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Captain Phillips, a fast-paced and appealing drama
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In 2009, in international waters off the coast of Somalia, the USA merchant ship Maersk Alabama, whose captain was Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks), was boarded by a group of Somali pirates. They kidnapped the crew and used the captain as a hostage while long and tense negotiations with the U.S.A. government began.
Based on these facts, Paul Greengrass, director of documentaries and The Bourne ultimatum among other films, builds a fast-paced and appealing drama which does not accept a single point of view.
The audience put at the place of the captain, who lives a living hell but at no time loses his survival instincts and his sense of duty and responsibility, even at the price of his own life. At the same time, we have a perception of the world the pirates come from, their objectives, their modus operandi and their irrationality when they face unforeseen events.
In a masterly way, Greengrass shows us how human beings act at extreme conditions: the first one uses reason and keeps calmly the other one loses it when he has to face problems and setbacks and reacts using force and violence.
It is worth noting Tom Hanks' brilliant performance. He manages to convey all the stress people experienced on the ship. It is also disturbing the catatonic shock he lives at the end of the odyssey.
Texts: Núria Farré. facebook@cinemaperaestudiants.cat
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