Entebbe (AKA 7 Days in Entebbe)

Dir: José Padilha

2018

**

Entebbe is a strange one. I like José Padilha’s films, from Bus 174 to the Elite Squad duo, and I’m one of the few people who actually liked his version of RoboCop, believing it to be something of a brilliant but misunderstood remake. I also liked Gregory Burke’s previous script for 2014’s ’71 but with Entebbe it is clear that he is a playwright over a screenwriter. There is nothing wrong with that, and there are elements of Entebbe that are fascinating, it’s just a little over ambitious at times which is unfortunately detrimental to the film and to the historical events portrayed. The events surrounding the hijacking and Operation Thunderbolt have been covered four times in the past; Victory at Entebbe (1976), Raid on Entebbe (1976), Operation Thunderbolt and The Last King of Scotland (2006) but none of these film featured interpretive dance. The film features extensive footage of the noted Batsheva Dance Company, dancing to a modern version of the traditional Jewish song Echad Mi Yodea. One of the characters in the film is a dancer in the troupe, and the dance is shown as the film opens and then throughout the film, inter-cut with portions of the narrative. It just doesn’t work. It reminded me of Wim Wender’s Pina, but that made sense, as it was a documentary based on a dancer and choreographer. It’s a nice idea on paper, but it means the film loses sight of its most compelling elements. It’s also historically inaccurate, which is fairly shoddy, as the previous films had covered the facts and events rather well. The film covers the story from beginning to end, where in 1976, two Palestinian and two German terrorists hijacked Air France Flight 139 that was en route from Tel Aviv to Paris. They held the passengers and crew hostage at Entebbe, Uganda and demanded a ransom of $5 million for the airplane and the release of 53 Palestinian and pro-Palestinian militants, 40 of whom were prisoners in Israel. When all diplomatic efforts failed, the Israeli government decided not to negotiate and approved a counter-terrorist hostage rescue operation by IDF commandos. Entebbe brings nothing new to the story that has already been well covered, other than misleading inaccuracies. The main point of contention was that film puts Yonatan Netanyahu's death much earlier in the raid on the airport than had been portrayed in previous films on the subject or in the Netanyahu family's version of events. Padilha said that this placement was based on interviews with participants in the raid. Although the production had commissioned British historian Saul David's 2015 study Operation Thunderbolt as a guide, the director opted to subordinate historical accuracy to dramatic effect, not just with Netanyahu's death but in a number of scenes. Another noted inaccuracy was the division of the hostages and the Air France crew staying with the hostages as these are presented in a way that totally contradicts all eyewitness accounts. This isn’t a matter of fact documentary, it has an agenda and not one that I necessarily disagree with but when you want to make a point based on a historical event, you have to stick to the facts, otherwise your argument is open to criticism. Eddie Marsan is too much of a cartoon character to be taken seriously and Rosamund Pike was totally miscast. Great actors such as Daniel Brühl and Brontis Jodorowsky are given very little to get their teeth into but I thought Nonso Anozie was pretty good in his portrayal as Idi Amin. I did enjoy the scenes that concentrated on the view point of the Israeli government but again, the interpretive dance scenes cut in just as it was getting interesting. The only thing that really makes the film an interesting story over the other films based on the event, is that now Lieutenant Colonel Yonatan Netanyahu’s younger brother is Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel since 2009. In many respects this would have been a more interesting film if the crew had left the cameras behind and left them running. A big part of movie was shot at Malta International Airport in Luqa and a day after filming wrapped, a real-life hijacked Libyan airplane landed very close to the set. I liked that the two German terrorists’ motives were explored, I just don’t think they were ever believable, even though their views and actions were accurately depicted. It’s a great idea that has been completely botched.