Movies | Philosophy
‘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.
