(Captive was Screened at Mumbai Film Festival – 2012)
Director – Brillante Mendoza
Captive is about self-preservation, about survival in the face of hardships and situations beyond one’s control.
The story is adapted from the Dos Palmas kidnapping of two US missionaries by the Abu Sayyaf Group in 2001. On 27 May 2001, 20 local and foreign tourists were abducted from the Dos Palmas resort in Palawan (an island province of the Philippines) and they were then transported via a fishing boat across the Sulu Sea to the island of Basilan.
On the boat, the ASG demand ransom from the hostages. One of the hostages arranges an easy transfer of the ransom to a bank in Zamboanga, the reason why the group makes a stopover in a Lamitan City hospital en route to their hideout in the mountains. A bullet mistakenly shot by one of the ASG leaders at a passing military truck triggers a military assault on the hospital that lasts the whole day the next day. Amid the firing, three hostages are freed after what is implied as payment of ransom.
Four more hostages are taken from the hospital staff when the group leaves, even if the kidnappers release three others with orders to arrange ransom for their loved ones whom the kidnappers are taking with them in the mountains. Two are left behind after being wounded from ambush assault by the militia.
The first natural casualty of the kidnapping is an old Filipina social worker, who dies during the journey. Her companion, Therese Bourgoine (played by Isabelle Huppert), a French social worker, wins a score over the kidnappers when she succeeds in giving Soledad a Christian burial.
On the eve of Philippine Independence Day, the kidnappers behead one of the foreign hostages, a result of a failed negotiation with the government. During the next month, three more hostages are freed, while the rest are forced to trek with the kidnappers as they travel aimlessly in the jungle, waiting to be freed and suffering the indignation of being held captive—starvation, conflicts in belief, romance, sabaya (forced marriage), dissent among the kidnappers, escape by some hostages, and even rape.
Military attacks only fuel the unyielding kidnappers to fight back. News of the September 11 crash of the Twin Towers in New York, staged by Muslim terrorists, plus a secret visit to the camp by two Arab nationals who bring arms, seem only to further the kidnappers cause of regaining their lost homeland.
The visit of a journalist to interview the remaining hostages promises salvation for the hostages, but it does nothing to free them.
In a final attempt to arrange negotiations, the kidnappers release the women hostages, holding back four: Therese Bourgoine, the couple of British missionaries, and the head nurse at the hospital. The recklessness and hot-headedness of the kidnappers get in the way. Finally, on 7 June 2002, the military manages to stage a daring rescue. Only Therese Bourgoine and the missionary Sophie Bernstein are saved alive from the clutches of the Abu Sayyaf Group.
Captive falls in the genre of Action-Drama based on a true incident. It has natural and impressive performances from most of the cast, and not to forget the electrifying performance by Isabelle Huppert.
A must watch film for its realistic depiction of authenticity. Duration 120 mins.
Credits:
Production Companies: Swift Productions, Arte France, Studio Eight Productions
Producer: Didier Costet
Director: Brillante Mendoza
Screenplay: Brillante Ma. Mendoza, Patrick Bancarel, Boots Agbyani Pastor, Arlyn dela Cruz
Director of Photography: Odyssey Flores
Editors: Yves Deschamps, Kats Serraon
Music: Teresa Barrozo
Cast:
Isabelle Huppert- Therese
Maria Isabel Lopez
Joel Torre
Mercedes Cabral
Sid Lucero
Kristoffer King
Ronnie Lazaro
Mon Confiado
Raymond Bagatsing
