Film Review: A Hijacking

Director: Tobias Lindholm

Ahead of the release of Captain Phillips, I felt I should watch this Danish film which covers the same topic of Somali pirates hijacking a ship around the Gulf of Arden and the Arabian Sea. Released early this year it is a Danish language film that has brief conversations in English between the captors and the leader of the pirates called Omar (Abdihakin Asgar). The production team took the decision to not offer subtitles for the conversations in Somali to add to the realism and tension of not knowing what is happening like the crewmates at the time.

The key negotiators at Orion Seaways

Mikkel (Pilou Asbaek) is a chef onboard the MV Rozen heading to Mumbai from Denmark, he phones his wife to tell her he will be back 2 days late as he has stay in India an extra few days. As he prepares food downstairs he hears gunfire and they soon realise they are being held hostage by Somali pirates. Back in Copenhagen, the CEO of the company Peter Ludvigsen (Soren Malling) is negotiating with the pirates with the help of a specially trained negotiator to try to resolve the situation.

Chef Mikkel Hartmann (Pilou Asbaek) held hostage on the ship

The film itself is quite surprising as it focuses quite heavily on the negotiation and the strain that the kidnapping places on the CEO of the company back in Denmark. At times you feel isolated from what is happening on the ship to Mikkel and the other crew members. The negotiating tactics on both sides are eye-opening and gives you a view as to why they are so protracted and frustrating for both parties. The psychological battle between Omar who leads the pirates and CEO Peter is intriguing but at times does detract from the personal story of the men held on the boat. The ending seemed a bit forced and un-necessary for me to push a sadder ending than was needed but it lays a good marker ahead of Hollywood's attempt at the same subject matter.

2.5/4 Psychological battle takes preference over physical battle on the ship