The Pirates of Somalia: Go to Somalia, Write a Book

Evidently, Somalis are irked by the fact none of their countrymen play the Somali characters in Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk Down. Of course, many Americans are still slightly disappointed that the bodies of U.S. military casualties were dragged through the streets after the Battle of Mogadishu, so maybe they should just call it even. Regardless, real Somalis are just misunderstood by the western media, because no reporter had the guts to embed there. That was Jay Bahadur’s contention. He sets out to prove it and to make his name as a foreign correspondent in Bryan Buckley’s The Pirates of Somalia (a.k.a. Dabka, trailer here), which releases today on DVD.

Canadian slacker Bahadur is a recent college graduate, who is bitterly disappointed to learn he might actually have to work for a living. He lives in his parents’ basement and obsesses over his ex-girlfriend, while remaining convinced he is God’s gift to journalism. However, the mentorship of crusty retired journalist Seymour Tolbin inspires him to formulate a plan so crazy it just might work: go to a country no western journalist is willing to report from and offer his services as a stringer. He should also make a big deal about writing a book. (Annoyingly, the film seems to have little idea how publishing really works. Trade houses do not hire stringers and news service are rarely involved in the publication of books, but we see general purpose media figure head Avril Benoît turn down the increasingly desperate Bahadur for both.)

Lo and behold, the Somali president and the largest news service are eager to have someone come tell their nation’s story, particularly with respect to the government’s attempt to crack down on the pirates. They provide him a fixer-translator, Abdi, and a security detail, but Bahadur’s clumsy naivete will make each interview more dangerous than it needed to be.

Not surprisingly, the Oscar nominated Barkhad Abdi appears as his fixer namesake. Frankly, he really is a very good actor, who is starting to break out of his typecast-mold. Nonetheless, a film like this is still his bread-and-butter—and he is indeed quite good pranking and then watching Bahadur’s back. On the other hand, it is hard to take Evan Peters seriously as our rookie reporter, especially considering how awkward he sounds when pronouncing the name Bahadur.

At least, Al Pacino is relatively amusing, swaggering about as Tolbin. However, the instantly recognizable voice of Melanie Griffith is totally distracting in the nothing-throwaway role of Bahadur’s mom. Yet, it should be readily stipulated the cast of Somali refugees is consistently impressive (and logically quite believable), especially Mohamed Barre as the relatively benign pirate Boyah, and Mohamed Osmail Ibrahim as the stone cold evil pirate Garaad.

Buckley’s adaptation of Bahadur’s book desperately wants us to believe the piracy problem would go away if we just showered foreign aid and good vibrations on Somalia, but that is hard to do when pirates like Garaad are attacking shipments of food aid. Yet, no matter how much we might sympathize with the Somali people, the obnoxiously whiny portrayal of Bahadur sabotages all the film’s earnest intentions. The large ensemble of non-professional actors raises the level of interest and authenticity, but the oh-so-self-aware narration induces nausea. Not recommended, Pirates of Somalia is now available on DVD. Check out A Hijacking instead.

NYFF ’14: Last Hijack

According to the Oceans Beyond Piracy project, over 1,000 international seamen have been held hostage by Somali pirates—roughly a third of whom were tortured and 62 died from a variety of causes. Yet, it sure is more convenient to cast the pirates as victims of colonialism, globalism, capitalism, and generally mean old westernism. However, films trying to advance that narrative have been less than convincing, despite the quality of their execution. Sort of picking up where Greenglass’s Captain Phillips left off, Tommy Pallotta & Femke Wilting offer a personal and figurative defense of high seas plunder in their animated hybrid documentary Last Hijack (trailer here), which screens today as a Convergence selection of the 52nd New York FilmFestival.

Former pirate Muhamed Nura pulled off a few big hijackings and lived to talk about. Unfortunately, he did not save any of his ransom money. Facing middle age with little prospects, Nura decides to assemble a team for one last job. However, times have changed and maritime security is much tighter. Everyone is against his plan, including his stern mother and his vastly younger fiancée. Nonetheless, he has no trouble lining up crew and financial backers.

Pallotta and Wilting clearly invite sympathy for Somali pirates, trying to position them as modern Jean Valjeans, but they bizarrely chose a distinctly unsympathetic POV character. During his screen time, Nura emerges as a rather rash braggart, who seems to have little concern for the consequences of his actions. Although he is supposedly in hard fiscal straights, he has a new wife and a new fixer-upper house, which does not look like such a bad situation.

In contrast, radio talk show host and anti-piracy advocate Abdifatah Omar Gedi cuts a more interesting (and more heroic) figure. During his on-camera sequences, Gedi’s cell phone never stops ringing, constantly receiving calls from strangers trying to determine his location. Frankly, viewers will quickly conclude Pallotta and Wilting choose the wrong person to build their film around.

At least, Nura’s hijacking exploits lend themselves to the animated bird of prey interludes that incorporate Hisko Hulsing’s striking paintings. Their symbolically charged look and feel recalls the vibe of Damian Nenow’s short Paths of Hate and select moments of the original Heavy Metal. They are effective, whereas many of the straight forward doc segments are often a bit sluggish—snoozy even.

Last Hijack makes some legitimate points here and there, but like Captain Phillips, it never pursues the shadowy moneymen underwriting the hijackings. As a result, the attempts to build empathy for Nura fall flat. Drastically uneven, it offers tantalizing hints of a better, deeper film that might have resulted from different decisions at several critical junctures. Perhaps audiences will get more of what might have been at Pallotta & Wilting’s presentation of the film’s online component. Regardless, Last Hijack is largely disappointing when it screens tonight (9/28) at the Gilman Theater as a Convergence selection of this year’s NYFF, in advance of its New York opening this Friday (10/3) at the Quad Cinema.

NYFF ’13: Captain Phillips

In 2009, when the MV Maersk Alabama was hijacked by Somali pirates, it was carrying 5,000 tons of African relief supplies.  No matter how desperate the poverty of its outlaw assailants might have been, waylaying the ship would not make the world a better place. This detail is acknowledged (but hardly belabored) in Paul Greengrass’s serviceable Captain Phillips (trailer here), which opened the 51^st New York Film Festival last night.

The facts of the Maersk Alabama case are well known and Greengrass sticks to them relatively faithfully.  Although an experienced merchant officer, Captain Richard Phillips is a little uneasy about his Oman to Mombassa cargo haul, for good reasons.  Their route will take them past the Somali coast, soon after the release of a heightened piracy advisory.

Of course, the ship is attacked by pirates—twice.  The first time, Phillips’ well drilled crew foils their assault through evasive maneuvers and improvised trickery.  Unfortunately, they cannot shake Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse and his three criminal accomplices the next day. However, the crew fights back admirably, preventing the pirates from assuming operational control of the vessel.  Yet, in a frustrating twist of fate, Captain Phillips is taken hostage aboard the Maersk Alabama’s lifeboat.

As a tick-tock hijacking thriller, CP is not bad at all, but it suffers when compared to Tobias Lindholm’s recently released A Hijacking, which is superior film in every respect.  Frankly, Greengrass’s film can be divided into two halves, the first be considerably stronger than the second.  CP is indeed quite riveting when following Phillips and his hidden crew as they sneak about and devise ways to communicate with each other.

Oddly though, the film slackens somewhat once the action moves to the lifeboat.  The tension ought to increase in such a considerably more confined space, but Greengrass cranks up the deterministic angst to such an extent, it starts to undercut the suspense.  Captain Phillips almost serves as a Greek chorus, warning Muse it will all end in tears.

Still, Muse’s already much quoted and scoffed at rejoinder “maybe in America” (as in maybe you western capitalists have other options besides piracy) poorly serves the rest of the film.  It is not nearly as didactic as that soundbite suggests, making its inclusion in trailers an utterly baffling marketing decision.  Greengrass bends over backwards to portray Muse and his cohorts as the pawns of shadowy masterminds, who have abandoned them to their fate.  Somehow though, he never spells out their possible connection to al-Qaeda linked al Shabaab and he certainly isn’t about to get into the whole Islam thing.

Despite an inconsistent New England accent, Tom Hanks finds the appropriate balance of world weariness and Yankee gravitas for the title character.  He goes all out down the stretch in hopes of another little gold statue with interesting if imperfect results.  Barkhad Abdi also deftly walks his tightrope, expressing Muse’s erratically violent nature as well as his metaphorical (and literal) hunger pains. 

Yet, the real stars of CP is the imposing Maersk Alabama (or rather the nearly identical Maersk Alexander, which serves as its stand-in) and the U.S. Navy.  The ships (including the USS Truxtun doubling for the USS Bainbridge) look awe-inspiring and the Navy Seals are cool, calm, and deadly professional.  Even though the Navy employs forms of deception, not once will reasonable viewers question the actions they take.

Greengrass shows a tremendous facility for shooting in and around the hulking ships and making the complicated chain of events perfectly clear and easy to follow.  As a technical feat, the movie is hugely impressive.  Yet, it lacks the insight and soul-draining intensity of its Danish counterpart.  Reasonably taut and tight, Captain Phillips is still a good sight better than Green Zone would lead you to suspect.  Recommended on balance, Captain Phillips opens wide October 11^th, after kicking off this year’s NYFF.

A Hijacking: The Human Cost of Piracy

They do not teach you how to negotiate with pirates in MBA courses, but perhaps they soon might.  After all, this film is inspired by two real life incidences of Danish cargo ships taken hostage by Somali pirates.  The negotiation process will be an ordeal both for the captive crew of the MV Rozen and their CEO in Tobias Lindholm’s edge-of-your-seat thriller, A Hijacking (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York at Film Forum.

Mikkel Hartmann is retiring from seafaring to spend more time with his family.  Ordinarily, he serves as the ship’s cook, but when hijackers commandeer the vessel, they use him to communicate with the corporate office.  He will be talking to Peter C. Ludvigsen, a media darling CEO with a knack for negotiating hard terms.  However, bringing back his crew will be the greatest challenge of his career.

The company would willingly pay the ransom demanded, but according to their consultant (played by real life hostage negotiator Gary Skjoldmose Porter) it is not that simple.  If they immediately pay-up, the pirates are likely to thank them for the “down  payment” and promise to get back to them regarding the full balance.  Instead, Ludvigsen must convince them they are getting every last cent they can possible extract from the company.  Counter-intuitively, protracted negotiations are in the best interests of the men and the firm.  Of course, it will not be a pleasant experience for any of the Danes.

Scrupulously realistic, Hijacking acts as a bracing corrective to the cathartic satisfaction of action movies.  It is simply not realistic to expect Roger Moore’s ffolkes to launch a high seas rescue mission.  The logistics are too complicated and life is too cheap for hostage takers.  The film is also likely to run afoul of the professionally offended, because it portrays the Somali pirates as a callous, violently erratic lot. Nor does it whitewash their Muslim faith.  Of course, that is precisely the reality sailors such as the Rozen crew must live with every day.

Cranking up the tension like a vice, Lindholm puts so much pressure on his characters they almost turn into diamonds.  This is an exhausting nail-biter of a film, but somehow it seems far quicker than its ninety-nine minutes, despite the agonizing nature of the drawn out months-long negotiation.  That is just great filmmaking.

There is also a truly award worthy performance from Søren Malling as Ludvigsen.  It is a brilliant depiction of the mighty humbled, precisely because of his genuine humanity.  Never clichéd, Malling’s work is easily the most compelling big screen portrayal of a business leader in years (if not decades).  In fact, Hijacking features strong ensemble work all around, most definitely including Abdihakin Asgar as Omar, the pirates’ devilishly manipulative negotiator.  He is an unforgettable villain (though “villain” might not be a strong enough term).

The pirates might come from mean circumstances, but Lindholm never apologizes for their crimes.  Instead, the victims of A Hijacking are Hartmann and his crewmates.  Clear headed and relentlessly gripping, it is easily the pick of the week and might be the best theatrical release of the year, so far. Highly recommended, A Hijacking opens this Friday (6/21) in New York at Film Forum.

Russian Film Week ’09: The Black Spot

As a former Soviet client state, the Somali people have again looked to Russia for economic assistance rebuilding their troubled country. Unfortunately, there is no functional governing body to keep the peace and administer any aid that could be offered. Essentially, Somalia exists in a state of anarchy, which allows terrorism and piracy to flourish unchecked. Indeed, the two are closely related, as Vladimir Sinelnikov reveals in his documentary investigation The Black Spot, directed by Vadim Ostrovsky, which screened last night as part of the ninth annual Russian Film Week in New York.

The issue of Somali piracy is not merely academic for Russia. The Ukrainian owner Merchant Vessel Faina had a Russian captain and first officer when it was hijacked off the coast of Kenya. Ultimately, the crew was ransomed, but not before the reportedly stress-induced death of the captain, Vladimir Kolobkov.

Obviously, piracy, kidnapping, and in some cases murder, violate every conceivable concept of international law, imperiling merchant seamen around the world. However, Sinelnikov makes a compelling argument such piracy represents a graver global menace. He points to Somalia’s strategic location with respect to the Gulf of Aden and the international shipping routes for oil. Sinelnikov suggests it may well only be a matter of time before pirates try to choke off the world’s oil supply or threaten the region with an environmentally catastrophic oil spill.

Of course, the biggest question is where does the ransom money go? As Sinelnikov makes clear, the pirates themselves live desperately mean existences. Connecting the dots, he follows the money to shadowy representatives of Somalia’s tribal leaders and Islamist terrorist groups, including perhaps Al-Qaeda. In fact, Sinelnikov and his crew were very much in harm’s way while filming in Somalia, at one time witnessing a shootout between their security escorts and a contingent of bandit-terrorists. However, the film’s post-script about the hijacking of the MV Arctic Sea (presumably somewhere in the Baltic Sea) opens a host of additional speculations that somewhat cloud Spot’s overall contentions.

Though originally produced for Russian television, Sinelnikov is hardly optimistic about the film’s chances to actually airing there in its present form. That is unfortunate, because Spot is quite provocative, presenting some eye-opening information and making some genuinely frightening connections. While Spot has more of the look of an in-depth news magazine special than a feature film, it is a very interesting journalistic endeavor. It nicely compliments the dramatic features of this year’s Russian Film Week, which concludes Sunday with a full day of screenings, including Pete on His Way to Heaven and Gift to Stalin.