‘7500‘, the 2019 film by German director Patrick Vollrath is part of Amazon’s efforts to position itself (and) as a film house, with original productions streamed with priority but not exclusively on its own channel. It belongs to the genre of hijacking movies, a fairly popular genre, including in Hollywood where it enjoyed beautiful budgets and the participation of famous actors. ‘7500‘ is a low-cost European version, but it has many qualities and original features. Patrick Vollrath debuts as a feature film director with this film, and demonstrates an excellent mastery of the profession and inspiration in the choice of means of expression. The result is a dynamic, minimalist and hyper-realistic film, which demonstrates that the genre does not need large investments and spectacular effects to create real tension and drama.
The story takes place almost in real time in the cockpit of a plane flying between Berlin and Paris. The cabin is locked over 95% of the time, as required by aviation regulations worldwide after 9/11. Shortly after takeoff a gang of terrorists take control of the passengers cabin and try to force entry into the cockpit to take control of the flight. The second pilot’s girlfriend and mother of his child (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, the only familiar actor in the cast) is a stewardess on the flight, which, of course, complicates the situation. Vollrath manages to transform the claustrophobic space of the cockpit into the location where most of the drama takes place, using from time to time the monitor that allows pilots to see the passenger cabin as a visual means of expanding the space of action. Unfortunately, the script writers, after building the premises excellently and credibly unfolding the story to a point of maximum intensity in which the refusal of a Hollywood solution seemed inspired to me, seem to have lost inspiration and the last part of the film is less original.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, an actor I like and who is searching for his own path as he matures beyond the age of the handsome young man casting, probably chose this role as an exercise in acting very different from those played in genre films by stars such as Harrison Ford (or even Jodie Foster!). The other name to remember from the cast is that of Omid Memar who plays the role of a young Islamist who has fallen into the trap of fanaticism. The two actors manage to credibly build a conflict in which duty and feelings confront fanaticism, and they do everything they can to overcome in the final scenes a dialogue and an action that become predictable. The cockpit is the almost exclusively claustrophobic setting of the film, the director and producers choosing to use a real plane as an alternative to building the sets in the studios. The indications of the instruments are part of the setting and action, and from the comments I read I understand that they are perfectly simulated and synchronized. The filming also took place in several continuous sequences lasting many minutes, which strengthens the feeling of realism and real-time tracking of the action on the screen. ‘7500‘ is a very good action and psychological thriller for about the first two thirds of its screening duration. Too bad the screenwriters and the director did not have the courage and inspiration to continue it in the same way and returned towards the end, to use the terms of air transportation, to the safe flying paths, the ones already traveled too many times.