With the recent release of Captain Phillips, I imagine Danish 2012 film The Hijacking has received a lot more attention in recent weeks, whether the piracy story in general has received a sudden boost in popularity or it’s just to see the comparisons (which while unfair, are inevitable), either way be glad of this because The Hijacking is a far different experience to the big budget Hollywood drama.
When a small Danish cargo ship – the MV Rosen – is overrun by Somali pirates it’s a long battle to negotiate the safe return of its 7 crew members. We see the story told through two sides: the ship’s cook, Mikkel (Pilou Asbaek) who is horrified by the events playing out. He’s a friendly quiet man who was looking forward to returning home to his wife and his young daughter, but once the pirates board the ship it’ll be a struggle for Mikkel to make it home at all. He’s the ordinary man in an extraordinary situation. He seems to be the only link between his crew and the pirates once their captain is taken ill. He mainly talks through with Omar (Abdihakin Asgar), who is quick to defend his status on board as simply the negotiator, not at all associated with the Somali pirates, but something doesn’t quite sit right with this statement. On the other side of things is Peter (Soren Malling) the CEO of the shipping company who owns the cargo ship. Peter is a brave and ruthless business man, but this is a whole new challenge for him. He brings in a specialist who advises Peter to bring in a negotiator, but Peter believes he can do this himself. He feels it’s his responsibility to bring the crew home safe because it’s his company. He tries to keep a lid on the press side of things and as far as we’re aware the government aren’t involved what so ever, we only see the negotiations going on from the offices of the company. As the weeks go on the stress of the situation builds for all 3 of our main players, Mikkel and Omar just want it to be over so they can go home, and Peter wants to solve the problem for the best of his company, but after so long will a safe resolution be the outcome?
There are many impressive and not so impressive comparisons to be made between this quiet, personal tale and its big thrilling Hollywood counterpart. We never see the pirates struggle to board the ship, we just hear that it’s happened – a reason probably put down to budget – but it’s the manner of the hostage situation which is rather impressive. The pirates dialogue is never accompanied with subtitles, a great decision from director Tobias Lindholm which makes us feel we’re living the same confusing horror as the hostages, unable to ever fully communicate with and understand their captors. We always feel like we’re apart of the frustrating negotiations from Copenhagen, as Peter and his small team work endlessly to try and strike a deal with Somali pirates, which highlights the very real and lengthy work that goes on during these sorts of situations.
The Hijacking almost feels like a docudrama, stark contrast to the big budget Tom Hanks film, and here lies the problem. While it’s an admirable attempt at telling the horrifying story, it’s rather lacking in the excitement and intensity that Captain Phillips brings. If Captain Phillips was a big boxing main event between two heavyweight titans, then A Hijacking would be that warm up bout between two locals that you didn’t really know, still enjoyed but which lacked that special something you were craving.
By the end of the film you’ll feel emotionally exhausted, like you too were a hostage on board the ship for months, which is great credit to Lindholm for his ability to draw you into that world, but A Hijacking still feels like it’s missing that monster performance that is so evident in bigger budget productions, and which ultimately and sadly takes away from the experience.
SPECIAL FEATURES: With a whole host of special features the Blu-ray includes ‘Behind The Movie’, ‘The Director’, ‘Research’, ‘The Chief Engineer’ and ‘The Actors’.
Movie Rating: A gritty and emotional film filled with suspense in its message about a real life issue (6/10).
A Hijacking is available on DVD and Blu-ray now.
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