Captain Phillips

The pirate infested waters off the coast of Somalia have been and continue to be the focus of much media attention with the kidnapping of civilians and hijacking of merchant ships by Somali warlords, who force desperate local gangs of fishermen to board unsuspecting vessels and hold them at gun point until their ransom demands are met.

In 2011 there were 176 confirmed piracy attacks in the region. Captain Phillips is based on the true story of Richard Phillips, an experienced and competent captain of an American cargo ship being pursued by ruthless gun-toting pirates in 2009, desperately intent on seizing the biggest potential payload ever attempted.

Paul Greengrass puts us right in the middle of the crisis as we follow armed coastal fishing villagers out to sea and witness their strategic attempts to hijack vulnerable ships, taking us deep into the mindset of the pirates. 

One of the most visually exciting directors of our time, known for pushing the envelope of authenticity and creating some of the most realistic action films of recent years, Paul Greengrass has kept us in thrall and in the tight grip of his ever probing camera with crisis films like Bloody Sunday (2002), United 93 (2006), Green Zone (2010) and the best of the Bourne films The Bourne Supremacy (2004) and The Bourne Ultimatum (2007). 

After taking control of the ship, the hijackers take the crew hostage and make for the Somali coastline to secure their booty, but when the American navy gets wind of the attack they set a bold plan into action and the race is on to rescue the crew before they can reach their destination.

Two things are for sure, Paul Greengrass can’t make a bad movie and Tom Hanks is one of the most dedicated actors when it comes to authentic details. Together they make an unbeatable team the likes of which we haven’t seen since Tom paired with Ron Howard to make Apollo 13 (1995), or Paul Greengrass paired with Matt Damon in the Bourne series.

As the Navy closes in on the pirates who are making for their home base, the captain offers himself up as hostage in exchange for the lives of his crew members. But the question remains, how can the pirates be successfully eliminated without risking the life of Captain Phillips? The captain and crew however have some tricks up their own sleeves to foil their captors. But they must work together if they are to survive this ordeal.

Tom Hanks is known for keeping it real and giving a sincere true-to-life performance by closely collaborating with the actual people involved with the events of the film. His passion and admiration for the astronauts of Apollo 13 produced one of the most accurate film portrayals of an iconic world renowned event with dialogue and events recreated from actual NASA mission footage.

As educational as it is suspenseful to watch, it’s no surprise that under the direction of these towering talents Captain Phillips succeeds in bringing the full scale of these harrowing events to life with genuine emotional impact. 

Also watch the excellent Danish film A Hijacking (2012) which was also released last year and tells the true story of a pirate hijacking of a Danish cargo ship. 

JP

My Annual review of 2013 film year

2013 turned out to be an exciting year for films in which I saw an unusually high number of exceptional films.

We were treated to highly entertaining, significant films by visionary directors like Marc Forster (World War Z), Guillermo del Toro (Pacific Rim), Danny Boyle (Trance), Sofia Coppola (The Bling Ring), Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity), Baz Luhrmann (The Great Gatsby), Lee Daniels (The Butler), Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners), Paul Greengrass (Captain Phillips), Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave), Alexander Payne (Nebraska) David O. Russell (American Hustle), Martin Scorsese (The Wolf of Wall Street) and Peter Jackson (The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug).

This was also the year of the black history film with many great historical biographical films depicting struggles against racism in America and elsewhere. Movies like The Butler, 42, Fruitvale Station, 12 Years a Slave and Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.

Since the success of Life of Pi (2012) last year we saw a spate of “stranded-at-sea” stories this year with movies like Kon-Tiki, Leviathan, A Hijacking, Captain Phillips, All is Lost, and Maidentrip.

Black and White films made a comeback this year since the triumph of The Artist (2011) with films like Much Ado about Nothing, Blancanieves, Frances Ha and Nebraska.

Foreign films made an exceptionally strong showing in 2013. I was impressed with the amount of quality films on offer from counties like Denmark (The Hunt | A Royal Affair | A Hijacking), Brazil (Brazilian Western | Neighboring Sounds | Gonzaga), South Africa (iNumber Number | Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom), Spain (Blancanieves), Sweden (Hotel) and France (Blue is the Warmest Color).

Dystopian future visions continue to be popular in a year that saw a number excellent original “end of humanity” films like Oblivion, World War Z, Elysium, Pacific Rim and The World’s End.

Below is a list of my favourite films I saw so far this year categorized by genre and in order of release date.

(Click on the film titles in orange for my full review)

Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Oblivion                                                                        Joseph Kosinski           

World War Z                                                                 Marc Forster

Pacific Rim                                                                   Guillermo del Toro

Elysium                                                                        Neill Blomkamp

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug                              Peter Jackson

Action Adventure/Suspense/Thriller:

Trance                                                                          Danny Boyle                         UK

The Dinner (Het Diner)                                                    Menno Yeyjes                      Netherlands

Brazilian Western (Faroeste Caboclo)                             René Sampaio                      Brazil

iNumber Number                                                           Donovan Marsh                     South Africa

Gravity                                                                         Alfonso Cuarón

Drama:

A Royal Affair                                                               Nikolaj Arcel                         Denmark          

Neighboring Sounds                                                      Kleber Mendonça Filho          Brazil

No                                                                               Pablo Larraín                        Chile/France/US

Kon-Tiki                                                                       Joachim Ronning, Espen Sandberg   Norway/Denmark

The Great Gatsby                                                         Baz Luhrmann

Blancanieves                                                                Pablo Berger                        Spain/France

Fruitvale Station                                                            Ryan Cooglar   

The Hunt                                                                       Thomas Vinterberg              Denmark

The Butler                                                                     Lee Daniels

Pioneer                                                                         Erik Skjoldbjaerg                 Norway

Prisoners                                                                      Denis Villeneuve           

Wadjda                                                                         Haifaa Al-Mansour               Saudi Arabia

Captain Phillips                                                             Paul Greengrass

12 Years a Slave                                                           Steve McQueen

Blue is the Warmest Color                                             Abdellatif Kechiche               France/Belgium

Gonzaga: De Pai pra Filho                                             Breno Silviera                       Brazil

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom                                    Justin Chadwick                   UK/South Africa

Comedy/Feel Good/Romance:

Hotel                                                                            Lisa Langseth                      Sweden

Don Jon                                                                        Joseph Gordon-Levitt

American Hustle                                                            David O. Russell

The Wolf of Wall Street                                                  Martin Scorsese 

Feature Animation:

Monsters University                                                       Dan Scanlon                             

From Up on Poppy Hill                                                   Goro Miyazaki                         

The Croods                                                                     Kirk De Micco, Chris Sanders 

Documentaries:

Call Me Kuchu                                                              Katherine Fairfax Wright        US/Uganda

Muscle Shoals                                                              Greg ‘Freddy’ Camalier 

JP