Set completely inside the tank, LEBANON, writer/director Samuel Moaz’s own experiences, tells the very personal story of these four young soldiers in the first 24 hours of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, known as the First Lebanon War…
The year is 1982 and four young Israeli men in a tank find themselves in a real conflict zone for the first time, and are forced to put their army training to the ultimate test in the face of horror they could not have imagined.
Set completely inside the tank, LEBANON, an autobiographical account of writer/director Samuel Moaz’s own experiences, tells the very personal story of these four young soldiers in the first 24 hours of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, known as the First Lebanon War.
New to war and to each other, the mood initially is one of curiosity, some excitement for what lies ahead, and a degree of annoyance from the Herzl, the ammunition loader, that this mission might delay his scheduled discharge. When the tank is ordered to search a town that has already been bombed by the Israeli air force, it seems that they have been given a rather straightforward assignment, but all too quickly, the situation becomes messy. Is the man driving the approaching truck a threat, or merely trying to transport his chickens to another destination?
Nothing is certain, and it is in these heated moments when the true characters of these young men emerge. We see Shmuel, the gunner (and the character who represents director Samuel Maoz), with plenty of experience shooting practice targets, paralyzed with fear when he has to pull the trigger for real. And Assi, the commander with something to prove, enters an almost delusional state when he tries to control the uncontrollable. When this first 24 hours in combat draws to its terrifying climax for these soldiers, will they make it through with their lives and humanity intact?
This is a graphic and unrelenting film, and if we ever needed another reminder of the horrors of war, this could be it – but the question is: do we actually need it? In this age of WikiLeaks, when real accounts of the atrocities that have taken place during the current war in Iraq, including the extent of civilian casualties and documented cases of torture, are freely available throughout the mainstream media, how can drama be any more compelling than the truth?
In order to stand out to an audience already saturated with information and images of war, LEBANON needs to give us a different perspective, to offer us a new way of thinking about how war impacts those involved. On this score the film seems to fall short, relying on a heavy tone and endless scenes of graphic violence. It seems the intent was to shock viewers into some kind of realization, but the film in fact runs the risk of its audience shutting down or becoming cold to the incessant horrors on the screen.
A film that offers something quite different on the same 1982 conflict in Lebanon is Ari Folman’s autobiographical animated film Waltz With Bashir. Where LEBANON is disturbing, Waltz With Bashir is moving, with a beauty and tenderness that LEBANON is lacking.
The claustrophobic setting of the film inside the tank brings its own challenges. While clearly succeeding in its aim of providing a very personal and subjective account of the war – you could almost feel the tension and heat within this small, enclosed space – this perspective makes it very difficult to acknowledge and understand the many different sides to this conflict. As such, this device of a single perspective feels really restricted when considering the anti-war stance of the film – how can you resolve conflict if you don’t attempt to understand anyone else’s point of view.
LEBANON was certainly gripping and captured very effectively what it would have been like to be inside that tank and experiencing war for the first time. Overall however, the restrictive single perspective on the conflict and the literal and unrelentingly grim telling of the story didn’t go far enough to satisfy an audience seeking something new from a war film.
by Rosie Hole, 27 October 2010.
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