It’s been 42 years since the hijacking of a Tel Aviv – Paris Air France flight landed in Uganda for 7 Days in Entebbe that led to an international situation. But the events that happened as a result as shown in this historic thriller aren’t entirely worth the elongated trip.
Brazilian Director José Padilha (RoboCop 2014 remake) creates, with meticulous detail, the tension and fear of the terrorists as well as the passengers, but his intention to humanize both doesn’t completely connect. Gregory Burke wrote the screenplay which has a documentary feel. there isn’t a lot of dialogue, but there is a lot of uncomfortable, silent, waiting. And the unobtrusive, ominous music bed also conveys the underlying dread that it could all go terribly wrong at any moment. One of the most human characters is the Air France engineer (Denis Ménochet, Inglorious Bastards, Assassins Creed) who tries to fight for more humane conditions for the passengers.
The story is well known. Wilfied Böse (Daniel Brühl, Captain America: Civil War, Rush) and Brigitte Kuhlmann (Rosamund Pike, Hostiles) are two German leftist revolutionaries who join with Palestinian terrorists to divert the plane to the decrepit old terminal in Uganda.
That country’s dictator, Idi Amin, (Nonso Anozie) makes brief appearances as the buffoonish host to his unwilling guests. He is most interested in self promotion appearing to be the tough-guy in charge. Some cynics might argue that Padilha is taking a shot at the current President of the United States.
Böse and Kuhlmann and the Palestinian terrorists want to trade the lives of the 248 passengers and crew in exchange for the release of 53 Palestinian prisoners or else the hostages die. There are Jews on the flight. One woman shown is a holocaust survivor with a number on her arm. Böse and Kuhlmann realize that, as Germans, they will be tagged as Nazis, which they both purport, they are not. Pike often looks off into space without saying a word which is sometimes effective and sometimes not.
The clock begins ticking.The world watches knowing the Israelis never negotiate with terrorists. Writer Gregory Burke goes to great pains depicting the conflict within the Israeli Cabinet. On one side is Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (Lior Ashkenazi) who, trying to be strong, finally gives in and decides to try beginning negotiations. He takes the moral high ground over and over again with lines like, “If we can’t negotiate, this war will never end.”
Defense Minister Shimon Peres (Eddie Marsan) has a different opinion. His mantra, repeated over and over again, is that the only solution is to overwhelm with force. We thought his appearance, enhanced with too much hair and makeup, made him look more unlike Peres than like him.
After days of negotiation for a strategy, Peres and the military come up with the audacious plan to fly a strike team into Entebbe, take out the terrorists and rescue the hostages with minimal loss of life. The scenes putting the rescue plan into action come fast and furious. Even though the world cheered, this film chooses not to lionize the military, but to still make the plea for diplomacy.
In the midst of these momentous events, Padilha inserts another element of artistry. One of the Israeli commandos has a girlfriend who’s a dancer with the Batsheva Dance Company. We see her rehearsing a dramatic piece. During the raid on Entebbe the camera cuts back repeatedly to the performance where the dancers are lined up on chairs and repeat the same actions over and over again. The tempo builds as they become more frantic finally ripping off their jackets, pants and shirts ending up nearly naked and exhausted. Just like the cycle of violence that repeats over and over again. It is a distracting and disturbing juxtaposition to the life and death situation with the raid to save the hostages. Not sure it worked as the director hoped it would.
This is a film with noble intentions, but make no mistake, it does not make a soft a landing. Pike says the uncertainty of what will happen to the terrorists as well as the hostages is tortuous. There is certainly enough tension created but we didn’t feel it gave us enough to be emotionally invested in the hostages. And each day drags on for ever. The ultimate decision to show force in 1976 was thought to be a heroic measure that might lead to negotiation for peace in the Middle East. But the crawl at the end of the movie reminds us that Israelis and Palestinians are still not talking to each other.
Focus Features 106 Minutes PG-13
