Cargo

You don't often see gems like this. I saw it at the Raindance Film Festival. Having no idea what it was about, I just needed to fill a gap between two films that I did want to see. I was so gripped that I missed the following film. Dare I say this film is faultless? Dark, moody and understated. Acting brilliant, lighting superb etc etc. There are some unusual, non standard plot twists that I like to have in a film. This is not the usual Hollywood script and treatment and so much the better for that. The suspense is held wonderfully well and there is no padding, and no overlong reaction shots dragging on the narrative. And I almost forgot the Music/Sound effect work, I have never, ever heard that done so well, Oscar? On an independent? Not a hope. Beautifully merged to jar your senses, this is great.

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.

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.

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.

One of those films that has a lot of impressive things and other things that could have been done better. One of the things that Cargo has in its favour is that it looks great, the scenery is beautiful, the ship is like a character of its own, the lighting has a haunting effect and the photography and editing have a tautness and eeriness about them. The music also has an eerie quality while not making things too obvious, the first half of the story at least is very engaging and suspenseful as well as tightly paced, the dialogue is smart and intense at this point too and Peter Mullen and Daniel Bruhl are very well-cast, very brooding. In fact the cast is solid with nobody really disgracing themselves. The second half is not quite so good, it has its intense, suspenseful moments and the film is still well made and acted sure. But it also does come rather confused and even for a thriller things felt under-explained, granted thrillers can leave things open for interpretations and leave a lot of questions but for some reason Cargo didn't feel very complete at the end of the day. The dialogue becomes stilted by this point, the pacing loses its tightness and becomes plodding and Cargo does end on a banal note. The characters are relatively interesting in the first half and mostly for the second half but the viewer's frustration at Chris' actions increase more and more until reaching boiling point towards the end. Overall, a well-made film with some impressive things but a lot of the second half leaves one short-changed. Not plain-sailing but not a ship-wreck. 5/10 Bethany Cox