which the audience are invited to view Senegal. The focus however is the playful joie-de-vie and serious dedication to love and culture present throughout, a foundation which allows Seydou such conviction when he decides not to leave Libya alone. Indeed, a thread integral to the makeup of the screenplay is community. Even in the bleakest situation, amongst those who have the least, one finds the most shared hope and care, without which, neither lead would have made it. Absent these moments of civil duty, Io Capitano would have been a sobering tale of corruption and greed, and how western propaganda of the great Europe is actively killing people of colour.
In light of the UK Government announcing harsher rules for immigration and gaining citizenship, anti-immigration rhetoric is strong, and manifests as a fierce need to segregate based on borders and origin. This film provides the missing context behind the statistics and aerial shots to refund people their humanity. Much of the film is hard to watch, and it should be. Though Io Capitano is fictional, it very well could be a biography, a message hinted by the dual protagonists sharing the name of the actors portraying them. When shown headlines attacking lazy immigrants who steal jobs, Io Capitano rebuts with images of Seydou tied like meat at a butchers, forced to work to reclaim his natural freedom. Seydou, Moussa and every real African risk becoming victims of modern-day slavery, clandestinely operated by the Liberian mafia with impunity, in the hope of a better life.
Paolo Carnera’s cinematography is beautiful and tragic as it needs to be, weaving a visual narrative that complements and elevates the plot. The sweeping shots of the Sahara’s desolate landscape, contrasted with the cold, bleak crowded holding room show the separation from the hopeful commence to the lowest junction ever experienced for Seydou. Io Capitano portrays a production quality rivalling Lion (2016) or Slumdog Millionaire (2008), the cinematography being integral to the experience of the film.
This is all supported by the cast’s excellent command of acting. Whether we are watching Seydou carefully wash the dirt off Moussa when he isn’t capable, or Martin [Issaka Sawadogo] cradling a broken Seydou, they allow the audience to live through it with them. Hailing directly from Dakar himself, non-professional actor Sarr captains the film expertly, with a worthy win of the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Newcomer. Sarr displayed such command with a full range of all emotions, that you feel his hope, fear, exhaustion, and pure tenacity to survive in every scene.
Told in three different languages, shot across the African continent, and inclusive of the boys’ song in the credits, Garrone managed to centre the voice of the voiceless. An eye-opening foray that inverts the camera lens towards its subjects, and breathes air into the story, that we have no choice but to feel and live it. Io Capitano is an eye-opening foray into the often tragic journey many make, and seeks to remind us that behind the numbers, are people who deserve our attention and our respect.