People are voting emotionally.

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

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.

A HIJACKING is a thoroughly compelling Danish drama but one that leaves a bad taste in the mouth afterwards. It's very much like the Hollywood version of the story, CAPTAIN PHILLIPS, and could almost be called the anti-CAPTAIN PHILLIPS in some respects; gone is the escapism, the suspense, and the gloss from that movie, to leave in its wake a dark and downbeat slice of realism that had me feeling like I'd been chewing broken glass.I'll make no bones about it, A HIJACKING is a very good film. The carefully mannered acting of the principal cast members draws the viewer into the tale and makes for sympathetic characters. Pilou Asbaek (GAME OF THRONES) and Soren Malling (THE KILLING) are particularly good as the guys on opposite sides. The direction is exemplary and particularly when watched in high definition, this is a film that looks fantastic. However, the fact that it's ultra-realism also works against it.There are few high points here and no sense of elation or relief. Instead it's an entirely pessimistic production that plumbs the depths of the human spirit. The whole production left me feeling depressed, particularly the twist ending, even though I was engrossed throughout. Occasionally a depressing film will become a favourite of mine due to its sheer brilliance (GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES, REQUIEM FOR A DREAM) but in this instance it's not something I'd want to sit through again.

In Akira Kurosawa's classic HIGH AND LOW, a kidnapper makes the mistake of kidnapping the wrong kid. The dilemma for the intended victim of the ransoming, Toshiro Mifune, becomes a Moral one: will he pay the ransom for his employee's son or not? The same dilemma faces the owners of the ship in A HIJACKING: will they pony up and get the ship and its crew back or will they write it all off on their taxes? The viewer is kept guessing throughout (this isn't a Hollywood-style adventure) and the slow but gradual dissolution of "the ship's cook" may well have inspired the closing scenes of another recent Somali-hijacking movie, CAPTAIN PHILIPS (which I also liked, but which clearly wasn't going to end with anything untoward happening to star Tom Hanks). I first read about modern day hijacking on the high seas a couple of decades ago when an article surfaced about KOREAN hijackers. It seemed, at the time, to be something of an anachronism, but it apparently isn't.

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.