If one was to take anything away from ‘A Hijacking’ it’s that we have a lot to learn from the Danes when it comes to making thrillers, in fact, not just cheese with holes in. Tobias Lindholm writer of The Hunt and BBC 4’s popular Swedish drama Borgen, has a knack for producing original, taut, yet nail biting material. Utilising his talents for a cinematic debut, Lindholm directs a hostage thriller that refreshingly avoids Hollywood stereotypes and cliches, without compromising any of its nerve-racking tension.
Previously starring as a spin doctor in Borgen, Pilou Asbæk plays Mikkel Hartmann the cook on a cargo ship sailing in the Indian Ocean. A deft move by Lindholm is made by not showing the audience the initial attack of the boat; the Somalian pirates are on board before we have time to react. With the demand of $15 million for the release of the seven hostages, a chess game of negotiation ensues between the CEO of the shipping company played by Søren Malling, and the Somalian translator Omar (Abdihakin Asgar).
With the continual switch of settings between the glossy offices of Copenhagen, and the grimy conditions of the captives, Lindholm begins to subtly highlight the clashes between culture and class. He cleverly shoots the film in a documentary type fashion, and drags out the hostage’s captivity for four painful months. This results in scenes that somehow seem more dismal and poignant than in other thrillers. In one instance Asbæk is made to slaughter a goat to feed the pirates. The sheer unfamiliarity and brute violence of this act, combined with his ever-present fear, causes him to breakdown.
There are no over the top clichéd blockbuster narratives, heroics or explosions, in fact it is so accurate in fact that corporations have been shown the film to learn how to react in a similar real life situation. The success of the film is through the taut build up of scenes that are so unaffected to the point where, you yourself begin to feel you’ve also been held captive. A total masterpiece.