Actions have consequences
Entebbe (12A)
Starring: Rosamund Pike, Daniel Brühl, Eddie Marsan
Director: José Padilha
The Plot: It's 1976. German anti-fascist revolutionaries Brigitte Kuhlmann (Pike) and Wilfried Böse (Brühl) join with Palestinian rebels in a plot to hijack a plane carrying Israeli passengers and hold them hostage, believing they can use the incident to further their own cause and secure the release of political prisoners. They successfully carry out the hijack and land the plane in Entebbe, Uganda, where they are "hosted" by its brutal dictator Idi Amin. As the Israeli government scrambles to come up with a military response, Böse and Kuhlmann both begin to question their motives when, pressured by Amin, it appears that they will need to carry out their threat and begin killing hostages . . .
Check out the trailer for the film here.
Review: To call the conflict between Israel and Palestine complicated would be a gross understatement, so long has it been going on for, with so many people killed and with so many countries and factions involved. I hold my hands up and admit freely that I know very little about it, and so I went into this film knowing nothing about the incident that it's based upon, the dramatic hijacking (and eventual rescue) of Israeli passengers in Entebbe. While the film is competently made and acted, it unfortunately loses its voice by trying to present the reasoning behind all sides involved in the incident, resulting in the audience not knowing exactly what message the film is trying to convey. The film was marketed internationally as 7 Days in Entebbe (seven days being the time period of the entire incident), but for some reason here in the UK the title has been shortened to just Entebbe.
The film opens with a brief title card describing the Israeli declaration of independence and subsequent events, before displaying what is a red flag for any audience: a card advising that while the film is based on true events, some scenes and dialogue have been dramatised. On the one hand, it's understandable that this needs to be done to tell the story, especially when you're dealing with something that happened some time ago, but on the other hand it cannot help but sow a seed of doubt when you're watching - unless you're an expert on history and on this event in particular, you're not going to know which parts of the film have been entirely made up.
The film is split between two central story threads, and a third smaller one. The first focuses on Kuhlmann and Böse, following them through the hijacking itself and then the subsequent period where they help the Palestinians keep the hostages captive in Entebbe, interjected with some brief flashbacks to them in Germany where they first decide to embark on the plan. The second main thread focuses on the Israeli government, where the Prime Minister clashes with his defence chief Shimon Peres (played by Eddie Marsan) over the best course of action - Peres flat out wants a military response, while the Prime Minister is wary. The third, smaller story thread follows an Israeli soldier called Hirsch, one of the unit eventually called in to rescue the hostages, and the effect his duty has on his relationship with his girlfriend Sarah, a civilian dancer.
While this splitting of the story is interesting, it also unfortunately creates the film's two big problems: the first is that it doesn't focus long enough on any one area to allow us, the audience, to get a really good understanding of what's driving the characters to do what they do. The second problem is one I mentioned earlier - in the attempts the film does make to show each sides thinking and reasons for being involved, it doesn't actually come out with an overall message. It's very unclear what the film is really trying to say - while it could be interpreted as trying its best to give a balanced view of the affair by presenting every side of the story, it's difficult to accept that based on what we see.
The main story thread following Kuhlmann and Böse suffers the most because of this. While we do get some brief flashbacks to them initially deciding to undertake the plot, we don't learn enough about them to really understand them. We learn that they believe Germany to be a fascist state, and that they sympathise with the Palestinians due to them perceiving Israel to be the same, however we don't learn enough about why they believe this. While they're certainly not intended to come across as sympathetic characters (let's face it, they become terrorists), Böse gets more character exploration as he is revealed to be a bookseller and is shown repeatedly to be sympathetic to the hostages, ensuring they get as fair treatment as possible and helping them where he can. Kuhlmann, on the other hand, is far more willing to be forceful and seems to have no concerns or regrets about the possibility of having to kill the hostages. While both characters come to believe they have made a mistake in taking part by the end of the film, it takes Kuhlmann much longer to get there.
In attempting to offer a broad view of the incident, the film explores a number of topics with varying success: we get a look at the complex wrangling and backstabbing present in the high echelons of the Israeli government, where Peres plots against the Prime Minister to ensure a military response is chosen; we see the effect that military service has on the Israeli soldiers and the complications this can cause (Hirsch is told by his commanding officer to give up on having a girlfriend unless she too is in the military), and we also a get a view of Idi Armin and his hold on Uganda, which while far too brief to be effective, does include a chilling moment when he threatens to start killing the children among the hostages. Again, none of these are explored in depth enough, but remain interesting nonetheless.
While the film does have its problems with its presentation of the story, it is at least well made from a technical standpoint. The film is well shot, and the moment of the Israeli soldiers assault in the third act is, interestingly, interspersed with Hirsch's girlfriend Sarah performing a group dance performance. The performances from the actors are good throughout, although its another case of them doing the best with what they've been given: both Pike and Brühl are strong and each have a high moment, for Brühl this is a symbolic moment when Böse comforts one of the hostages, an older German woman who begins to have a breakdown, and he notices that the woman bears the tattoo of a holocaust survivor, while for Pike its the moment when Kuhlmann calls home to her lover in Germany from a payphone and confesses that she's begun to regret her part in the plot, a rare moment of vulnerability for the character. As good as the performances are though, they're not enough to solve the films problems.
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
While this is an interesting take on a complicated incident in history, the attempt to show all sides means that the film suffers as a result, not giving us enough time with any of the characters and making it unclear as to what, if any, message that it's trying to present. While the performances are strong and the film is technically solid, the problems with the storytelling effect it deeply. If you're interested in this type of film its worth a look, but otherwise wait for the home release.
The film is split between two central story threads, and a third smaller one. The first focuses on Kuhlmann and Böse, following them through the hijacking itself and then the subsequent period where they help the Palestinians keep the hostages captive in Entebbe, interjected with some brief flashbacks to them in Germany where they first decide to embark on the plan. The second main thread focuses on the Israeli government, where the Prime Minister clashes with his defence chief Shimon Peres (played by Eddie Marsan) over the best course of action - Peres flat out wants a military response, while the Prime Minister is wary. The third, smaller story thread follows an Israeli soldier called Hirsch, one of the unit eventually called in to rescue the hostages, and the effect his duty has on his relationship with his girlfriend Sarah, a civilian dancer.
While this splitting of the story is interesting, it also unfortunately creates the film's two big problems: the first is that it doesn't focus long enough on any one area to allow us, the audience, to get a really good understanding of what's driving the characters to do what they do. The second problem is one I mentioned earlier - in the attempts the film does make to show each sides thinking and reasons for being involved, it doesn't actually come out with an overall message. It's very unclear what the film is really trying to say - while it could be interpreted as trying its best to give a balanced view of the affair by presenting every side of the story, it's difficult to accept that based on what we see.
The main story thread following Kuhlmann and Böse suffers the most because of this. While we do get some brief flashbacks to them initially deciding to undertake the plot, we don't learn enough about them to really understand them. We learn that they believe Germany to be a fascist state, and that they sympathise with the Palestinians due to them perceiving Israel to be the same, however we don't learn enough about why they believe this. While they're certainly not intended to come across as sympathetic characters (let's face it, they become terrorists), Böse gets more character exploration as he is revealed to be a bookseller and is shown repeatedly to be sympathetic to the hostages, ensuring they get as fair treatment as possible and helping them where he can. Kuhlmann, on the other hand, is far more willing to be forceful and seems to have no concerns or regrets about the possibility of having to kill the hostages. While both characters come to believe they have made a mistake in taking part by the end of the film, it takes Kuhlmann much longer to get there.
While the film does have its problems with its presentation of the story, it is at least well made from a technical standpoint. The film is well shot, and the moment of the Israeli soldiers assault in the third act is, interestingly, interspersed with Hirsch's girlfriend Sarah performing a group dance performance. The performances from the actors are good throughout, although its another case of them doing the best with what they've been given: both Pike and Brühl are strong and each have a high moment, for Brühl this is a symbolic moment when Böse comforts one of the hostages, an older German woman who begins to have a breakdown, and he notices that the woman bears the tattoo of a holocaust survivor, while for Pike its the moment when Kuhlmann calls home to her lover in Germany from a payphone and confesses that she's begun to regret her part in the plot, a rare moment of vulnerability for the character. As good as the performances are though, they're not enough to solve the films problems.
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
While this is an interesting take on a complicated incident in history, the attempt to show all sides means that the film suffers as a result, not giving us enough time with any of the characters and making it unclear as to what, if any, message that it's trying to present. While the performances are strong and the film is technically solid, the problems with the storytelling effect it deeply. If you're interested in this type of film its worth a look, but otherwise wait for the home release.
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