Buoyancy

Chakra, 14 years old cambodian boy is tired of being the only one among his siblings of being exploited by his father carrying fertilizer to the ricing field every morning , without even being paid , he seeks freedom and independance, wanting to work somewhere else where he can earn money and live better, he then finds a job at a fishing boat in Bangkok but soon he realizes that he was sold off as a slave to merciless and cruel boat captain who has a savage ways of punishement for anyone refusing to submit to a working rules he set for them by using violence and torturing them to death , seeing all this ferocity around him , Chakra turns into a vicious boy himself as the only one to survive and freeing himself.

This was a moving , realistic drama with an aspect of suspense, that highlights a modern slavery in South Asia . I would like to give credit to the oustanding performance of Sal heng who delivered every emotion in such a unique and sensitive way.

The movie was beautifully shot, showing a breathtaking scenery and landscapes accompanied by an impressive music that added up to the tension that I felt throughout the story .

The cruel business of Asian forced-labour fishing is no joke, but if you want to make a movie of it, it still has to work as a movie.

Rathjen largely succeeds, aided by fine camera work, and cinematic interludes that break up what would otherwise be an unbearably grim tale. The interludes might be a high-altitude shot of the death boat, a thoughtful moment of beauty, or a flashback to the young conscript's home village.

The ending strikes an apt note, neither too sad nor too sentimental. It's hard to imagine this one will do huge box office, so let's hope that Rathjen comes back for another round. Talented Australian directors are rare, and rarer still do they kick on for longer careers.

Story 9/10... Cinematography 9/10... Acting 10/10... Impact 9/10.

This film was a remarkable example of how to do traumatic drama correctly. If it existed, I would have watched another 2 hours and been completely engulfed in the story and lives on screen.

Typically, foreign films shot in 3rd world countries lack much of which is desired in a movie. For this reason I am often skeptical when one aims to address any sort of traumatic theme or disturbing topic. The normal approach is to overdo gore and take advantage of the locals or "conditions". However, Buoyancy balances realism and inserted facts with a well thought out plot to create an environment very unique to it. The film's intention was set out to spread awareness about the slave trade still occurring on shipping vessels, while evoking emotion from viewers. Both of which were completely engulfed within the film.

Many of the other reviews have already complemented the significance of the film and how well the entirety of it was. For this reason I will not echo what they have said. This film taught me something I was unaware of, and something widely ignored by mainstream media/news. I would rank this movie's quality alongside Precious and 12 Years a Slave.

Disclaimer: as others put it, this film can be tough to watch. If you are used to extreme cinema it is a refreshing break from over the top scenes, so much so I would argue this movie could warrant more intensity/gore. This type of thing I often look down upon but the movie's theme truly permits it to impact its viewers deeply. If you are used to sad dramas, be weary as this one truly has the capacity to stick with someone.

A docudrama on young (and very young) southeast Asian boys/men risking their lives in getting jobs on fishing boats. There are issues of abuse, and even death. In this movie a small rebellion has the captain tossing a worker overboard and says dismissively, "no more Khmer, just Burmese".

Caption: An estimated 200,000 men and boys are thought to be in slavery and forced labour in the Southeast Asian fishing industry; worth billions, and supplies fish products worldwide.

So this is an Australian film about a very poor, 14 year old Cambodian boy, who gets sick and tired of being exploited by his family (despite many older brothers, he is forced to do all the work in his family and also forced to do free slave labor for neighbors basically sowing rice paddies - and that is major work, son). So he takes a debt to go to Thailand and work. But, because he doesn't pay up front, he is sold into slavery to a fisherman trawler, and from there he experiences all kinds of torture and abuse. The adults can't handle it; will he? This is an exceptional foreign independent film. The film is not brutal but is darkly realistic. The direction, acting, script, cinematography, editing, and score are all top notch. This is a film from last year worth searching out. SEE IT!