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‘Io Capitano’ and the Nature of the Migrant
Near the end of ‘Io Capitano’, Seydou embarks on a final odyssey from Senegal to Italy on an overcrowded boat. After commandeering the boat across a seemingly endless sea they finally arrive in Italian waters. A helicopter approaches the boat. Salvation is here for the boat, right? Seydou screams at the helicopter, trying to catch its attention. He soon begins to shout that he “saved everyone”. Their lives were in his hands, and now their lives are in the hands of the Italians. They are safe, the suffering will finally come to an end. Italy will save his friend Moussa who is going to die from his wounds, and Italy will protect the child who was just born. Right? Italy will save them, right?
Like the Southern Italian migrants who made the trek to America, searching for better homes. As lady liberty whispered, so too will Italy: “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me.” As Jesus said: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest”, so too will Italy open its arms to the vulnerable, the weak, the poor, the dispossessed. Italy will welcome them into our home and care for them.
Italy will save them, right? Italy has to save them, right?
Our ancestors were saved by the American dream. And as the home of the Catholic Church, we made the promise to be like Jesus when he said: “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” We should let them in, right? They’re people, they’re human beings. They’re going to die if they come to us and we don’t save them, right? We promised we would save them. As a Catholic country it’s our duty to save them, right? Italy saved Seydou and his friend Moussa and everyone on the boat, right? They didn’t just let them die, right? And as we watch the film cut to black and the credits roll, we find our answer.
Italy let them die.
In August 2019, Matteo Salvini — Minister of the Interior at the time — prevented a migrant boat from landing on Italian shores for a total of nineteen days. At the time of writing, the three year trial accusing Salvini of kidnapping…
