> Lebanon
3 stars (out of 5)
Director: Samuel Maoz
Cast: Yoav Donat, Itay Tiran, Oshri Cohen, Michael Moshonov, Zohar Shtrauss, Dudu Tassa, Ashraf Barhom
Rating: (R16)
There is a whole generation of Israelis whose coming of age coincided with a watershed moment in Israeli history, the 1982 invasion of Lebanon.
In Lebanon, writer-director Samuel Maoz deals with his own emotional trauma, 25 years after entering Lebanon in an Israeli tank.
Lebanon does not balk at portraying Israeli defence forces in a negative light. But Lebanon is no revisionist history; it is a bitterly bleak exorcism of personal demons and a caution on the peril of exposing impressionable minds to the horror of killing.
Shmulik, Assi, Hertzel and Yigal are 20-something soldiers thrown together in a combat situation they believe to be relatively benign, and told to steer the tank through Lebanese villages apparently destroyed by the air force.
Things begin to unravel almost immediately. With no personal space and sharing a can for a toilet, the scarcely prepared crew struggle. As sweat and grime slowly render their features unreadable, the hopelessness of their mission is laid bare.
From the opening frames, as our eyes become accustomed to the dark confines of the tank that will be our home for 90 minutes, barely a shard of light permeates the screen.
Maoz uses screen direction superbly, as his director of photography ekes out the emotional turmoil with exquisitely chosen angles and tight shots. Apart from glimpses through the tank's periscope, Lebanon's ultimate horror rests in its purposeful quest for disorientation that is just as likely to frustrate many viewers.
Best thing: The sound design, massive in parts but never overblown. In a set where darkness rules, the inspired use of accentuated real sounds is a delight for the senses.
Worst thing: The overwhelming claustrophobia of life in a septic tank.
See it with: No fear of dark spaces.
- Mark Orton
