Follow
Me: The Yoni Netanyahu Story
DVD
Review by Kam Williams
Bittersweet
Biopic Recounts Life of Israeli Commando Who
Died Leading Raid at Entebbe
On June 27, 1976, Air France Flight #139 from Tel Aviv to Athens was commandeered by terrorists en route and allowed
to land in Libya to refuel
before being diverted to Entebbe,
Uganda. There,
the hijackers were not only joined by waiting comrades, but supported by the
army operating on orders from the country’s pro-Palestinian President, Idi
Amin.
After freeing all the non-Jews, the hijackers demanded the release
of 53 imprisoned comrades as ransom for the 106 remaining hostages. However,
that solution was never considered an option, because of Israel’s longstanding policy of not
negotiating with terrorists.
Instead, while stalling for time by feigning cooperation, Israel
secretly planned a daring rescue. Because the Entebbe airport had been built by an Israeli
construction company, its architects were enlisted to help build an exact
replica of the terminal where the prisoners were being held.
Meanwhile, the former hostages gave Mossad agents a precise
description of the location of their former captors. Success of the raid would
rely heavily on the element of surprise because the kidnapped passengers were
surrounded by heavily-armed abductors with their fingers on the trigger.
Operation Thunderbolt, which was executed on July 4, 1976,
assembled a team of 200 of Israel’s
best Special Forces commandos to be led by Yoni
Netanyahu (1946-1976), the older brother of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The brave Lieutenant
Colonel would be
the only member of the mission to perish in the assault, which also claimed the
lives of all the hijackers, 45 Ugandan soldiers and 3 passengers caught in the
crossfire.
Co-directed by Jonathan Gruber and Ari Daniel Pinchot, Follow Me
is a bittersweet biopic about Yoni which reconstructs the events of the remarkable
rescue via a combination of actual walkie-talkie transmissions and eyewitness
accounts of some participants. More importantly, half the documentary is
devoted to heartfelt remembrances of Yoni by his family, friends and
colleagues.
Much of the film’s moving narration is even in the subject’s own
words, since he was the introspective type given to sharing his feelings in
poetry, diaries and love letters. After all, the Israeli patriot had studied
philosophy at Harvard between serving his country in the ’67 and Yom Kippur
Wars.
Although a proud career soldier, Yoni concedes that the experience
of hand-to-hand combat “adds a whole dimension of sadness to a man’s being.” A
poignant portrait revealing the sensitive soul of a revered military hero.
Excellent (4 stars)
Unrated
In English and Hebrew
with subtitles
Running time: 87
Minutes
Distributor:
International Film Circuit
DVD Extras: None
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Me on DVD,
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