Hostage

The 1999 hijacking of a commuter bus in Greece is the basis for this potent thriller from director Constantine Giannaris. Adroitly blending fact and fiction, Hostage creates sympathy for the kidnapper, a young Albanian man named Senia (played by Stathis Papadopoulos) deported from Greece and rejected by his girlfriend's parents. Frustrated, Senia slips back into the country only to find himself hounded by corrupt cops. Eventually, a desperate and cornered Senia arms himself and seizes control of an intercity bus, demanding a huge ransom and safe passage back to his homeland. As the story unfolds, flashbacks reveal the situation to be more complicated than the viewer is initially led to believe, and the film paints an unflattering portrait of the media, whose minions exacerbate the already-tense situations with their intrusive and inflammatory coverage. Hostage's cinéma vérité style and ragged editing help sustain palpable unease as the film builds steadily towards a harrowing climax. Highly recommended. (E. Hulse)