It was an event that dominated the news headlines for days in 1976.
When four hijackers take over an Air France jet en route from Tel Aviv to Paris on June 27 that year, the 248 passengers on board are unaware of the harrowing ordeal that awaits them. Forced at gunpoint to relinquish their passports, the terrified hostages comply with their captors’ demands, while discretely attempting to hide their identities.
Two of the hijackers are Palestinian members of the radical Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – External Operations, while the other two, Wilfried Böse and Brigitte Kuhlmann, are leftist German radicals sympathetic to the Palestinian cause.
Meanwhile, in Jerusalem, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin receives word of the hijacking during a tense meeting about the country’s skyrocketing military budget. Quickly dismissing his Cabinet, with Defence Minister Shimon Peres he debates what Israel’s response should be.
Peres urges Rabin not to negotiate with the hijackers, who are demanding $5 million and the release of more than 50 pro-Palestinian militants imprisoned around the globe. He instead suggests a covert military solution.
The hijacked plane is diverted to Entebbe Airport in Uganda, where it is met by the country’s notorious dictator, Idi Amin. Held captive in an abandoned transit hall under the watchful eye of additional armed hijackers, the passengers are eventually divided by nationality, with Israelis put into a separate room.
Under mounting pressure from the victims’ families, and with the threat of mass bloodshed should the hijackers’ demands go unmet, Rabin authorises a daring rescue mission.
Dubbed ‘Operation Thunderbolt’, the audacious plan requires split-second timing, the element of surprise and cooperation from a neighbouring country. As the deadline looms and tensions rise, an elite squadron of Israeli commandos race toward Entebbe in a daring and unprecedented attempt to free the hostages before it’s too late.
Solomon admits she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to tackle the difficult topic once again
“The film tells two parallel stories about the raid,” says director Jose Padilha. “On one hand, we look at the saga of the hostages and the terrorists, and how their interaction and mental states evolved as the days went by.
“On the other hand, we look at the internal debate that the hijack ensued inside the Israeli government, and at the opposing positions assumed by Peres – who was against negotiations by default – and Rabin, who entertained negotiations as a real alternative.”
This is the second terrorism-related project for producers Tim Bevan and Kate Solomon, 10 years after their acclaimed drama United 93.
“Ron Halpern at Studiocanal approached Kate and me several years ago and said he thought the Entebbe raid could make for an interesting film,” recalls Bevan.
Solomon admits she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to tackle the difficult topic once again. “When this film first came to me, my natural inclination wasn’t to do another hijacking movie,” she says. “But what was really interesting about this project was how different it was from United 93, which was set in three relatively small confines. Here, we get to explore the big picture and what happened behind the scenes with Rabin and Peres. Also, United 93 happened in a very short period of time, while Entebbe was spread out over a full week.”
Bevan points to another important difference between the two stories. “Obviously, the great thing about this particular historical event in terms of cinema is that it ends with a thrilling rescue mission, so throughout the film you’re constantly racing towards a very exciting climax.”
Entebbe stars Daniel Bruhl as Wilfried Böse; Rosamunde Pike as Brigitte Kuhlmann; Eddie Marsan as Peres; Lior Ashkenazi as Rabin; Denis Menochet as pilot Jacques Lemoine; Ben Schneter as Zeev Hirsch and Nonso Anozie as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. It is directed by Padilha from a screenplay by Gregory Burke.