The airliner hijacking at the center of this story took place in 1976, and within two years three movies and made-for-TV movies chronicled the event.  Now a new project takes another look at a fateful week in world history, and it changes the perspective to inspect those events from a different, unusual angle.

Jose Padilha’s film benefits from the release of formerly classified material about the hijacking of an Air France jet as it was flown to Uganda and held for ransom by Palestinian loyalists, but it also surprises by telling the story largely from the point of view of the hijackers.  That’s a bold move.  The focus is on two German radicals, Brigitte Kuhlmann (Rosamund Pike) and Wilfried Böse (Daniel Brühl), as they help plan and train for the hijacking, commandeer the aircraft and then grow slowly disillusioned during the tense days of waiting for a response to their demands.  This part of the film is fascinating and very well acted, even though it might dismay viewers appalled by the incident.

The other part of the film deals with the Israeli response, engineered by Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (Lior Ashkenazi) and Defense Minister Shimon Peres (Eddie Marsan).  Rabin is bogged down in the political ramifications while Peres is seen as having a clear vision of tactical response.  This part of the film is engrossing even while it is clear which approach is preferred.  Ultimately, of course, a military raid takes place and the hostages are rescued.  Padilha balances viewpoints with aplomb, but his biggest risk occurs when he juxtaposes the development of a theatrical dance routine against the actual raid.  The dance routine is symbolic of Israel’s stance against peer pressure mentality, and ultimately makes a strong point, but it takes a while to get there and that point may not be clear to viewers.

This is an unusual film that is bound to be controversial because of the points of view it explores and the style with which it explores them.  A few of the other characters are fully developed, such as the jet’s flight engineer, but not enough to really allow the drama to sink its hooks into us.  It almost delivers what it tries to, but it falls a bit short, I think.  Nevertheless, it’s a nice try and worth a look.   ☆ ☆ 1/2.  11 April 2018.