Films based on books always seem popular at our local cinema
and the story of the hijacking of the cargo ship the MV Maersk Alabama in April
2009 was no exception. Based on a book written by the captain of the cargo
vessel Richard Philips, A Captains Duty:
Somali Pirates, Navy Seals and Dangerous Days at Sea, and adapted for the
screen by William ‘Billy’ Ray, best known for writing the screenplay for the Hunger Games (2012), it tells how four poverty
stricken Somali fishermen between the ages of 17 and 19 manage to highjack the
ship along with its crew of 20 and 17000 metric tons of cargo bound for
Mombasa, Kenya.
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| Four Somali Fishermen looking for recompense. |
As purely a docudrama, Captain Phillips (2013) is another
exciting outing for the Surry born Paul Greengrass, director, screenwriter and
former journalist who specialises in dramatisations of real life events for
example Resurrected
(1989), Bloody Sunday (2002), United 93 (2006) and 2010’s Green Zone.
Strangely enough it was Ron Howard who was originally down to direct Captain Phillips and Greengrass was due
to helm Rush (2013)
but they ultimately swapped projects to the improvement of both movies I would
suggest.
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| Taking over the vast ship and its twenty crew! |
In probably what is the best role of his long career
Tom Hanks, who plays Phillips, is superb and its his acting that gives this
movie a tension that keeps its audience on the edge of it seat for over two
hours. But also mention must be made of the Somali born actor Barkhad Abdi in
his debut role as the charismatic leader of the fishermen and the new Captain
of the hijacked cargo ship. Along with the
wide screen cinematography by regular Ken Loach DoP Barry Ackroyd, and the
battle of wits between the ‘boy’ and the middle-aged sea captain are worth the
admission price alone. Obviously this movie will be compared with Tobies
Lindholm’s A Hijacking
(2012), which unlike Greengrass’s film is ‘not about an actual hijacking but about the people involved and how it
affects them, the technicalities of negotiation and the monitory value of human
life’[1]. Each
was shot on water and in real ships that gives both a special type of
authenticity.
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| One sided negotiations continue. |
As usual with an American budgeted film it makes only
minimal effort to explain why the Somali’s go to such extremes, concentrating
on the ‘heroic’ actions of the ships Captain ‘although some crew members have considered him as reckless’[2] Various
reports and several news sources have suggested that piracy off the Somalia
coast is due in part to illegal fishing and the dumping of toxic waste along its
remote shoreline by foreign vessels. In response to this the fishermen began
forming armed groups to stop the foreign ships. But because of the unlawful
actions, which severely restricted their ability to fish and earn a living,
they were forced to look for an alternative income. By turning to piracy the
fishermen believed ‘that they were
protecting their fishing grounds and exacting justice and compensation for the
marine resources stolen’[3].
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| Tom Hanks with Richard Phillips. |
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