Minor Spoilers:
For people who've seen their fair share of movies, it's no secret that Hollywood films and international films are sometimes divergent in style. A good example is that of Wim Wenders' "Wings of Desire" and its Hollywood adaptation, "City of Angels". Both films are about an angel who falls in love with a woman and decides to become mortal but that's pretty much where the similarities end. They may seem alike on the surface, but the deception lies in the fact that those two films are about remarkably different things. The former delves into deep metaphysical ponderings of existence and the meaning of what it is to be a human being, while the latter is a melodramatic romance movie starring Meg Ryan and Nicholas Cage. This deceiving incongruity is especially evident with "Captain Phillips" and Denmark's "A Hijacking", two films released within a year of each other that afford a great opportunity to witness differing styles at work.
"Captain Phillips" is the real life story of the captain of the Maersk Alabama whose ship was hijacked by Somali pirates back in 2009. The emotional rollercoaster of a role of Phillips is handled with aplomb by two time Oscar winning actor Tom Hanks; he is instantly likeable as a simple every-man American and we soon find ourselves rooting for his survival. Although ostensibly a story about Phillips and his crew's ordeal, the movie is also a story about two different ways of life coming into direct conflict; a direct collision in affairs between East and West, between developed countries and the third world. Both sides are just going about what is their typical state of affairs and this time unfortunately, their interests are at odds with each other. The film makes a point of showing the business-like nature of piracy in Somalia; there are very limited opportunities for work and men in the village are desperate to get a chance at the potential windfall piracy offers. We do get to know the Somali pirates but they're all just given vague characteristics and are more caricatures than people. There's an angry one and a young innocent one, but the only one given any kind of depth is their leader, Muse (Abdi). A man who lives in a hard world where you have to take what you want by force, he accepts the cost of his way of life and by the film's end, he finds himself in over his head with no choice but to proceed; there is no alternative. Phillips attempts to befriend the pirates and reach some kind of common ground but that soon proves to be impossible. Claiming to just be fishermen and nothing more, Muse assures Phillips multiple times that everything will be resolved and everyone will soon go home even when things are quickly falling apart. In desperation, Phillips asks Muse if there isn't some other way of making a living where people's lives don't have to be threatened and where firing guns isn't necessary. But Muse dismisses him with a very simple response: "Maybe in America."
While this movie is essentially a tale of survival, "Captain Phillips" is layered with ideological subtext. Early on, we witness the almost laughable sight of a tiny little boat with 4 emaciated men on board attempting to take over a multi-million dollar behemoth of a a cargo vessel. Director Paul Greengrass proceeds to highlight this unsettling contrast more than once throughout the film. As the situation escalates, the characters become part of a larger battle when the American military gets involved with express instructions to prevent the pirates from succeeding at all costs. And the ensuing show of force and military might is astounding and intimidating. In a chilling and almost sinister presentation of proceedings, we observe the vast difference in resources and material at the disposal of each side. We see darkened communications rooms full of the latest high-tech equipment, highly trained Navy seals, infra-red cameras, high powered sniper rifles, and massive ships of war all trained against men armed with simple AK-47s and practically nothing else. The intentions of the film-makers in this regard are unclear to say the least as the uncomfortable situation that unfolds soon makes us beg the question of who the victim in this story truly is. In a heated intense moment when he realizes that there will be no backing down, Phillips repeats to Muse in despair: "You're not just a fisherman! You're not just a fisherman!" It is at this very moment where the two ideologies truly separate. In Phillips' eyes, these are men who know that they are doing a wrong thing and yet remain willing to get him and themselves killed. In a throwaway line very early on, he muses to his wife about how the world has changed and shares his fears about how unprepared their son is for this new ultra-competitive and cut-throat world. Because of this, we wonder how much Phillips understands about the pirates' motivations and to what extent he speaks for all those people who can't comprehend how piracy can become a normal and routine occupation.
"A Hijacking" has two main protagonists and spends roughly an equal time with both of them. Peter (Malling) is the CEO of the shipping company who receives the terrible news of the ship's capture and against expert advice, he decides to handle negotiations with the hijackers personally. Mikkel (Asbaek), the ship's cook, speaks English and is forced to deal with the hostage takers' translator and negotiator (Interestingly enough, a large portion of the dialogue in "A Hijacking" is in English as it is the only common language between the two negotiators). And while "A Hijacking" focuses on the trying and testing ordeal of the long and drawn out hostage crisis that ensues, it does not focus on the chase aspect of the story whatsoever (unlike "Captain Phillips", which devotes a substantial amount of time on it). As for the Danish version, we find out about the hijacking from Peter's perspective and by the time we return to Mikkel's side of the story, the crew has already been captured and the ship has already been taken. In fact, we don't see any real action sequences whatsoever in "A Hijacking", and any on-screen action happens in an instant and is over very quickly. While everything in "Captain Phillips" occurs in a matter of days, the hostage situation in "A Hijacking" eventually become an ordeal that drags out interminably for months.
Where the tension lies is in the pressure cooker world that both Peter and Mikkel find themselves thrown in. The performances here are subtly powerful and emotionally charged; some of the best scenes to be found in both films are the simple ones in "A Hijacking" that just give us a realistic peek into the lives of characters caught in such extreme circumstances. Separated from his wife and young daughter and with no end to the situation in sight, Mikkel slowly and steadily unravels as conditions on the ship worsen and the constant unrelenting stress begins to get to him. Peter, on the other hand, finds his entire life consumed by a pressure of a different kind. A tough negotiator who has the can-do attitude of someone used to being in control and taking problems head on, the pressure on him soon becomes more than he can handle. With the lives of the hostages in his hands and with the questions and concerns of the hostages' families tormenting him, he desperately tries to rein in his urge to do anything to save the hostages, especially when that desperation risks harming them. "A Hijacking" also handles the Somalis in a different approach that works effectively for its purposes, keeping them at a distance as volatile and seemingly irrational captors who treat Mikkel and the rest of the crew like dogs. Much like Phillips, Mikkel also tries to find some kind of common understanding with the pirates, and much like Phillips again, he fails miserably for the most part.
Verdict: The most interesting aspect of watching two movies about a cargo ship hijacking is just how completely different they are in terms of what they decide to show on screen and which aspect of their respective stories they focus on.The clear thing to be taken from watching both films is that "A Hijacking" is much more grounded in reality. Greengrass brings the uniquely intense and pulsating action style to "Captain Phillips" that he perfected in the latter two Bourne flicks and in "United 93". But even though it is an entertaining and engaging film, "Captain Phillips" exists in a fantasy world where everything seems realistic but very little rings true. Violence is much more commonplace in "Captain Phillips" but it's much more shocking and unsettling when it occurs in "A Hijacking". Both film handled different dramatic dimensions of their stories and while the Hollywood version relishes in the frenetic and nerve-wracking excitement of the hostage situation, "A Hijacking" requires more patience as it recounts a more realistic version of events. Poignant and sobering, it contains no manipulative quick edits, no massive action set-pieces, and no overdone heroic feats. It's up for debate which method makes for a better movie experience, but in the end, it all depends on what the audience prefers to spend two hours of their time watching.
A Hijacking: B+
Captain Phillips: B
Trailers:
A Hijacking
Movie info:
Runtime: 103 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Cast: Pilou Asbaek, Soren Malling, Dar Salim
Director: Tobias Lindholm
Screenplay: Tobias Lindholm
Cinematography: Magnus Nordenhof Jonck
Captain Phillips
Movie info:
Runtime: 134 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Cast: Tom Hanks, Barkhad Abdi, Faysal Ahmed
Director: Paul Greengrass
Screenplay: Billy Ray
Cinematography: Barry Ackroyd
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