This was
another expected Oscar® that sort of never happened right? A lot of people were rooting for Tom Hanks and then he didn’t even get nominated. And by the
way, as I write this I can’t help wondering why we didn’t have such a hoo-haa
about the Best Actress awards. I think everyone sort of assumed Cate Blanchette
was going to get it, then she did. The end. But then again, I think that’s
possibly the topic for a different post all together. Let’s return to the tale
of Captain Phillips and the story of the real live pirates.
For Captain
Richard Phillips, it’s simply a job like any other. There is a ship that needs
to be taken from A to B on the African coast. Ok, the route the ship needs to
take goes through potentially dangerous waters – pirate territory to be precise
– but it’s nothing the captain or the crew cannot handle as long as they keep
their wits about them. Besides, not a single American captain has been hijacked
in the last two hundred years, so the odds are definitely in their favour. And so, they set off. Captain Phillips is
made of slightly sterner stuff than what the crew are used to but there they
are, in the middle of the ocean so they might as well find a way of getting on
with each other. Until, that is, the unthinkable happens… A crew of Somalian
pirates driven by desperation board the vessel and take Captain Phillips
hostage. Thus starts a very dangerous game of cat and mouse with actual lives
at stake.
First of
all, did you notice the “human interest” angle in Barkhad Abdi, the actor
playing the pirate captain being nominated for an Oscar® ? And seriously, how awesome would it be if he
had actually won? I know we are light-years away from the way things should be
as far as gender diversification goes, but at least now the “underdog” also is
given an equal seat as it were, which is good. Now all that needs to happen is
to actually give said underdog the award – but I digress.
I found
this film interesting in a way, because it brings the whole concept of pirates
into perspective. I mean hand on heart,
when we think of pirates, we tend to think of a rather romanticised version of
the concept loosely based on Captain Jack Sparrow. There may (may) have been
some truth to that concept once but of course that was quite literally
centuries ago. Pirates still very much exist today and their lives are a far
cry from that of the Disney pirate captain. They are hungry, desperate and
forever being pushed to do more and get more ships by the “big bosses” who
would not hesitate to kill them if they so much as opened their mouth to
murmur. So in fact, this not just the case of a “swashbuckling life” – it is a
simple case of desperation and survival. Not quite a Disney movie then.
The film
wonderfully balances psychology and tension – not least in the second half of
the film when Captain Phillips is actually taken hostage on the pirate’s own
small boat and driven off. When the action took place on the ship, at least
there was room to manoeuver, you know? Gun fights, the crew trying to hide from
the pirates, the possibility of an intervention, a lot more to “play” with –
and play with it director Paul Greengrass does with gusto. You will remember
Grenngrass’ work from the Bourne trilogy. He does tension and action very well
albeit in a rather testosterone loaded way, but hey, it’s an action movie right?
The second half of the film was particularly good because now the lion’s share
of the action is contained in the small boat the pirates are using to try and
escape from the approaching authorities. We see the way the pirates interact,
with each other and with Philips, moving smoothly from the action to the
psychological. It was great to see such a smooth transition between the two. Of
course the main focus remains very clearly on Phillips’ abduction and his being
either returned to safety or taken back as a hostage. But instead of brief and
slightly stilted insights, in this film we get a proper, legitimate look at the
psychologies of the pirates. It gives
that film that bit of an edge, making our characters that bit more real. Which
is interesting really, because this film is not really about the ship – it is
about the pirates. This is clear, because the crew, with the notable exception
of Philips and the few people who work close to him get very little air time
beyond what a crew on a ship would be expected to do. Stock roles, nothing
more. The insight we get into personalities we get from Philips and the
pirates. It is a subtle difference, but a difference none the less. A different
focus would mean yet another film about white “Caucasian heroes” being attacked
by “baddies”. This film asks the
question “well who are the baddies?” – because we pretty much know what the
“crew” on the good side is like. We have seen enough action movies. The hero
usually changes from film to film, so fair enough we get to know Philips. But
then, we turn our attention to piracy. Not “attacks”. It’s pleasant to see a
film in a genre rather set in stone (like any genre, the action film has its
own conventions that fans are partial to) merge so smoothly with the
psychological thriller and provide a refreshing change of perspective all at
once.
Now don’t
let all this talk of how the story is structured make you think I am mentally
detracting from the fact that this was a true life ordeal. The story is
wonderful – and a good story is the backbone of every good film out there. But
the art of cinema truly lies in the way you structure the story and chose to
portray it. I find true enjoyment in
mulling this aspect over as well as getting immersed in the film I am watching.
I mean, the way the story went presented a brilliant opportunity of course –
having actually been on the boat with the pirates, Phillips was able to
actually observe them and provide the insight Greengrass so aptly uses to bring
the film to life. And as I always say, real life is nearly always much stranger
than fiction.
So if you
want a film that will grip you, excite you and make the 2.5 hours fly by,
you’re looking at the right one. So let the adventure on the high seas begin!
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