A Hijacking (2012)

Boring, over-political, tech fuzed mess

Boring, long, and too preachy.

A different way of telling a story

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

A cargo ship is heading for harbour, when it is hijacked by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean. Amongst the men on board are the ship's cook Mikkel and the engineer Jan, who along with the rest of the crew are taken hostage. With the demand for millions of dollars, a psychological feud unfolds between the CEO of the shipping company and the Somali pirates.....One cannot help but compare this to Captain Phillips if you had seen the Tom Hanks movie first, which many did, because here in the UK, this movie had only a small release.But while Phillips is a remarkable piece of work, this movie is a more realistic interpretation of the tension that transpire from the two different cultures.On the ship, the story is told from the point of view of the cook, and this is the only major flaw of the movie, the opening sees him talking to his family via telecom, so you will instantly know he will be the focus.Surprisingly though,the film is at its most intense in the board room, with the CEO being pressured not just by his peers to get results, but having to comfort family members whilst dealing with the interpreter/leader of the pirates.When the two focus point finally cross paths on the phone, this is when the film is at its most tense, as you can almost feel the CEOs despair,a t being slightly arrogant with the pirates.A Hijacking is a well told story, using elements of hostage myths such as Stockholm syndrome and bargaining, all the while holding that gripping sense of dread and coldness right until the end.

One of the best movie from Denmark based on the real event. It tells about a commercial ship's hijack in the Indian ocean by the Somalian pirates. I have read many articles in newspapers from the past few years about these pirates and Indian navy who came to rescue the ship and the crew. I even thought a movie about it should come, the wait is over, so finally I am glad to see 'A Hijacking'.Well it was a pure and realistic drama, if you thought of the commercial movie presentation then you will be disappointed. Following the ship hijack the pirates send a message to the company that the ship belong to asking big ransom. Then the corporate reacts asking confirmation of the crew alive to proceed further with their demands. Due to the lack of proper communication the conversation ends in undeveloped and drags for months. As a viewer, sometime you will feel hollow for the idle in story telling. Which may bore some people to frequently pause and play kinda presentation. That is all to bring the real time feel of the situation that takes place over a 4 months from hijack to release of the ship.When they engage in negotiation, on the other side where the ship crews are held as hostage are begin to affect in delusion for lack of good food and loneliness in their trapped room. There are few scenes in the movie that makes more nervous all the sudden. As the story nears to the end it concludes without much surprise. Like one of the movie characters ask, is that it? Probably not, then comes the real twist in tale on the perfect moment for a simple reason. And that's the powerful ending leaving a guilt feeling to a character even after he was released and free to meet his family.As another Danish movie 'The Hunt' is all set to enter into the short list for American Academy Awards, this movie lost its place to participate in the big even. After seeing this movie, I kinda expecting better and different story in Tom Hanks 'Captain Phillips' that I yet to see. Coincidentally both the movies deals about the cargo ship hijack from the Somalian pirates.8/10

"A Hijacking" features excellent performances from two protagonists, delivered in an unflinching fashion that lays out the scenario, and simply allows the raw emotions to transpire on their own. The timing of the release on Blu-Ray coincides with the theatrical release of "Captain Phillips," which stars Tom Hanks and directed by Paul Greengrass. The films both tell the same story of cargo freighters hijacked by Somali pirates who seek millions in ransom. Aside from the similar subject matter however, the two films could not be any more different. "Captain Phillips" is an appealing action thriller concerned with presenting a satisfying, pulse-pounding conclusion for its audience. "A Hijacking" is a tense, grounded-in-reality based drama without the sense of comfort of a predetermined finale.A Danish cargo ship named the "MV Rozen" is en route to Mumbai when Somali renegades gain control of the vessel and demand millions for the return of the ship's seven-man crew. Negotiations ensue between the corporate office and the pirates that follow the give-and-take of everyday business deals, with one important difference. In this case, the goods are human beings. Shot with hand-held cameras, the movie cross-cuts between two perspectives: the captured vessel's cook Mikkel Hartmann (Pilou Asbæk), and the maritime company's hands-on CEO Peter Ludvigsen (Søren Malling).At the outset, the two characters share a common interest, but as the bartering drags on for months, the uncertainty of an outcome takes these two men in very different directions. Danish director/writer Tobias Lindholm perfectly balances the dual psyche of the captive Mikkel and corporate CEO Peter, two psychologically exhausted protagonists in remarkably different ways. A tense, slowly unwinding ticking-clock drama this may be, but the film is as much a character study, both the powerful and the subordinate, existing under extreme duress with life or death consequences attached to their decisions.The film isn't a white knuckle ride and the pacing is slow at times, but this is one of the cases where that's exactly the point. Lindholm's account of a contemporary piracy situation doesn't offer the commercial appeal of "Captain Phillips," but it is nonetheless completely engaging and riveting material. There could have been several predictable avenues taken by Lindholm when telling this harrowing tale of survival and perseverance, but instead he charts into unexpected territory, and delivers real drama.

With the big budget film Captain Phillips arriving in the UK recently it reminded me that I had this much smaller film sitting unwatched in my queue. I don't know the details of Greengrass' film, but I presume the basic principle is the same as this film, which sees Somali pirates take over a Danish cargo ship and demand millions of US dollars for its release. The drama in this case unfolds in the boardroom of the company (focused on CEO Ludvigsen) and on the ship (focused on cook Mikkel).The film puts an emphasis on realism in how it delivers the story to the viewer; conference calls between the CEO and the pirates are filmed as conference calls (complete with time lag and echo) and the expert in maritime security that the fictional company brings in is indeed not an actor but someone who does this for a living for a shipping company. It helps that this sense of realism is so deeply embedded in the techniques because it does make the film work very well in terms of tension. This isn't Under Siege where the cook takes on the hijackers, nor is it a film where the dramatic score does the heavy lifting – if anything the film sits back and lets the people just be in this situation. As a result it is a more toned back film in regard to the delivery but it works well to make everything feel tense and unpredictable – the calls are as gripping as the scenes of imminent personal danger on the ship.The cast are a big part of this. At first I was concerned that I would not be able to get into the actors since so many were familiar faces to me from Forbrydelsen, Borgen, Game of Thrones and some other shows. As it was though I didn't struggle at all because everyone plays their characters so well that I forgot they were ever anyone else. Malling was the biggest jump for me as he is very different here than when I have seen him before, but he does it very well, letting the cracks show but never overdoing it for a specific scene. Asbaek has the toughest role as it is full of danger and emotion and he convinces throughout, sharing his frustration and fear with the viewer. Supporting roles are generally good with Salim, Moller and others doing good. I particularly liked Porter; occasionally he is a little clunky when working with the actors as a performance, but generally when he is in "the room" where he works in real life then he is a great presence and again really helps the sense of realism.Kapringen maybe doesn't have the large budget or production aims of a bigger film, but the focus on realism in the making of the film pays off to produce a story that is tense and engaging throughout. Well worth a look.