It can be tough to sit through at times, but all in all, it's a great movie. The main cast do a good job. Particularly the title character. It's amazing what he has to go through in order to get to Spain for a better life. To say this boy has seen and been through so many hardships at such a young age is a huge understatement.
Yet, like a little soldier, he keeps going. Luis Tosar is good in his role too. He's both gruff yet caring.
Adu is a movie I recommend for anyone who wants a good drama. Especially if it's primarily in Spanish. If this sounds like your kind of movie, check it out.
Keywords: social drama
Plot summary
In the coastal autonomous city of Melilla (located in north Africa but belonging Spain),Mateo is a Civil Guard with the task to protect the barb wire which divides the city of the rest of Africa to avoid the entering of African immigrants to Spain. During a mass attempt a night, Mateo is witness about as his partner Javi hits with his club in the head to an immigrant named Tatu, falling of the barb wire to the ground and dying in the fall, causing the rage in the rest of immigrants that seen it. At the same time, in a reservation of Mbouma, Cameroon, Gonzalo is a Spaniard working as external advisor to prevent the killing of elephants by poachers, who arrives too much late to save the most important elephant of the reservation. Unaware for him, this killing causes that the child Alika and his younger brother Adu be forced to flee from their little town in Mbouma pursued by poachers, after that they were accidental witnesses of the killing. While in Melilla Mateo doubts between saying the truth about what happened or keeping silence to protect Javi, Gonzalo is fired of his job after a discussion with the reservation's guards and he moves to the airport to meet Sandra, his longtime stranded daughter (a lover of alcohol, drugs, party and wild side of life) who still continues resentful with her father after he left she and her mother when Sandra was a child, forced to move with Gonzalo after some troubles in Madrid (center to Spain and country's capital). Hoping to arrive Spain to meet with their father, Alika and Adu take a flight as stowaways hiding them in the undercarriage, but Alika dies by frozen and falls to the sea when the plane opens the undercarriage to take land, leaving alone to Adu who by mistake arrives Mauritania. While Mateo is visited by Tatu's lawyer Paloma trying to convince him to be honest in Javi's trial, Gonzalo tries to save Sandra of her self-destructive spiral of addictions to reconcile each other, and Adu is saved of the police by the teenager Massar who decides to care Adu as his new older brother for traveling Spain by offering sexually himself to truck drivers in order to earn money for finally arriving mount Gurugu, makeshift camp close to Melilla where immigrants await the right moment to pass the border, not knowing that their paths will cross with Mateo and Gonzalo in the most unexpected ways.
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It was very heartfelt
A terrific film
It is not common to find a film that has such power, such pathos, such an ability to get into your heart and soul. Many of us who lead very fortunate lives lose perspective on how many souls there on this planet who suffer on a daily basis, and are just simply looking for a decent lot in life.
This was a beautifully directed film with a great soundtrack, tremendous performances, especially the guys who played Adu and Mossar, and is really really worth watching. This movie tugs at your heart. Kudos to the entire crew, very, very well done!
Cossing Border(s)
Everyone wants a better life for themselves (and their loved ones). So seeing three stories with that common thread may be enticing or not to you. Obviously this is not something shiny and is more on the dramatic side. The acting is superb and the stories work well as standalones but also while we switch back and forth to and from them.
You may feel touched by what you see and it would make sense. Not everything about this is uplifting though but that is also how life is. And even if you succeeded in achieving one thing, the next goal, the next thing you want to get, the next step you want to take. Always be aware of where you are and where you're going. And while you may be the one responsible for your own fate, certain things may be outside of your reach. You can't control everything, you can just try to fight as hard as you can for what you love. You also can't erase or change the past (which a father has to learn the hard way with his daughter) ... so many things to unpack here, many things to cherish and maybe a few things to learn or keep in mind when making decision of your own ...