Lebanon (2009)
Genre: Drama / War
Duration: 93 minuten
Alternative titles: Levanon / לבנון
Country:
Israel / France / Germany / United Kingdom
Directed by: Samuel Maoz
Stars: Oshri Cohen, Zohar Shtrauss and Michael Moshonov
IMDb score:
6,9 (12.264)
Releasedate: 24 September 2009
Lebanon plot
Lebanon, 1982. A tank and a platoon of paramilitaries are dispatched to a hostile city bombed by the Israeli air force. The mission goes awry and they are ambushed. When night falls, they are forced to hide in the ruins while they are attacked by Syrian soldiers. We see the story from the perspective of the crew members of the tank that is central to the film.
Actors and actresses
Herzel
Yigal
Shmulik
Asi
Gamil
Lebanese Mother
Syrian Captive
1st Phalangist
2nd Phalangist
Reviews & comments
Lovelyboy
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- 3906 messages
- 2920 votes
Purchased many years ago on the gamble after a good story, the world continues on about the film and the history of the director who was himself a tank gunner in the battle against Lebanon. And that is clearly noticeable in the manner of camera work and the contradiction of conscience brought in the militia's seat.
The film has few formal introductions and immediately we find ourselves in the stuffy and claustrophobic atmosphere of the cramped tank. As said, the first trump card is immediately played with the doubter and man with conscience Shmuel on the gunner's seat. A first hesitation immediately leaves no room for mistakes, after which mistake after mistake piles up and with it also horror after horror, with the chicken farmer as the first highlight. As if looking through a magnifying glass, everything is viewed magnified through the visor, an aversion that always builds up along with the viewer along with the tension in the tank.
It is interestingly played with the isolation one finds in a tank, you are dependent on each other and except through your peephole you have no idea what is happening outside. In addition to being armored, the tank is a large and unmissable target. You're on the battlefield, but actually you could be looking optically and in terms of engagement at a screen of a drone 2000 miles away, unfortunately for the gents, they're right in the middle of it with the RPG hit, capture and disgusting threats of the Falangist as the culmination in that area. The hatred and terror affects all, the prisoner flips understandably and convincingly.
Lebanon especially hits the mark for its beautiful and modest playing time, often very nice cinematography, the shots around the RPG are fantastic, and the film more than perfectly shows the claustrophobia of such an object but also the tension and responsibilities of the four young crew members . Lebanon is a great film in my opinion.
Translated from Dutch · View original
JJ_D
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- 3815 messages
- 1344 votes
War? A handful of young boys in a tin can - called a tank. Nothing more nothing less.
Why war? They hardly know themselves – who were they fighting again? Syrians, Christians, Muslims...say, hadn't we invaded Lebanon?
Right, the viewer gets as little introduction as the characters. A war, a tank, a mission – stripped of every usefulness, every sense, every moral justification. Just do it guys!
Well...
The result is claustrophobic cinema, portrayed by director Samuel Maoz with an eye for aesthetics. The metaphor of a tank in the middle of a field full of sunflowers - contradictions are rarely so beautiful and so painful at the same time. It's just a pity that he endlessly repeats his cinematographic tricks: portraits in close-up, accentuating the lack of clarity of the action, the dripping soapy water along the walls of the tank, ... He also repeats himself plot-wise: yet another shooting, the immaturity of the characters. the basis of their stories, their questions, their bickering… you've seen it after an hour.
All in all, meritorious, but too long, too one-sided, and perhaps also too conceptual. Give me cinema that extensively documents the roots and course of the Israel-Lebanon War – genre (to go into hiding elsewhere in the Middle East) 'Syriana'. In short, rather the macroscopic view presented with some individual psychology, than the claustrophobic microscope of a tin can. De gustibus et coloribus, surely?
2.75*
Translated from Dutch · View original
Fisico
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- 10039 messages
- 5398 votes
In itself a fine film in which the war events were taken completely from the perspective of the tank crew. Although I was not completely convinced by the film. Although they wanted to achieve the claustrophobic effect, I rarely had the feeling that I was looking at an oppressive atmosphere. Also the how and why or the purpose of the war/operation was not entirely clear to me or was explained much too vaguely. The plot is non-existent and that does not help the involvement.
Still, the camera work is decent and there is visually something to experience. The fact that the periscope regularly looked for danger or even ventured into voyeurism worked well. But it never really got interesting. Just loose patches without cohesion.
Now, the fact that the crew members also had little information is not always strange in a war mission, especially when you are patrolling somewhere and don't know what or where in a skirmish. However, it didn't grab enough to really make an impression.
Translated from Dutch · View originalLatest News
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