Movie review: Captain Phillips - focused and grounded

Captain Phillips movie poster. PHOTO: PUBLICITY

There seems to be a deluge of survival stories hitting the theatres of late. After“Prisoners” and “Gravity”, this week we have “Captain Phillips”. What’s interesting is that each film is better than the other.

“Captain Phillips” is a tale of conflict between men who refuse to give in. This forms the crux of this effective thrilling drama.

Based on the book “A Captain’s Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALS, and Dangerous Days at Sea” by Richard Phillips and Stephan Talty the film is a subtly rousing docudrama that recounts the 2009 hijacking of an American cargo liner and the harrowing experience of its captain.

The screenplay, by Billy Ray, begins very innocuously in a chronological fashion with Captain Phillips (Tom Hanks) bidding adieu to his wife Andrea (Catherine Keener) in their hometown in Vermont, US.

The wary and by-the-book person Captain Phillips reaches Salalah, Oman, to take charge of the container ship Maersk Alabama carrying emergency aid for East Africa among other cargo to Kenya in Africa.

On board the ship, he carefully checks security and safety procedures after being routinely warned about the unsafe waters he would be sailing in. In fact, he insists that his men have a mock drill just to be prepared.

Simultaneously, on the shore of Ely in Somalia, in a scene so reminiscent of Vittorio de Sica’s“Bicycle Thieves” a group of young impoverished khat chewing fishermen are being recruited by rifle toting goons as pirates. After the selections, two motor boats with a crew of four each set sail in search of their prey. Soon they are tailing the Maersk Alabama.

What follows is a battle of wits between Phillips and the pirates. There’s an unusual reverence and understanding between Muse (Barkhad Abdi), the leader of the pirates and Phillips throughout this ordeal that fuels the tension.

Director Paul Greengrass astutely balances the narration by staying neutral till the very end. He has ensured that the account is not over dramatised. He has taken pains to see that neither the captain nor the US Navy are glorified and nor are the pirates condemned or portrayed as some heinous beings.

Humour comes in the form of the staccato one-liners like, “Shut up Irish, too much talking” or “Do you think I am a beggar” from Muse. This actually breaks the tension of this intense drama.

As a no-nonsense middle-aged captain, Tom Hanks is courageous and vulnerable, dedicated and clever. Yet, he is incredibly human and fallible. This is probably one of his career’s best performances.

On the other hand, Barkhad Abdi as the bony, buck-toothed Muse is fascinating. He is fidgety and naive. As a first time actor, he strikingly delivers Muse’s greed, fear and pride.

The rest of the cast too gives a realistic display of their histrionics, especially those portraying the pirates from Somalia.

On the technical front, camera work by Barry Ackroyd is initially unsteady. The wobbly footage especially during close ups and mid shots is a bit bothersome. But as the story progresses, one tends to ignore this and concentrate on the subject. What adds to the suspense is the taut editing by Christopher Rouse and the excellent background score by Henry Jackman.

What keeps “Captain Phillips” grounded is the focus of the tale and the emotional tinge it contains.

Waar, a propaganda movie?

Some on Twitter are not pleased with the movie because of its overly-patriotic script. PHOTO: PUBLICITY

Not everyone was happy as Pakistan’s most anticipated movie of the year Waar opened on the first day of Eidul Azha, with some online terming it “ISPR-funded propaganda”.

The movie was released on 42 screens across Pakistan and beat the box office record for an opening day take of Rs11.4 million.

It is an action/thriller and drama film, written by Hassan Waqas Rana and stars Pakistan’s actors, Shaan Shahid and Shamoon Abbasi. The storyline has been inspired by the war on terror in Pakistan and its effects on the world, but with a stylised interpretation of it.

Though majority of the people are proud of having a Pakistani movie to cheer for this Eid, some said the script was sub par and functioned as propaganda.

Others believed Waar was perfectly acceptable – propaganda or otherwise.

What the director said

In 2012, Waar Director Bilal Lashari had told The Express Tribune that the “ISPR has no involvement in Waar. Hassan Waqas Rana, the writer and executive producer has funded this film. MindWorks Media did a project in the middle of Waar for the ISPR called the Glorious Resolve. There has been some confusion as some people thought the shoot for Glorious Resolve was actually for Waar

Banned Amir praying ICC will grant him second chance

Banned fast-bowler Amir is currently serving a five-year ban imposed on him after the spot-fixing fiasco at Lord’s in 2010. PHOTO: AFP

KARACHI: Banned paceman Mohammad Amir is praying the International Cricket Council (ICC) will grant him a reprieve to play domestic cricket as he seeks to resume a career that stalled under ignominious circumstances.

Amir, a bright prospect who made his international debut at 17, served three months in an English jail for corruption and is three years into a five-year ban for his role in a spot-fixing scandal surrounding a test against England at Lord’s in 2010.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), currently run by an interim committee headed by Najam Sethi, will take up Amir’s case at an ICC board meeting this weekend and plead for a review of his ban on legal and compassionate grounds.

“What I did in 2010 was terrible and wrong and I have paid the price for it. I have lost my image and hurt my country and family,” Amir told Reuters on Friday.

“But everyone gets a second chance in life… I pray the ICC will give me a second chance.”

PCB’s legal advisor Tafazzul Rizvi said the board was trying to convince the ICC to allow Amir, whose ban ends in 2015, to resume training at the board’s facilities in Lahore or even play some club or domestic cricket.

“We have sent a report to the ICC from a Queen’s Counsel (QC) we hired in London to look into the case and we are hoping it will help us plead our case strongly at the ICC meetings,” Rizvi said.

The PCB had raised Amir’s case at the last ICC meeting following which the governing body formed a sub-committee, headed by England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Giles Clarke, to look into the issue.

The sub-committee’s findings would also come up for discussion during the ICC meetings in London, Rizvi added.

The left-arm paceman, now 21, added he wanted to rectify the mistake and start playing again.

“I have learnt my lessons and it has been frustrating not being able to play cricket which I love so much,” said Amir, who has represented Pakistan in 14 Tests, 15 one-day internationals and 18 Twenty20 Internationals.

“It hurts because the ban is my own doing and my family has also suffered. I just want to rectify the big mistake I made then.”

Amir’s team mates Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif were also handed jail terms and bans for their role in the scandal.

From zeroes to heroes, no telling with Team Green

Pakistan captain Misbahul Haq. PHOTO: AFP.

ABU DHABI: One day they lose to the bottom team in the rankings, the next they beat the top side in the world.

This is the Pakistan cricket team, often regarded as its own worst enemy.

Widely castigated for a lack of unity and consistency after suffering an embarrassing defeat against minnows Zimbabwe in Harara a month ago, they were given little chance against Test number one team South Africa in Abu Dhabi.

All the more so because South Africa had drawn a two-match series in the United Arab Emirates three years ago, blunting Pakistani’s spinners led by Saeed Ajmal.

Former greats and fans were calling for the sackings of Pakistan’s Australian coach Dav Whatmore and captain Misbah-ul Haq.

But Misbah’s men turned the tables on South Africa in Abu Dhabi on October 17.

They dominated the first Test, winning it by seven wickets, to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series and proving they are the most colourful and unpredictable team in the world.

Pakistan bowled out South Africa for 249 in the first innings, with debutant Zulfiqar Babar and lanky paceman Mohammad Irfan taking three wickets apiece.

Pakistan’s new opening pair then blunted South Africa’s four-pronged pace attack, putting together a 135-run stand.

Khurram Manzoor went on to make 146 and debutant Shan Masood scored 75. Misbah chipped in with a ton to continue anchoring the team’s fragile batting.

Ajmal then came into his own, taking 4-74 to rock South Africa for 232 before Pakistan survived early wobbles to score the needed 40 runs for a memorable and much needed win.

Misbah hailed the win as “something special.”

“This was something special – winning a Test against South Africa, especially after what had happened in Zimbabwe,” said Misbah.

Misbah reckoned conditions in United Arab Emirates – Pakistan’s fortress since being forced to play there following attacks on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore in 2009 – had a big impact.

“I know what people were saying, but we had the belief to beat South Africa in these conditions which suit us and have become our home,” said Misbah after the win, Pakistan’s first over South Africa since 2003.

This is only Pakistan’s fourth win over a formidable Proteas and gives them a good chance to add to their only series win over South Africa ten years ago.

The second and final Test starts in Dubai from October 23.

Misbah admitted Pakistan struggled in South Africa – where they were routed 3-0 earlier this year – and then in Zimbabwe where they squared a two-match series 1-1.

“When we went to South Africa we were blanked 3-0 and now South Africa is the number one team. We lost in Zimbabwe because they benefitted from the conditions.

“I think that the conditions have a big role in the results of Tests,” said Misbah.

“Ajmal has a good record here,” said Misbah of Ajmal who took 24 wickets in demolishing England last year. Ajmal finished with six wickets in the first Test against South Africa, and four in the second.

Misbah said he was confident his side could keep up the progress they have made.

“South Africa have a world class team, we must remember that we are really playing the top side in the world, so simply focus on the next game and do the best preparations if we want to win the series,” the Pakistan captain warned.

Blackwater guards face new US charges for Iraq shooting deaths

Official logo of Blackwater.

WASHINGTON: The United States brought new manslaughter charges on Thursday against four former Blackwater Worldwide security guards for a 2007 shooting in Baghdad that prosecutors said killed 14 unarmed civilians.

The shooting caused tension in US-Iraqi relations and raised concerns about the US government’s use of private contractors, who were shielded from prosecution in Iraq.

The original US charges filed against the Blackwater guards in 2008 were thrown out in December 2009, about a month before a scheduled trial. A US District Court judge ruled that prosecutors should have done more to exclude statements that the guards gave under threat of losing their jobs.

The case was reinstated in 2011 and prosecutors began a lengthy review of what charges they could prove in court.

The new indictment returned by a grand jury in Washington charges 33 counts, including voluntary manslaughter, attempt to commit manslaughter and using a firearm in a crime of violence.

The guards had pleaded not guilty to the nearly identical charges brought five years ago. They are Paul Slough, 34; Nicholas Slatten, 29; Evan Liberty, 31; and Dustin Heard, 32.

“We are disappointed that the Department of Justice has chosen to proceed with this prosecution, which we strongly believe has no merit whatsoever,” Heard’s attorney, Dave Schertler, said in a statement.

Prosecutors said the men used a sniper rifle, machine guns and grenades during the September 2007 shooting in Baghdad’s Nisur Square that also wounded at least 18 people.

“The vast majority of the US contractors who served in Iraq did so with honor and integrity, but, as alleged today, these defendants abused their power through a relentless attack on unarmed civilians that recklessly exceeded any possible justification,” US Attorney Ron Machen, the chief prosecutor in Washington, said in a statement.

A hearing in the case is scheduled for October 25. No trial date has been set, and a defense lawyer said at a hearing last month that a trial could be years away.

Prosecutors last month dropped their case against a fifth guard, Donald Ball. They said they were exercising “prosecutorial discretion” based on their “assessment of the admissible evidence against him.”

Blackwater is now named Academi and is based in McLean, Virginia.

India, China near pact aimed at keeping lid on border tension

China's Premier Li Keqiang talks to India's National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon (front L) at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing. PHOTO: REUTERS

NEW DELHI: India and China are close to an agreement to stop tension on their contested border touching of confrontation while they try to figure out a way to break decades-old stalemate on overlapping claims to long stretches of the Himalayas.

The border defence cooperation pact that diplomats are racing to finalise ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to China next week is a small step forward in a complicated relationship marked by booming economic ties but also growing distrust.

In May, the two armies ended a three-week standoff in the western Himalayas after Chinese troops set up a camp at least 10 km inside territory claimed by India, triggering a public outcry and calls that India should stand up to its powerful neighbour.

China denied that troops had crossed into Indian territory.

Under the new agreement, the two nuclear-armed sides will give notice of patrols along the ill-defined border. They will ensure that patrols do not “tail” each other to reduce the chance of confrontation.

The two armies, strung out along the 4,000-km border from the high altitude Ladakh plateau in the west to the jungles of Arunachal Pradesh in the east, have also agreed to set up a hotline between top ranking officers, in addition to existing brigade-level contacts.

“The key issue is maintaining peace and tranquillity on the border,” said an Indian government official.

The border defence cooperation agreement is built on existing confidence-building measures and is designed to ensure that patrolling along the Line of Actual Control, as the unsettled border is called, does not escalate into an unintended skirmish, he said.

“Barring last minute problems, there should be an agreement. It’s a question of crossing the Ts and dotting the Is,” the officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

India and China fought a brief border war in 1962 and since then ties have been mired in distrust. China lays claims to more than 90,000 square km of land in the eastern sector. India disputes that and instead says China occupies 38,000 sq km of territory on the Aksai Chin plateau in the west.

A Chinese airline last week blocked two Indian archers from disputed Arunachal Pradesh from travelling to China, souring the mood in India just days before Singh travels to Beijing.

“The fundamental problem they are not tackling is defining the Line of Actual Control and then a settlement of the border,” said Srikanth Kondapalli, a China expert at New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Beefing up defences

One reason tension has risen is that both countries are upgrading civil and military infrastructure on either side of the frontier.

China has vastly improved its roads and is building or extending airfields on its side of the border in Tibet. It has placed nuclear-capable intermediate missiles in the area and deployed about 300,000 troops across the Tibetan plateau, according to a 2010 Pentagon report.

India has also woken up and is in the midst of a 10-year plan to scale up its side of the border with a network of roads and airfields. In July, the cabinet cleared the raising of a new mountain corps comprising about 50,000 troops to be deployed on the Chinese border.

“China has developed the border infrastructure so intricately that its roads and tracks even in high mountainous regions look like fingers running down your spine,” said retired Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch who commanded the Indian army’s Special Forces wing.

Chinese nuclear and missile assistance to Pakistan as well as a widening trade deficit in China’s favour have added to Indian fear about encirclement. China, on the other hand, is concerned about Tibetan activists using India as a base to further their separatist aims.

“It strikes me that many of the usual grievances have grown in prominence over the past several months: Chinese incursions on the border, the issuance of irregular visas, continued Chinese support for Pakistan’s nuclear programme, and so on,” said Shashank Joshi, a fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London.

“It also seems that India is eager to keep these grievances in check

Saudi Arabia declines UN Security Council seat, citing failure to tackle conflict

Saudi Arabia said it was unable to take its seat in the UN Security Council until reforms were introduced. PHOTO: AFP/FILE

DUBAI: Saudi Arabia said on Friday it was declining its United Nations Security Council rotating seat, citing “double standards” that made it hard for the world body to end conflict and wars.

“The kingdom sees that the method and work mechanism and the double standards in the Security Council prevent it from properly shouldering its responsibilities towards world peace,” the foreign ministry said in a statement carried by state news agency SPA.

It said it was unable to take its seat until reforms were introduced, but did not specify what reforms it wanted.

The Security Council has been divided on how to handle the civil war in Syria, with Western powers pushing for stronger sanctions against President Bashar al-Assad and Russia vetoing resolutions to that end. Saudi Arabia has been backing rebels in that conflict.

The United States, Britain, France, Russia and China are permanent members of the Security Council and hold veto powers. Other states are brought onto the body on a rotating basis