zeuszeroes This movie looked absolutely real. No exaggeration. Storyline is quite similar with 2014 Oscar nominated movie Captain Phillips. Reason why Captain Phillips got more popularity because it was a dramatisation of 2009 hijacking of the American cargo ship MV Maersk Alabama. Things which has to do with America gains more popularity than the rest of the World. Moreover Captain Phillips had 22 times bigger budget than Kapringen. Last but not least, Captain Phillips had Tom Hanks in it.

Movie Review If you're expecting Hollywood, forget it. There is no cavalry to the rescue. The film takes place inside the cramped quarters of a small Danish freighter and a cramped conference room of the parent shipping company in Denmark.The story opens with the CEO (Peter) of a Danish shipping company negotiating his way to successful deal with a Japanese firm which was nearly lost. After closing he lectures his sales director that the next time things turn sour to give him a heads-up long before crunch time. We are led to believe Peter is the master deal maker, which is why he is the CEO. Suddenly he finds his company's cargo ship has by pirated by Somali bandits in the Indian Ocean. Normally, one would think to call the authorities since pirating is an international crime not taken lightly. There are governments who've been forced to negotiate with terrorists for decades and have untold experience dealing with these psychopaths. For some reason Peter decides to do the negotiations himself and brings in an experienced consultant. I kept wondering, where is the Danish Navy or special forces? Dealing with criminals of the high seas is vastly different from negotiating with Japanese corporations. It is common sense. We see Peter counter with a very low- ball offer for the demanded ransom. The negotiations inch forward over nearly four months. Obviously the crew is anxious to go home. Only the cook is allowed to perform his regular duties on-board. A Somali pirate guards him and is armed with an AK-47. The pirates taunt the prisoners. They're constantly inserting a gun's barrel into the back of the head of some crew member. When the trigger is pulled the chamber is empty. Later, after having his job threatened by a tired board of directors because these negotiations have dragged on for so long, Peter ups the ante. Over the months, the Somali pirates have come down from their initial demand of $15 million to $8.5 million while Peter has come up from $250,000 to $900,000. In the interim we believe the Somalis may have murdered the cook to force Peter's hand. Later we find he is alive but not well, as are none of the crew. At the last minute, against the advice of the consultant, Peter makes a final offer of $2.8 million to the Somali negotiator (Omar). Upon the advice of his staff, Peter tells Omar he has $500,000 of personal savings and he is willing to offer that as well, making his case for a final offer of $3.3 million. The Somalis agree. The money is dropped to the pirates at sea. They are about to leave when one Somali pirate shoots the ship's captain in the head over the cook's necklace. There is no justice meted out to these bandits of the high seas. Crime pays and people make mistakes because they don't always use common sense. And sometimes that can cost someone his life.

sol- 'Kapringen' - or 'A Hijacking' as it is better known, this Danish thriller focuses on a ship hijacked by Somali pirates and the emotional toll on the crew members. Released within months of the very similar 'Captain Phillips', it is hard not to draw comparisons, but most comparisons are favourable. 'A Hijacking' could even be thought of as the flipside of 'Captain Phillips' as less than half the action occurs on board, with the most of it set in offices as an emotionally distanced CEO and company board members attempt to negotiate with the pirates by phone. Søren Malling is great as the CEO in question; an early scene shows us just how skilled he is at negotiating, exiting a room when those who he is bargaining with do not budge. Malling's flaw is in seeing the hijacking as another bargaining case, oblivious to how miserable his crew are as sporadic cutaways remind us. Malling also has a great quiet moment alone when he finally realises that he is pushing the negotiating too far. At first, it seems easy to criticise 'A Hijacking' for the wedding ring drama near the end and for making the pirates cardboard cutouts compared to those in 'Captain Phillips'; we never see the pirates as human beings here and their dialogue is not even subtitled, forcing us to view them at a distance. This, however, seems deliberate. The focus of this film, after all, is the unintentional callousness of drawn out negotiations and the effect of the drawn out process on the crew members. Lead actors Malling and Pilou Asbæk (as the ship's cook) have very different, almost contrasting final shots for a reason.

bob-rutzel-1 Inspired by true eventsDanish cargo ship, MV Rozen, on its way to Mumbai is hijacked by Somali pirates, and hostages are taken. Now the CEO Peter Ludvigsen (Soren Malling) of the shipping company must negotiate with the pirates, who are demanding $15-million. The company doesn't want to pay that amount.I suppose it was only a matter of time that a movie was made of the Somali pirates and here we are. Yes, yes, I know you are waiting for CAPTAIN PHILLIPS with Tom Hanks, and MAN OF STEEL isn't out yet, but this is what we have now.The main character is Mikkel Hartmann (Pilou Asbaek), a cook. What? I hope you weren't expecting Steven Seagal as in UNDER SIEGE. No, this is a very slow, but realistic portrayal of Somali pirates, their hostages and the negotiations with CEO Peter Ludvigsen in Denmark. The director could have made this a more exciting Hollywood ride with CGI and all that goes with it, but by doing it this way, he ratchets up the tension to such a point it's like we, too, are hostages hoping bad things don't happen and that payment to the pirates is made quickly. Most scenes involve Mikkel in his galley, and the offices in Denmark with Peter leading strategy sessions and taking advice from a professional hostage negotiator. So it's not like we are seeing the pirates treating the hostages badly. We don't see most of the hostages until near the end of the movie. We never saw the pirates boarding the ship. It's really quite a cat and mouse talk-fest, but one that hinges on getting the crew out safely while negotiating the payment. These bargaining sessions are dragged out, but this is the way they probably have happened in real life. Most of the movie is a back and forth between the ship and the offices in Denmark. Everything is done by telephone and fax. The acting is first rate all around. The pirates use their own negotiator, Omar (Abdihakin Asgar), who is not a member of the pirates. There are sub-titles and English mixed in. The sub-titles are short and to the point. Some F-bombs appear in the sub-titles as well as spoken in English.This probably isn't for everyone, but is quite an eye-opener regarding the Somali pirates and the negotiations that take place. You would be shocked to learn how many days the negotiations lasted. There is quite a shocker almost at the end that took us by surprise. (7/10)Violence: Yes. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Language: Yes and in sub-titles too.