Simply put, Last Hijack is the film Captain Phillips should have been. Where the latter turned a group of Somali pirates into one-dimensional Hollywood villains designed to threaten the all-American-goodness of Tom Hanks, the former goes beyond the surface and informs us on why there’s such a thing as piracy to begin with. Directed by the team of Tommy Pallotta and Femke Wolting, the film deftly combines documentary storytelling with dreamlike animated sequences that aim to go where the camera lens can’t reach.
The film concentrates on the story of Mohamed, a man who is simply trying to make ends meet, and is seduced by the idea of piracy. “Everyone wanted to become a pirate” in the small town where Mohamed lives and he follows this path, fully aware that it might jeopardize his entire future, given that pirates are as harshly judged in their homeland, as they are in the rest of the world. What Pallotta and Wolting do, is to try and empathize with Mohamed and see through his eyes. What is it that makes this risky lifestyle so appealing to him?
The filmmakers’ method of empathy is quite revelatory, as they choose to concentrate on the fact that pirates also have dreams, something which sounds contradictory, but eventually sinks in as an undeniable truth. We see how Mohamed yearns to make enough money to buy a house for his future wife, even though she has threatened to leave him if he doesn’t quit piracy. Added to the emotional stress, the filmmakers also turn in a fascinating essay on Somali society and economy, as we listen to the testimony of journalists and citizens who each have a unique take on the subject at matter.
We learn for instance, that most of the ransom money made during hijacks ends up going to so-called investors, who provided the weapons and equipment for the hijacking to take place. The more revelatory the documentary becomes, the more we also become concerned for the people shooting the film, who during several scenes witness phone calls with anonymous death threats. As one of the pirates asks his family members to “not forget to pray for us”, we can’t help but see ourselves in them and realize that the world we inhabit is smaller than we thought.
