Review of A Hijacking (2012) by Caesar M — 21 Aug 2013

Negotiations that wager a person's life are the kind of experience that are not made into films enough. Such a subject to be adapted as a film can hit a little too closely at home for some. "A Hijacking" does just that becoming a film that immerses you dead center in its desolate situation.

A Hijacking is about the crew of a Danish cargo ship being hijacked by Somali pirates who proceed to engage in escalating negotiations with authorities in Copenhagen. The plot of the film is a difficult one to analyze. On one hand nothing much happens in it. The synopsis I wrote is nearly all that occurs in the film. It has a subplot focusing on one specific crew member turmoil in not seeing his family while being hostaged, but contributes little when established the entire crew have family being worried about them. In hindsight giving one specific crew member some focus has no contribution in drawing the viewer doing nothing significant with it focused character. Another noticeable flaw is the lack of character development. We're not talking a specific character, but rather every single individual comes of as a caricature of human behavior. You won't find a character here worth sympathizing for.

On the other hand the plot perfectly enables it to become atmospheric. Making you uncertain, isolated, and most important of all hopeless. It dares not bother to bring into question how much is a man life worth, but the cost of doing so for everyone involve. Is the reward worth the endeavors and at the end has anyone accomplished anything? It provides the answer no matter how difficult it might be to accept. Its portrayal is distinctively real having no definite hero nor a definite villain. It avoids the easy route of painting a real life problem in black and white. The Somali pirates are as much of a victim in their hijacking as their hostages. Sacrificing and enduring just as much as the crew and their negotiators. Presenting them as people trying to survive as just much as everyone involved. Everything comes full circle in its final twenty minute making one very powerful commentary on violence, failed negotiation that prolong torture on all sides, and can a number actually determine the worth of a life.

Director Tobias Lindholm is a filmmaker if you're not familiar with should keep on your radar. Lindholm direction perfectly captures the bleakness of the mood, immerses the viewer, and evokes thoughts. Lindholm made a wise decision to not have subtitles in every single scene where the actors are speaking in their Somali native language. Unless you know the language this techniques work in putting us in the position of the crew. We could only guess what exactly the Somali pirates are saying. Actor Johan Philip Asbaek brings a performance that hinted ones delivered by Leonardo DiCaprio. We watch Johan Philip Asbaek decay in mind and body and can almost smell the sweat and fear on him. His resolve evaporates and he clings to any hope or kindness even though it comes from his tormentors. He gets across these emotions perfectly being the film standout performance. The only other standout is from Gary Skjoldmose-Porter whose acting prowess jars at times, but he improvises as the actors around him play their own parts in the crisis adds a certain depth and reality.

A Hijacking doesn't evolve much from its setup, but it absorb the viewer making it commentary hit hard. The direction is the most impressive feat accomplishing much more than one might expect from such a simple premise. "A Hijacking" is a film that will provide thought and leave a lasting impression after it ends.