A Hijacking

source: A Hijacking

I have traversed the Gulf of Aden twice, the piece of ocean between Yemen and Somalia notorious for it's pirates. I was somewhat familiar with the methods that pirates use when commandeering ships to demand ransoms, but to appreciate the events of Tobias Lindholm's A Hijacking no sailing experience is necessary. Even though the film is a representation of how an actual Hijacking would take place: Quick, precise, and severe, the film spends little time on the mechanics of how the pirates actually board. This is not an action film. We learn that a high-speed boat has approached and boarded effortlessly, that's it. More important to the film is what happens while the pirates are on board. The first thing the pirates do, even before starting negotiations for money, is demand food. The ship's cook, played brilliantly by Danish actor Pilou Asbaek, becomes the pirate's gopher, and an ad-hoc negotiator between the pirates and the ship's owners. Conditions on board are miserable. Shocking even. The cook and 2 other crewmen are kept in a small closet for weeks, four other crewmembers below deck. They're not allowed out to relive themselves in a toilet; they must use a corner of the room. My training on ships did not include images like these. There was no training about how to interact with maniacs with automatic weapons. The job of casting the actors that play the pirates is ingenious. All the actor's performances are in the Somali language (I think). Their interactions with the ship's crew are so authentic that I'm guessing none of these men were trained actors. Probably just local Somali men recruited by the casting director, but I can't verify this. If they were actors, they're the best I've ever seen. Contentious negotiations between the ship's owners and the pirates leave questions. The hijacking ends without incident, almost, but the negotiations take months. Could the ship's owner have done more? Given in to the pirate's demands sooner? Gotten the crew home faster? Undoubtedly questions that need to be asked of the real hijackings that take place routinely in the Gulf, where we get little more than a single paragraph in the news about some, and no more. Overall I would have given this film a 9 if it weren't for a few sloppy edits that could not be ignored. This brought the overall score down to an 8. More reviews drumgodchris.blogspot.com

There is something very unique in the way Scandinavian directors and scriptwriters build a story. Realism is always a core element in their plots, irrespective of the genre, unlike films from other parts of the world. Tobias Lindholm's Kapringen (A Hijacking) is one such film. At first glance, it will definitely remind you of Captain Phillips because the theme revolves around a vessel hijacking by a group of Somali Pirates. However, the resemblance ends here. Although the Maersk Alabama Hijacking (basis for Capt. Phillips) unfolded in a typical Hollywood manner in real life, most vessel hijackings are quite the opposite. Tobias masterfully captures the scenes behind such a hijacking – the lives of the sailors held in captivity, sandwiched between merciless pirates and their stubborn company officials who refuse to let the pirates dictate terms. The movie is indeed a lesson in negotiation and crisis management. It is also a disturbing account of how corporates weigh their balance sheet more than the lives of their own men, who spent months in hostile waters, away from their loved ones. The actors do justice to their roles and put in credible performances. However, the show stealer is Tobias's well written script (I read that he has also penned 'The Hunt', which is in race for the Best Oscar for Foreign film). The negotiation scenes are shot with such realism that it will remind you of one of those boardroom conference calls in your office. I also read in one of the forums that the phone calls were actually made between Denmark and Somalia, so that the voice quality remains poor (with a slight echo) as anybody would experience over a long distance call. Unlike Captain Phillips, Kapringen will definitely leave you devastated and in agony over decisions and actions that could have otherwise altered the outcome. In the end, they were all greedy; some for money, others for mere survival. To me, the movie is a tribute to those countless sailors and their everyday struggle, far away from home, and everything they truly love. A must watch. Verdict: 7.5/10

It is often said that the jailer becomes a prisoner too. For as he watches the prisoner, he also becomes a prisoner since he cannot leave his post. In this movie, we find that that all the parties are prisoners. The obvious prisoners are the crew, but then we have the Somalis who are guarding them. The negotiator, Omar, who declares himself a non-pirate and a middleman representing communications with the Somali pirates said that he cannot leave until the ransom is paid. On the other side, we have the family of the crew who is helpless in the ordeal. Then we have Peter, the self-assured CEO of the Danish shipping company who has chosen to negotiate with the Somalis. He may seem less of a prisoner at first, but as time progresses, we see that he is also in a cell of a different kind. He cannot afford to lose focus, he cannot afford to lose his cool, he cannot afford to offer too much money lest it backfire, and he has to keep his shipping board members satisfied and give comfort to the families of the crew. The real surprise is in who gives Peter the key to free him from his cell. Perhaps the final symbolism is at the conclusion in seeing him get into his car and drive it out into the streets. We see the garage door slowly open as Peter's car leaves and then it slowly settles back down afterwards. A prisoner has just been set free and the movie watchers never doubted this would happen, but we wondered when and how. The movie is a masterful game of chess played over a period of weeks and months, but with the stake of human life if an error is made. The stress is overbearing on all parties and the movie watcher waits to see if anyone cracks first. All of this is heightened by poor communication with language, distance, and technology failures and as the conditions deteriorate with the progression of time. Additionally the relationships shift. The Somalis are the feared enemy in one scene, like comrades in another, and then feared again in yet another. The shipping company is slow to come to terms and you wonder who is friend and who is foe with lives hanging in the balance. If you want to see a gritty movie from a dual vantage point, then consider "A Hijacking" a treat. It is not Hollywood predictable. Highly recommended!