Réalisation:
Paul GreengrassScénario:
Billy RayPhotographie:
Barry AckroydMusique:
Henry JackmanActeurs·trices:
Tom Hanks, Catherine Keener, Barkhad Abdi, Barkhad Abdirahman, Faysal Ahmed, Mahat M. Ali, Michael Chernus, David Warshofsky, Corey Johnson (plus)VOD (4)
Résumés(1)
Capitaine Phillips retrace l'histoire vraie de la prise d'otages du navire de marine marchande américain Maersk Alabama, menée en 2009 par des pirates somaliens. L'approche très personnelle du réalisateur Paul Greengrass fait du film un thriller palpitant doublé d'une peinture complexe des conséquences multiples de la mondialisation. La relation qui s'instaure entre le capitaine Richard Phillips, commandant du bateau, et Muse, le chef des pirates somaliens qui le prend en otage, est au cœur du récit. Les deux hommes sont inévitablement amenés à s'affronter lorsque Muse et son équipe s'attaquent au navire désarmé de Phillips. À plus de 230 kilomètres des côtes somaliennes, les deux camps vont se retrouver à la merci de forces qui les dépassent... (Sony Pictures Releasing France)
(plus)Critiques (15)
Despite all my concerns, a heavily de-Hollywoodized Greengrass, where the central character is more or less definitively objectified from the second half onwards, as the points of view fragments between pirates and US marines. Captain Phillips isn't the kind of captain who would share photos of his kids with the crew or pats the helmsman on the back over coffee just because they ran into each other in the hallway. Likewise, the commander of the military operation doesn't shed a tear before giving the order to "execute" the poor Somali man whose anchovies have been fished out and has now turned to piracy, nor does he utter "kiss your ass goodbye" with the assistance of a low angle shot. And at the end, it's not a woman and child suddenly leaping out of a helicopter that await Hanks, but an android nurse who would say "You're safe now" in the same tone she would use to explain that she deliberately stepped on your guinea pig. Anyone sputtering at Greengrass's directorial fingering should realize that 80% of directors would shoot the second half of the film in 4 constantly intercutting shots, and they certainly wouldn't be looking for those 95 shooting angles in a 2 x 4 meter space. Which is about the only criticism I have, because having Greengrass shoot a significant portion of a film in an interior the size of eight banana boxes is like asking Debussy to compose a symphony on the ukulele.
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Vous ne craindrez pas trop pour la vie de Phillips/Hanks en tant qu'otage, car tous les personnages dans le film savent que sa mort ne profiterait à personne. Cette certitude, qui réduit la tension du film, ne s'affaiblit que dans les dernières minutes. À part ça, Capitaine Phillips est une énigme intéressante du genre « mais comment va-t-il s'en sortir ? ». Vol 93 permettait à Greengrass de provoquer une émotion plus forte chez le spectateur à cet égard. En tout cas, aucun autre réalisateur contemporain ne parvient à mieux camoufler la propagande de l'armée américaine dans un film d'action captivant, même aux yeux des spectateurs avertis. Et Hanks excelle.
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“We all got bosses.” Concerns that, unlike the unaffected Danish film A Hijacking, this would be a heroic drama were fulfilled by Greengrass’s Captain Phillips to a much lesser extent than I had feared. Yes, instead of an ordinary employee, the (moral) focal point of the narrative is a conscientious American in an important position and, what’s more, portrayed by an actor whose name is synonymous with the word “credibility”. However, Phillips realistically prioritises his own survival over dressing himself up as a hero, as evidenced especially in the climax with its non-Hollywood rawness, which is the final demonstration of the emphasis that the film places on the intensity of visceral experience. The expression of concern for Phillips’s wife (the considerably underused Catherine Keener) in a less emotive written form is a twice utilised method of “desentimentalisation”. ___ Whereas in A Hijacking Lindholm never loses sight of the socio-cultural context and sees the development of the events as a consequence of the uncompromising application of corporate logic, Greengrass sets aside the broader context after the beginning and uses the situation to focus particularly on strong emotions instead of the clash of cultures and classes (and generations). Nevertheless, he amplifies his criticism of inequality during the second half by expanding the point of view of the narrative, which had previously been limited to the two captains, to include that of the all-seeing American military. The shots of seamen exhibit cool professionalism in striking contrast to the “DIY” methods of both the pirates and the crew of Phillips’s ship. ___ Captain Phillips is political also in following the trend of contemporary genre movies consisting in depicting an individual having to rely on himself. The protagonist is gradually stripped of all privileges of civilisation and nearly all of his possessions (including his clothes) and, through his manoeuvring, finds himself at the same level as the pirates. A certain political nature can also be seen in the attempt at a balanced view of the causes leading to the actions of either side of the conflict. From the opening minutes, parallels are drawn between the lives and livelihoods of Phillips and the pirates. Like Phillips, the pirates want only to do their jobs, make money and get back home. Because the division of roles into prey and victim is not fixed, those roles can be reversed in the second half of the film. The inconsistency of this avoidance of a black-and-white view of reality becomes apparent when more closely watching the camerawork. The point-of-view shots belong exclusively to Phillips. By comparison, the protagonist is filmed with shots that are neutral in terms of perspective and seemingly don’t belong to anyone. In other words, the pirates do not have control over the image. ___ Regardless of the ideological implications, Captain Phillips is a particularly flawlessly rhythmised drama with twists delivered at roughly twenty-minute intervals and a rapidly approaching ending, thanks to which the narrative is gripping, even if you know the actual true story in advance. The essential twist and the broadening of awareness connected with it come after an hour. The sudden change of location serves for more than just making the viewer uncomfortable (“I didn’t expect that”). It also comments on the development of the position held by the main character, who gradually and literally loses the ground beneath his feet (due to the setting, the final phase of this destabilisation is more than obvious). ___ As in Gravity, an individual becomes a lightning rod for many of the problems troubling today’s society, though Greengrass takes that individual’s transformation in a different direction than Cuarón did. In this case, the film is an uneasy (in style) and disturbing (in emotion) response to an uncertain time, paradoxically thanks mainly to the fact that someone thought long and calmly about how to make it. 85%
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(moins)
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Paul Greengrass today has no competition in this type of intimate action movies based on real events. This one is incredibly tense and with a frantic pace (thanks to the camera and the editing), even in those scenes where basically nothing is happening and the characters are just talking (which is most of the film, really). And the emotional climax will give you the final KO. No doubt, one of the best films of the year.
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A superb dramatization and high-octane exhibition of filmmaking adrenaline that once again elevates pseudo-documentary realistic authenticity to a full-blown blockbuster experience. Although Greengrass goes about this unlike anyone from the numerous rows of his many "copy & paste" colleagues, it's a bit of a safe bet on his part, with the camera looking over his shoulder and whizzing between faces just long enough for you to know who he's thinking of. It's not boring at all, but it does last about fifteen minutes longer than audiences would like. Then it would be a fuller experience. And let's face it, when was the last time you saw a Navy SEALS presentation this short and impactful? PS: Hans Zimmer is thanked in the credits, but as the central motif unfolded, I kept subconsciously waiting for the black hood to appear. 4 ½.
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Paul Greengrass simply knows how to push my buttons. He can make an absolutely awesome thriller on a contemporary theme in a way that makes me feel that I’m the one standing behind the camera instead of him. I mean normally I can’t stand a shaky camera, but he can employ such great editing that moves the whole thing to such levels of perfection that I can accept it without any problem whatsoever. I have accepted it so many times in the past and I accept it now too. And that’s not to mention the fact that the actors deliver some extra-ordinary performances. That includes Tom Hanks and the Somali pirates, who are simply on fire. I would never have thought that such a trivial idea could be squeezed into almost 140 minutes while making sure that not a single minute of it would be boring. And the rescue mission at the end? That was simply a pleasure to behold. A well-deserved five-star rating. It sure doesn’t happen every day that you’d watch a movie while bating your breath for more than two hours.
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Is Captain Phillips a glorification of the status quo and a civilian hero? I don’t think so. A comparison with Lindholm's A Hijacking is entirely relevant, but we should not automatically claim that the Danish "harder, colder, and non-hero" interpretation of reality is "better". A material comparison of starting points is interesting: The Danes choose a typical situation, whilst the Americans a dramatic and spiraling situation. The protagonist of A Hijacking is an ordinary sailor who is a passive "commodity" in negotiations, the hero of Greengrass's film is already picked up and belongs to the active movers (he is a captain and actively fights for his life almost to the last moment). The American version is actually two-thirds characterized by shifts, actions and reversals, while the Danish version completely avoids them and captures the routine of negotiations that drag on callously. The Danes film in the affected area and let the whole crew live in uncertainty (because they also want to transfer the rawness to the film), whereas the Americans use the calm waters around Malta. These are two approaches to the same topic, I see no reason to hierarchize them - both are completely legitimate. In addition, they both create a very similar picture: a broken individual and a system that continues to function as if nothing had happened. We can certainly perceive Captain Phillips as a celebration of the Navy Seals and the US Army, but Greengrass gives enough clues to the counter-interpretation - the whole situation is absurd, disproportionate and unsolvable (a small orange boat vs. three warships), and both sides happen to have legitimacy. The fact that he is monitoring Phillips and his future captor in parallel should alert us that Greengrass wants to do more than just paint a thrilling case. Similarly to Zero Dark Thirty, here, it is as if more clues seem to tempt to the conventional satisfaction that the disgusting skinny people will get their assess kicked, yet the action only provides spectator satisfaction to a limited extent. There is a disturbing array of free motifs that Greengrass surrounds with his millimeter-accurate direction. My view is more in line with Lindholm's, but that doesn't mean Captain Phillips didn't get to me in the end. It only happened during the penultimate scene, but it was worth the wait. [80%]
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It’s hard to praise this type of movie better than saying that the creators make it hard for the viewer even to catch their breath for all the suspense here. Despite the fact that they already know not only the result, but (probably) even how the action is going to pan out. The whole thing is underpinned by an unusually powerful final scene in the treatment room which is deserving of all the actors awards in existence.
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United 93 draws on the worldwide echo of September 11th, Green Zone on the trauma of the Iraq war, and I do like the character of Agent Bourne, but if I had to answer the question of which Greengrass film I value the most, I wouldn't hesitate for even a second. Captain Phillips combines a strong and sympathetic hero, a dramatic situation, awareness of artistic reconstruction of real events, and last but not least, the presence of a dangerous opponent in the form of a pirate captain. The cinematography is clear this time, and the director moves from the spacious cargo ship to the claustrophobic environment of the rescue boat at the right time. The story focuses on the depiction of a specific case of maritime piracy, but it also says something about the phenomenon of banditry on the shores of Somalia, about senseless regulations that bind merchant ships, and about the fact that every phenomenon has its background, and pirate crews, with their dependence on clan leaders and existing poverty, actually have no choice. Tom Hanks was born for this role, and I find no weaknesses in the film that are worth mentioning. Overall impression: 90%.
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It’s fine to see Hanks acting again, even though in the second half he is more like an extra. Although this nerve-racking voyage loses tension a little in the slower, middle section, this is a minor flaw on an otherwise thrilling depiction of past events. This time Greengrass makes excellent use of the camera - shaky Somali vs. calm Yankee-Irish style. Wonderfully heated confrontations, the Somalis are great to a man and the movie is just dripping with authenticity. The finale where the US Navy arrive is a heavy-caliber military display (even my better half acknowledged the majestic beauty of the warships). Greengrass has certainly made more charged and even better movies, but it didn’t receive that stamp of humanity until Hanks got involved. If it weren’t for United 93, I would give it full marks.
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If you are afraid that Greengrass' shaky camera and grainy image will be missing, be calm, it's here again and there's plenty of it. Moreover, no one can do an ad for the US Navy as sophisticatedly and inconspicuously as him. And Tom Hanks is also excellent. It doesn't have the momentum of United 93 (greater fatefulness) or the Bourne films (a more attractive, action-packed theme), but it's still an original film, full of gripping moments and excellently acted scenes.
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With the passage of time, the very American and completely unnecessary introduction "I'll pack my photo, talk to my wife about the kids, and we'll say goodbye" started to bother me more and more, and so I'm removing one star from the original five. However, it's still true that Hanks' performance (yes, especially the ending in the care of the doctors) makes Captain Phillips into a near flawless spectacle. Almost. The tension could be cut, the pirates are deliciously unpredictable characters, Paul Greengrass draws you into the plot like few others... It doesn't matter at all that (except in the older Greengrass films, for example, as in Singer's Valkyrie) you know how it turns out. And I like Henry Jackman's soundtrack even after listening to it on its own, but it’s just unfortunate that it’s so Zimmer-esque, especially at the end.
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I really didn't expect to like it this much. For now, Greengrass's crowning achievement, not only meticulously constructed and perfectly paced, but above all palpably authentic and raw. You feel every blow that lands on the face of the captive Phillips, not to mention the suffocating atmosphere that makes the fear for the captain's life grow, even though we all know how it will all turn out. A unique and amazing treat within the heroic "army" epics that got under my skin even more than this year's Rush or Prisoners, and I'm already looking forward to the second screening like a little scout afraid of bearded pirates with an eye patch. And Hanks is a clear Oscar winner for me. 100%
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It is an incredibly authentic film, as one would expect from Paul Greengrass, but this time its authenticity is in the style of United 93 rather than Green Zone. Greengrass infused emotions into it again, not just delivering a brilliantly executed military action. And the emotions mainly stem from Tom Hanks and the four Somali pirates. Especially towards the end, Tom Hanks demonstrates what a great actor he is, reaffirming that he remains a reliable performer who delivers a performance worth watching. This film will send chills down your spine because the story actually happened, but mainly because you'll experience it yourself.
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Captain Phillips is a demonstration of Greengrass’s masterful directing, or an example of how nothing can be turned into something. It makes you wonder how a movie that’s more than two hours long can keep the audience on the edge of their seats with a story whose ending must be obvious to everyone. However, fifteen minutes into the movie, the first action scene starts, followed by the most action-packed 2 hours imaginable. Nobody but Greengrass can do such a brilliant job. It’s bursting with thrilling scenes, even during moments when a (normally boring) conversation takes place. Simply an awesome movie, one of the best this year.
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