HNC Photography, IFC - Coursework, Introduction to Film Culture Blog, Movies watched, Part three - Fact or fiction? Truth or lies?, Research & Reflection IFC
Captain Phillips (2013)
Director:
Cast:
Tom Hanks, Barkhad Abdi, Barkhad Abdirahman |
Summary:
The true story of Captain Richard Phillips and the 2009 hijacking by Somali pirates of the U.S.-flagged MV Maersk Alabama, the first American cargo ship to be hijacked in two hundred years.
Review:
In contrast to A Hijacking and Fishing without Nets, Paul Greengrass’ “true story” Captain Philips is more of an action thriller crime movie – particularly with it gung-ho pro-USA 3rd act.
Paul Greengrass is usually synonymous with a handheld camera and frenetic style which disorientates the audience. However, here the editing serves to deliberately frame the pirates as stereotypical movie villains, promoting the West versus the others paradigms that have long been associated with race and perceived as a threat to a specific way of life (Newman, 1997). The editing also together with the casting Tom Hanks frames Captain Philips himself as a self-sacrificing hero; this appears to have drawn some criticism in the press from former crew members who have suggested that he was perhaps the cause of the actual hijacking.
Greengrass’ techniques illustrate how the use of cinematography and editing can be use to create different outcomes and helps cast the filmmaker in the role of propagandist in producing a film which is tonally very different to its two contemporaries, Fishing without nets and A Hijacking.