Movie: A Hijacking (Kapringen)
Director: Tobias Lindholm
Cast: Pilou Asbaek, Soren Malling, Dar Salim and Roland Moller
Rating: ****
Mikkel Hartmann, a cook on a Danish cargo ship , calls home to inform his wife that his arrival will be delayed by two days since he has been assigned the responsibility of training the new cook before he could take off on his vacation. This opening scene of Danish film “A Hijacking”, from the co-writer of ‘The Hunt”, is the only happy moment in what is otherwise a claustrophobic, gripping hostage drama bereft of Hollywood hysteria.
When a cargo ship MV Rozen and its crew is taken hostage by Somali pirates in the middle of Indian Ocean, its shipping company in Denmark decides to handle the crisis by itself. The pirates demand $15 million in exchange for the release of the crew. The CEO of the shipping company with the help of an expert on negotiation begins negotiating with the pirates, and what unfolds is cold, premeditated and uncompromising. What begins as an operation likely to be finished in few days gets stretched for over four months.
The tension in the film elevates with every passing scene, never failing to arrest us even for a minute. Unlike several Hollywood films with similar story lines, “A Hijacking” distances itself from unneeded action and instead focuses on attacking the psyche of the people involved in the situation. Be it the pirates, the crew or even the CEO of the shipping company; spotlight is thrown on capturing the instant reaction of the characters, their behavior and ability to gauge the gravity of the situation.
This film serves as a textbook for B-school grads on negotiation skills. The negotiation scenes are enacted to perfection, giving us a sense of what it means to be emotionally hijacked in such circumstances and its immediate repercussions. There are few instances that remind us that it’s very important to not let one’s emotions control his or her decision making ability during negotiation. Every MBA aspirant should definitely not miss this film come what may.
For most part of the film, writer and director Tobias Lindholm, never shows us what happens behind the locked cabin doors on the ship. But he shows Mikkel at regular intervals to help us understand what is precisely happening to the crew members. Even when the news about the hijacking of the ship reaches the shipping company, we are never shown how the pirates gain entry into the ship. Very conveniently, Lindholm avoids these scenes and rather focuses on building tension brick by brick.
I’m amazed how a film with no action, not even a raised voice can still keep you hooked throughout. There’s barely any background score, but for the eerie silence of the Ocean and the dingy cabin rooms. Lindholm expresses fear through his characters as you can see it in the eyes of Mikkel and the rest of the crew, while also in the eyes of the CEO of the shipping company negotiating for the lives of his crew.
Fear need not always be expressed through action because sometimes even psychologically it can be injected into someone. The psychological approach “A Hijacking” makes for a great drama with focus on human interactions.
The film has some polished performances by Pilou as the cook and Soren as the CEO of the shipping. Not only did they carry the film on their shoulders, they even outperformed the rest of the cast effortlessly. Abdihakin Asgar as Omar, the negotiator on behalf of the pirates, gives a moving performance.