Lance St. Laurent’s review of A Hijacking, which was directed by Tobias Lindholm in 2012, was published in Film Matters issue 4.3 in the fall of 2013. He is a freelance critic from Alma, AR. He is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in critical studies at the University of Southern California. His areas of study include contemporary comedy auteurism and the history of the New Hollywood.
Brianna Okamoto: In your article you said that the “audience is left ignorant to the actions of the hijackers”; how do you think that affects the film style?
Lance St. Laurent: The film maintains a very handheld, vérité sort of style about it, which really heightens the tension and sense of immediacy throughout. It’s a style firmly rooted in the point of view of the protagonists both on the boat and in the board room. The advantage of this is a strong feeling of authenticity and emotional rawness to the film. The troubling downside, though, is that it renders the hijackers themselves as this hostile, faceless “other” in the film.
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