STILL HOSTAGE TO THE HYPE
’7 Days in Entebbe’ fails to free the hijacking of a plane from Tel Aviv from its mythology, writes
The story of the Israeli Defence Forces’ raid on the Ugandan airport of Entebbe to rescue Jewish hostages held there after their plane was hijacked in 1976 has been told in a variety of films and TV series. It’s a story framed in heroic, mythical terms and has been used to ignite the patriotism of many young Jews. Not just in Israel but around the world, with its daringly dangerous plans and the brave sacrifice of Yonatan Netanyahu (brother of Benjamin) who was the only casualty on the Israeli side.
It is part of the machismo and jingoist mythology that has driven many Israeli soldiers to carry out questionable orders against Palestinians in the occupied territories. You could argue that in this day and age, when public sentiment is globally moving towards a far more critical appraisal of the Middle East and Israel’s actions, a revision of the story of Entebbe is useful and necessary.
That certainly seems to be a motivating factor in Brazilian director José Padilha and screenwriter Gregory Burke’s retelling of the incident. Beginning with a preface in which the history of the conflict is briefly recounted, including the use of the phrase “their land” in reference to the Palestinians — a phrase guaranteed to cause huge amounts of anxiety and selfrighteous indignation in the hearts and minds of conservative Jewish audiences around the world — 7 Days in Entebbe follows a similar structure to previous adaptations. It moves between the hostages and the debates within the Israeli cabinet as to how to deal with the crisis.
What Burke’s version does that hasn’t previously been attempted is to try to give some back story and humanity to the perpetrators.
We have the Baader Meinhoff-affiliated Brigitte Kuhlmann (Rosamund Pike) and Wilfried Bose (Daniel Brühl), who are motivated by their belief in the Palestinian cause and a desire to have their leaders freed from German jails. Bose is a left-wing bookseller who soon realises that he’s no more than a foot soldier in the greater scheme of things as he and Kuhlmann are shouldered out of the negotiating process by their Palestinian collaborators. He’s morally outraged at the treatment of the Jewish hostages and is a pacifist at heart.
Meanwhile, back in Israel the debate about what to do regarding the hijacking is reflected by the hawkish approach of defence minister Shimon Peres (Eddie Marsan) and the more careful and less initially aggressive prime minister Yitzhak Rabin (Lior Ashkenazi). With the families of the hostages angrily demanding answers, the problem becomes not only a matter of Israeli national policy but also of political survival for both men.
By the time “Operation Thunderbolt” is approved, Padilha, who has directed several action thrillers, can’t seem to deliver the goods. What could have been a thoughtful and potentially provocative re-examination of a story that has undoubtedly been presented in a one-sided manner in the past, falls apart on all fronts with a sloppy finale that even the intercutting of some interesting dance sequences can’t save.
The fact that Padilha and Burke can’t deliver when they need to pretty much undoes everything else they’ve been trying to achieve, leaving the whole enterprise more perplexing than anything else and audiences unsatisfied on too many fronts.
It doesn’t work as a revisionist assessment of the events and it certainly doesn’t work as suspense. And so the many previous versions already in use by the Israeli Defence Forces and Jewish day schools will continue to stand until there’s a more clear-headed and dramatically successful look at this piece of history through the lens of current events and attitudes.
What this version does is try to give some back story and humanity to the perpetrators