Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Kapringen - A Hijacking


"Pirates of the Caribbean" - love that movie, as it is fun entertainment...... But people sometimes tend to forget, that piracy is an ongoing problem, especially in the Gulf of Aden (actually a lot larger area than that). We are reminded about the situation in the news though from time to time.

The director, Tobias Lindholm, got inspiration for a movie when watching the tv documentary "Dealing with Pirates" and started doing research which has resulted in the movie "A Hijacking" (original Danish title: Kapringen).
 
The movie is dramatic and shows you the emotional roller coaster of being seamen hijacked by Somalis, the company who owns the ship and therefore also have a strong relation with the seafarers and the relatives, trying to cope with the uncertainty on there loved one's well being.
 
What makes it even more powerful is:
  • The ship MV Rozen in the movie was once hijacked by Somalis, and 5 of the crewmembers (including the captain) in the movie are the ship's actual seafarers who was onboard during the real-life hijacking
  • Some scenes are shot at the premises of a shipping company, that once experienced getting one of their cargo ships hijacked
  • Søren Malling (playing the partner in the shipping company) looks like a Danish shipping CEO
  • The director got advises from experts dealing with anti-piracy
I have seen the movie at a preview and is now crossing my fingers that the movie capture the audience at the Venice Film Festival.
 

1 comment:

Vicky said...

I have a nephew who has qualified as an engineer working with Maersk Shipping so piracy is something that we don't think about every day but it is something that we are aware of.
Would still like to see that film though. :)