Cargo

I picked this up for a fiver in HMV after browsing the DVD section. I was drawn by the box and thought it was a horror. I did not read all about its's awards etc and thought it was an out and out horror.

It is not - it is a slow burning thriller.

As the film went on I started to emphasise with the main character. What would I do in his shoes - was it right to keep your head down and say and do nothing.

I thought all the characters were played well although I thought the captain played by Peter Millen, from my neighbouring town Peterhead, could have been a little more menacing and not so much brooding - it looked though he was in physical pain rather than emotional. Special mention to Gary Lewis and Samuli Edelmann. Good character actors with something simmering below the surface.

Well worth a look.

The theme seems somewhat of interest, and it could have held attention if it were not for Daniel Brühl's character, "Chris", who is annoying to an extreme. For some reason, that the viewer is never able to understand, the incredibly innocuous Chris is able to screw up everything he touches from scene one until the grand finale. Anyone with even half a brain, finding himself in such a perilous state, would lay the lowest profile possible in an attempt to merely survive - which is the exact opposite route taken by Brühl's highly infantile and ridiculous character. After 30 minutes into the flick, you come to detest the guy's guts, wishing that the hostile crew would just fling the half-wit overboard and get it over with.

Do yourself a favour - skip this flop.

This is a delight. I have seldom seen so much achieved with so little. What a crew! What accents! This reminds me of the Bill Hicks sketch where he recalls that Brits seldom have more than a soccer ball to threaten people with.

This German kid makes the big mistake of going to Africa outside of a World Cup event. Next the mistake of running out of funds. Falling foul of the militia. Losing his passport. And then the chance to get back to Europe on a cargo ship.

We, who like films, are always looking for little gems that slip through the Net. They are not put together by committee. They are not put together on someone's PC. Things don't blow up every five minutes. The hero does not dodge all the bullets sent his way.

One of the best captains I have seen.

Daniel Brühl stars as Chris, a plucky German traveler in Africa who stands up to pretty much everyone. In trouble with the local law and having lost his passport, he stows away on a cargo ship headed for Spain. Peter Mullan is brilliantly cast as the captain, Brookes, whose throaty drawl and demeanor are perfectly cast as a captain.

Once Chris is exposed as a stowaway on the ship, he becomes a part of the crew, but slowly starts to realize that the law and morality have no meaning on the high seas.

The film is moody, well shot, and the acting is exceptional. While many scenes are high intensity and very suspenseful, there is no excessive gore or any "boo" horror therein. The mood and the unanswered (and answered) questions leave the viewer questioning reality and what severe isolation must do to a crew of men such as these.

Daniel Bruhl is perfectly cast as Chris; his charisma turns on and off at will, and he transforms his character from complacent to annoyed in a second.

Peter Mullan accompanies Bruhl with his stolid, cryptic, and persistent mood, yet comes across as a character you have to like because he demands to be in charge.

For a moody, tense thriller with an intelligent back story, see this movie.

A dark and brooding maritime thriller, desperate people on the edge of society and a ship with dark secrets far out at sea. This is how I would sum up this film, it's all you need to know. If you want me to flesh it out some more it's about a young man who hides on a cargo ship to get back home, but he doesn't know he's going to find so much more than a free ride.