Journal 4: Captain Phillips
Brief Screening Report
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Captain Phillips is a true story based
off of a pirate hijacking of an American cargo ship in 2009. Tom Hanks does a
marvelous job in portraying the life events if Captain Phillips and the obstacles
he was put through in a matter of 48 hours. Throughout the film, the viewer’s
understand that this is a very dangerous and hostile situation that Phillips
and his crew are experiencing, however, the really danger did not hit me until
about 1 hour and 40 minutes into the film. The hijackers/ pirates have taken
Phillips as a hostage but did not post a real threat until now. At the scene 1
hour and 40 minutes into the film, Phillips is pulled from the water by the
hijackers after trying to escape to the Navy ship nearby. After the pirates pulled
Phillips back onto the lifeboat, they shove him against the wall and hold a gun
to Phillips chest. The lead pirate Abduwali Muse bitterly hit Phillips on the
side of his head with the butt of a hand gun and then screams to his fellow
pirates for the radio while pointing the barrel of the gun at Phillips chest.
Muse tells the Navy that he is going to kill the American (Phillips) and put
him in a body bag, Muse then hold the radio to Phillips mouth and demands him
to relay what is happening in the lifeboat. As if the situation could not get
worse, Muse removes the barrel of the gun from Phillips chest and holds it
harshly to Phillips forehead. The music stars to pick up and there is a long
camera view of Muse’s face, this scene prepares the viewers for the worst and
is extremely intense. Just as the viewer’s think Muse is going to pull the
trigger, there is a voice on the radio announcing that the Americans are ready
to discuss the money trade for Phillips. The voice on the radio states the
pirate’s names and tells the pirates that they will need one pirate to come on
board to carry out the deal. Intense music starts to play and there is a scene
of Phillips still pushed up against the wall with the gun vigorously help to
his forehead while the pirates are contemplating about taking the deal. Muse
agrees to take the deal and removes the barrel of the gun from Phillips head.
One the gun is removed, the viewers can see the indentations that it left on
Phillips forehead from the pressure that Muse was putting on the gun. For me,
the view of the barrel marks on Phillips forehead hit home and made me realize
that the situation Phillips was in was extremely dangerous and nerve-racking! Throughout
the film it is portrayed that Phillips is in a horrid situation, however, the
pirates do not really do any physical harm to Phillips until he attempts to
fell the lifeboat. After this scene, the tables of events are turned and
Phillip’s life is faced even closer to death than before.
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One of my group members has yet to post their movie, so I'll comment on yours! I can see from reading your description how that scene is important to the rest of the movie. I know that if I saw an imprint of a gun barrel on an actor's forehead, I would definitely feel for them and be scared for them just as you were. I like how you described the scene in detail and by using a lot of descriptive language.
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