N O M I N E E F I L M B E S T
roll. But the fi lm also shows boundless empathy – although never sympathy – for Abdi’s Muse, too, a figure who is as terrifying as he is terrified. It’s in his refusal to demonise the aggressors here that Greengrass’ fi lm finds its power. Paul Greengrass has claimed that the fi lm is not political, and that’s strictly true. But in highlighting certain realities of the modern world – the long chain of violence that ends with the dirt-poor pirates; the contrast between our luxury goods and the countries that supply them – it’s an intensely powerful fi lm. The sight of three enormous US warships bearing down on a tiny lifeboat holding four skinny desperados speaks volumes about the relative power of each here. But even as these behemoths loom outside, Phillips still has a gun to his head, and so power remains a complex thing.
BEST FILM NOMINEES
OTH ER N O M I N ATED CATEGORIES
Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca
Adapted Screenplay; Cinematography; Director; Editing; Leading Actor; Original Music; Sound; Supporting Actor
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hostage and endures tense days in a cramped boat with the increasingly desperate (and still heavily armed) young men, the viewer is right beside him. When one pirate breaks a window on the tiny craft, desperate for air after days at sea, you can feel the salt breeze in the cinema. As Phillips, Tom Hanks has rarely been better. He is perhaps the most straightforwardly heroic lead of any of this year’s nominated fi lms, innovating and improvising at the point of a gun barrel to spare his crew, help the US Navy as they attempt to rescue him and, in extremis, fashion a last missive to his wife and family. But he is not simply an action man or some sort of warrior. The final scene, in which a rescued Phillips breaks down and sobs with relief following his rescue, is a portrayal of naked trauma that lingers long after the credits