Captain Phillips: An Exercise in Cinematic Tension

In 2009, the U.S. cargo ship, Maersk Alabama, was boarded by four Somali pirates who proceeded to hijack the vessel before escaping on a lifeboat with the ship’s captain, Richard Phillips. What followed was a days-long ordeal in which Phillips was held captive on the lifeboat, fighting for his life whilst awaiting Navy intervention. Given the nature of these events, it wasn’t long until a dramatization materialized in the form of Paul Greengrass’s action-thriller, Captain Phillips.

Based on Phillips’ book, A Captain’s Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALS, and Dangerous Days at Sea, the film debuted in 2013 to critical acclaim and box office success, leaving audiences on the very edge of their seats for the duration of this tantalizingly tense movie. Starring everyone’s favorite fatherly hero, Tom Hanks and directed by Greengrass, who is known for his high-pressure historical recreations, it comes as no surprise that Captain Phillips is bursting with cinematic tension. But, what exactly do we mean by this?

Often referred to as the “master of suspense,” pioneer of the practice, Alfred Hitchock famously illustrated the concept with two hypothetical scenarios. In the first, we find out there is a bomb under someone’s chair, which then immediately goes off, providing us with a few seconds of surprise. In the second, we receive the same news, but the bomb does not go off immediately and won’t for some time, providing us with prolonged suspense.

This is Captain Phillips in a nutshell. With the true story being widely available to the public, the majority of us know how the film ends before it’s even begun, relishing the tumultuous journey towards an inevitably explosive end.

A Tale of Two Captains

Though Richard Phillips is very much the film’s protagonist, portrayed as a self-sacrificing and altruistic hero, he is by no means the sole point of intrigue, as a conscious effort is made to contextualize the film’s events through topics such as globalization, Western privilege, and the dire effects of economic desperation. Captain Phillips opens with Richard and his wife discussing domestic life on their way to the airport, with references to how fast the world is changing, the job market, and their children’s academic performances — they are, for all intents and purposes, the typical middle class family, comfortable and comparatively privileged.

In direct contrast to this, we are then transported to Eyl, Somalia, as a group of men arrives, wielding guns, sparking panic, and showing a complete disregard for life before recruiting the pirates who will go on to hijack the Mearsk Alabama. In this scene, it is suggested that piracy is not a choice, rather a necessity, with the alternative being inescapable poverty, thus humanizing the pirate captors and igniting something that resembles sympathy.

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As a result, what could be a fairly standard and one-sided story of American victory becomes something much more powerful. Part of Captain Phillips‘s relentless sense of cinematic tension can be attributed to this two-pronged approach to the narrative, as we understand our antagonists’ motives and actions, but can’t quite justify them. We feel every win and loss with great intensity, regardless of which party it affects; our allegiances are tested, our levels of sympathy fluctuate, and as the pirates grow closer to their inevitable demise, we are met with a sinking feeling about how small and insignificant they are in the grand scheme of this catastrophic operation.

The Pursuit of Authenticity

When casting Captain Phillips, Greengrass took a somewhat unconventional approach, releasing an open call to Somali people from all walks of life. He did this in an effort to bring an authentic sense of cultural identity to the film, with his Somali cast playing a very active role in the creation and execution of their characters. Barkhad Abdi, who plays head pirate and Phillips’ captor, Muse, was one of these people. Having never acted before, he responded to the open call, winning the role and going on to receive an Oscar nomination for his menacing, but humanistic, portrayal of this highly complex character.

This desire for authenticity was also present on set, with Greengrass enforcing a strict policy of isolation between the actors playing the Mearsk Alabama crew and those playing the pirates, which continued until the first scene in which the two groups come together. As a result, the overwhelming sense of fear, anxiety, and horror that comes with the pirates boarding the ship is largely authentic, with Hanks explaining to The Hollywood Reporter, “In came the skinniest, scariest-looking human beings on the planet,” which he found genuinely “loud and scary and intimidating,” as did we.

In addition to this, the actors were not constricted by the script, but rather encouraged to improvise in the way that felt most authentic to the character, something Abdi capitalized on with the now iconic line “I’m the captain now” — a moment Greengrass agrees perfectly encapsulates the dynamic power struggle that ensues between the two captains.

Sea, Space, and Cinematography

Unsurprisingly, much of Captain Phillips‘s cinematic tension can also be attributed to its cinematography, with Greengrass employing an almost documentary-style technique when filming. Through the use of hand-held cameras, esteemed cinematographer Barry Ackroyd creates an overwhelming sense of urgency and realism that instantly puts you on edge. Wide shots that pan across the vast ocean are used to spectacular effect as the tiny, but terrifying, pirate skiffs approach the ship, and shots from both Muse and Phillips’ perspectives are used as they eye each other from a distance in an impossibly riveting boat chase scene.

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The point at which the pirates manage to board the ship is explosive, bursting with noise, motion, and a sense of lasting chaos, while the lifeboat scenes feel suitably claustrophobic, barely able to contain the characters’ ever-growing sense of fear and panic. Towards the end of Captain Phillips, as the Navy closes in and the pirates begin to lose hope, this already unbearably tense situation worsens ten-fold as all three parties reach the heights of desperation. These last few scenes move at a break-neck speed, leaving you struggling for breath and almost begging for relief, which does eventually come, but in the most horrifying form imaginable, playing very much as tragedy rather than triumph.

In spite of the less than joyful ending, Captain Phillips is an invigorating and exciting watch from beginning to end, offering a stylish and weighty alternative that supersedes the traditional action movie. Whilst some have criticized the film for alleged inaccuracies and misrepresentations, as a piece of art, it still holds up, acting as a prime example of cinematic tension at its very best.

Stream Captain Phillips on Netflix