The Pirogue (2012) poster
2012 · drama · migration · atlantic · survival

The Pirogue

Directed by Moussa Touré1h 27m2012
ElsewhereIMDb6.7438RT79%Metacritic74TMDB6.014
  • heavy
  • extreme
Movie DNA

Heavy, steady, extreme drama / migration, grounded in texture. Nihilistic, mid-stakes, measured, hand-scored across twelve axes of taste.

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Baye Laye is the captain of a fishing pirogue. Like many of his Senegalese compatriots, he sometimes dreams of new horizons, where he can earn a better living for his family. When he is offered to lead one of the many pirogues that head towards Europe via the Canary Island, he reluctantly accepts the job, knowing full-well the dangers that lie ahead. Leading a group of 30 men who don't all speak the same language, some of whom have never seen the sea, Baye Laye will confront many perils in order to reach the distant coasts of Europe.

Our read · The Pirogue (2012) reads as a heavy, steady, grounded drama · migration · atlantic entry — extreme in intensity, mid-stakes in scope, measured in temperature, nihilistic in outlook. Hand-scored on twelve axes of taste — mood, pacing, weirdness, hope, stakes, humour, reality, density, warmth, auteur, intensity, and era — with a derived palette drawn from its dominant cinematography.

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The shape of The Pirogue

Tonight, this looks like

What watching it is actually like.

You want a stark Senegalese sea voyage that shows the human cost of chasing Europe.

ends unsettlingit stays with youa slow buildgrips by minute 15attention 3/5earns its lengthsubtitles: full
Date nightWith friendsSoloWith parentsKids around

Skip it tonightSkip if migrant peril and a bitter arrival in the West will leave you heavy.

DNA · twelve axes

The reading.

Each axis is hand-scored — not derived from votes or genre averages. The marker shows where this film sits; the gradient fill uses the film's own cinematography palette.

Mood · HeavyCosy
Pacing · Slow-burnKinetic
Intensity · GentleExtreme
Weirdness · ConventionalSurreal
Hope · NihilisticRedemptive
Stakes · IntimateEpic
Humour · NoneBroad
Reality · GroundedFantastical
Density · SparseTwisty
Warmth · ColdTender
Auteur · TransparentSignature
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