MovieChat Forums > Kapringen (2012) Discussion > Cop-Out

Cop-Out

posted 12 years ago by jcl295
8 replies | jump to latest

The film is a near-masterpiece but the punch pulled at the last minute lessens the impact.

*spoilers*

The captain is hardly a character in the film so his interceding to get Mikkel's wedding ring back and then being executed smacks of a dramatic cop out. It was as if they realized they needed SOME darkness at the end, but did not have the spine to kill the protagonist so, instead, they elected to kill off a minor character who, really, was on screen for probably six minutes, total.

[–] timlin-4 11 years ago

A grown man attached to jewelry is silly, but that did make it even more ridiculous.

[–] rabbitmoon 11 years ago

I totally agree. It reeks of cheap screenwriting where they feel that they have to have some dark note to leave on. After 120 or so days? Really? Its absolutely inconsistent to the restraint of the pirates up until that point.

I feel like they wanted to taint the film with an air of tragedy to make it seem like a more important film worthy of merit. Without this trite ending though, the rest of the film is pretty banal and ridiculously emotionally sterile.

[–] Sergeant343 11 years ago

If you noticed, that was the pirate that kept *beep* the the main character throughout the film and pulling the trigger with the safety on, but in this scene he was doing the same, but this time he had the safety off and if you saw his face, it was shock. This is what a lot of Danish films are, depressing and drab.

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[–] shoobe01 10 years ago

Not safety. He was unloading the gun and actually pulling the trigger so the hammer falls. With the barrel against your head, you'd feel as well as hear the click. It would not be good.

They even showed him reloading after at least the scene in the galley.

But, agree totally. It was the same guy, and he looked not satisfied, triumphant, etc. but surprised, maybe regretful and then accepted his punishment instead of fighting the others. He wanted one last bit of getting his way and showing that they were in charge.

I think it worked fine. The whole situation was insanely dangerous, so this was a way to show that. Having a hostage killed earlier would have been emotionally odd, and would have messed up the negotiations so made the story more difficult.

[–] PoppyTransfusion 11 years ago

Not sure how I feel about the captain's murder yet but it shows the importance of the small reminders of the human ties that existed before Mikkel and his fellow crew became objects in a game of negotiations and to which they cling even as a folly. I think the difference between Mikkel's response and the captain's is important too. The captain has not been at close quarters with the hijackers in the way Mikkel has. Mikkel accepts that he will have to surrender his wedding band because he knows better the people they are than the captain. Also the hijacker who fires the shot is not one who spent time with the crew when they were confined in the cabin.

In this way the murder was a subtle communication to the audience about the different psychologies. I appreciate the way it was done with not much hysteria or sentimentality. Mikkel being too numb to react.

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[–] fatpie42 11 years ago

It's the protagonist who has to deal with the guilt.

If the protagonist died trying to keep his ring then firstly, he'd just be a martyr - and to be frank that's a boring message, and secondly, after everything we've seen from him it would be a bizarre expression of bravery.

However, instead we see the captain intercede for him. The captain is pretty reasonable, but the Somali pirate is unwilling to lose face. The protagonist gets to keep his ring, but the sentimental value seems hollow when it comes at the cost of a human life.

I think the ending works all the better as resulting from a combination of both his experiences chained in the cargo bay of the ship and his guilt at being indirectly responsible for the only death during the kidnapping.

[–] Trackmaster 11 years ago

I think that it was an important scene mainly because it showed that the muscle were thugs, but the leaders were businessmen. Just like in regular crime syndicates.

[–] PreachCaleb 9 years ago

That's not a cop out.

Let's be bad guys.