VIFF 2009 | Lebanon at Schema : more than ethnic

VIFF 2009 | Lebanon

Lebanon
Israel, 2009, 92min
DIR Samuel Maoz

June 1982. The first Lebanon War. From inside a dank and dirty tank, four young Israeli soldiers set out to reconnoiter a town in "enemy" territory. As you accompany them on a mission which becomes increasingly absurd in its futility, this film puts you through the emotional wringer. You feel like you are right there in the tank with these four soldiers, experiencing the physical and psychological trauma of war. That intense trauma engulfs you for 92 minutes - uninterrupted save for a hilarious five-minute comedic interlude wherein one soldier recounts the story of an embarrassing eleventh-grade hard-on.

This film is sophisticatedly handled, showing the horrors of war both for those under attack and for those doing the attacking. It highlights the innocence of the four young soldiers in the tank, who have been forced into battle and have had the brutality of war thrust upon them against their will. While they try to maintain a show of machismo throughout, by the end of the film they are just little boys calling out for their mommies.

Especially interesting is the way director Maoz portrays the soldiers' internal conflicts between brutality and compassion, not only as directed toward their "enemies", but also as directed toward one another. This is an absurd situation in which one is almost forced to be cruel - even to those on one's own side - in order to survive.

Despite the somewhat claustrophobic experience of being cooped up with these soldiers in a tank for the better part of 92 minutes, there are some aesthetically gorgeous moments in this film. The camera follows the gaze of the gunman in the tank as he stares, for example, into the eye of a dying donkey and lingers on its languid look. Between its emotional and psychological intensity, and its striking visual details, Lebanon is a powerful piece of cinema that will stay with you long after you've left the theatre.

Schema Magazine's coverage of VIFF 2009 is sponsored by the Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival