‘Tori and Lokita’: At the fair of the east

In his iconic song ‘Alla fiera dell’est’, the Italian singer-songwriter Angelo Branduardi, who was inspired by the Jewish folk song ‘Chad Gadya’, wrote: “At the oriental fair, for two cents, my father bought a mouse / And the cat came and ate the mouse, which my father bought in the market”. An apparently innocent and childish composition that the protagonists of ‘Tori and Lokita’ sing in the new feature film by the Dardenne brothers and that it could not be more revealing to describe one of the most poignant and complete works in the vast filmography of Belgian filmmakers, an eminent European social cinema.

‘Tori and Lokita’ has the name of its protagonists as its title, two immigrant minors from Africa seeking asylum in Belgium. The younger of the two, Tori, has already succeeded, as he belongs to a persecuted minority in his country of origin. However, the matter is more complicated for Lokita, her alleged older sister, with whom, in reality, They have no blood ties, but have a brotherly affection worthy of true brothers, since they met when both risked their lives during the Mediterranean crossing.

The Dardennes focus on so-called minerals (unaccompanied minors) and they do so with the characteristic social spirit that their cinema has built since they directed ‘Je pense à vous’ in 1992, their first feature film with a clear focus on denunciation and social awareness. After their particular trilogy with recognized faces (‘The boy with the bicycle’, ‘Two days, one night’ and ‘The unknown girl’), the directorial tandem has already had a first attempt at returning to its roots with the remarkable ‘ The young Ahmed’. However, It is with ‘Tori y Lokita’ that they take it one step further, to the point of becoming one of the most complete films of their long career.with moments worthy of ‘The promise’, ‘The son’ or his great masterpiece, ‘Rosetta’.

In ‘Tori and Lokita’ there is no hope, there is no reflection of a system that tries to watch over its protagonists. Furthermore, it is contrary to the wishes of these brothers, about a teenager whose sole aim is to obtain residency to work as a domestic worker and send money to her family so that her brothers have a better future than hers. Though her ambitions are tremendously austere and humble, The Dardennes show an inhospitable and cruel reality, in which the two minors suffer a series of abuses that the filmmakers try to denounce.since both have a debt to pay towards those who brought them to Europe to seek a better future, thus creating a perverse vicious circle in which any possibility of escape is suppressed by a debt to a human trafficker who forces them to have to pay make a living as best they can, though this means having to become camels, once again putting one’s life in danger. Furthermore, the perspective linked to sex is added to this, given that Lokita faces a series of abuses of a sexual nature that remind us once again of the major violation of the rights suffered by both women and girls.

A heartbreaking film that evokes the spirit of ‘Rosetta’ or ‘El niño’

This is where the rougher style of the Dardennes is seen, the one that makes ‘Rosetta’ feel like a punch in the stomach. The filmmakers have no qualms about showing the inhumane conditions in which two children whose childhood has been taken away live. Added to this is the filmmakers’ approach, which avoid explicitly showing excessively violent moments, leaving the horror out of the picture, even if it is sensed and causes the same feeling of unease. Here We see the experience of two filmmakers who have always shown elegance in what they want to tell.

The filmmakers are very aware of what they want to denounce and they do it without mannerisms, without moralistic messages, showing facts that could very well be inspired by true events. Add to this that both are once again flaunting the power they have in terms of working with non-professional or inexperienced actors. This is reflected in Joely Mbundu, who gives a heartbreaking performance, reminiscent of Oulaya Amamra in ‘Divinas’ and could very well be on the same level as Émilie Dequenne in the aforementioned ‘Rosetta’. From now on, a clear favorite for the Magritte for best new actress, as well as for the César Awards in the same category. Alongside her, a wonderful Pablo Schils as his little brother, a boy whose performance lives up to other children’s shows that have dazzled and caused bewilderment like that of Maya Vanderbeque in ‘A Small World’ or that of Colm Bairéad in ‘The Quiet Girl’.

“Tori and Lokita” is heartbreaking and terribly humanthe Dardennes know how to strike, also demonstrating their ability not to give up the cinematic gaze despite what is narrated. A contemporary response to what the brothers of “The grave of the fireflies” would have experienced., in an environment that is not only hostile, but in which they have been completely abandoned to their fate. As desolate as it is sublime. As Branduardi’s song would metaphorically say, the story of two mice that the world gave us and that a cat did not hesitate to devour. A tremendously real parable on the injustices that are committed against children in the middle of the first world and which knows how to touch precisely the main economic and social problems affecting refugeesfocusing on the vulnerability in which the Menas live, showing the concrete commitment of the Dardennes to denounce the situations they are experiencing.

Note: 9

The best: His social denunciation is direct and concrete. The performances of Joely Mbundu and Pablo Schils.

Worse: Underestimate it for its short duration.