the pirates of somalia inside their hidden world

Using rock music and vivid worst-case-scenario nightmares to amplify Jay’s anxiety en route, “Dabka” hits its stride once the story reaches Africa - where Buckley, best known for his work on dozens of wicked-cool Super Bowl commercials, also shot his Oscar-nominated short “Asad” with Somali refugees. The film’s cocky, too-clever-by-half opening voiceover is designed to underscore how Jay’s wit is being wasted on a mindless job interviewing grocery store managers (“I actually hate movies with main characters as narrators,” he tells us).Īfter meeting a local journalism hero (played by Al Pacino with his usual scene-stealing gusto) in the doctor’s office waiting room, Jay decides to take the plunge, borrowing just enough money from mom (Melanie Griffith) to get him to Somalia. Russell’s Desert-Storm-gone-wild satire) and “Almost Famous” (Cameron Crowe’s autobiographical account of a wild gig he scored for Rolling Stone magazine as a teen), but it never quite charms us into identifying with its goofy, nothing-to-lose hero, who’s desperate to move out from his parents’ basement and jump-start his journalism career. What's especially impressive (aside from Bahadur's sheer nerve in insinuating himself among these dangerous men in a lawless corner of the world) is the amassing of multiple perspectives%E2%80%94of pirates and policymakers%E2%80%94that support a rich, suspenseful account.“Dabka” wants to be a cross between “Three Kings” (David O.

Still Bahadur's interviews with the pirates reveal that they rarely relish criminality it's genuine desperation that motivates them. Coupled with the widespread addiction to the narcotic herb khat, conditions for wiping out piracy may be impossible to achieve. The institutionalization of these hijackings has created an economic order among the pirates not unlike other forms of organized crime. Few other economic options exist for young men along this harsh coastline, largely because of abusive fishing practices by foreign trawler fleets.

The inner workings of the world of Somali pirates are astutely explored by Bahadur, a journalist who embedded himself among them to detail how 'a level of international naval cooperation unprecedented in human history has been unable to stop a motley assortment of half-starved brigands armed with aging assault rifles and the odd grenade launcher.' It's an engaging account, full of solid analysis about the collapse of Somalia and the tight-knit clan and subclan networks that keep a failed state from dissolving into complete anarchy while fostering conditions ideally suited to ocean-going criminality.

The pirates of somalia inside their hidden world