Lebanon [Blu-ray]

Director: Samuel Maoz Samuel Maoz

Overview

A handful of soldiers take a claustrophobic journey into the heart of war in this drama from Israeli writer and director Samuel Maoz. It's June 1982, and Israel is launching an invasion of Lebanon. Four men assigned to take part in the first strike are put on the same tank detail -- Assi (Itay Tiran) is the commanding officer, Shmulik (Yoav Donat) is a gunner new to the outfit, Hertzel (Oshri Cohen) keeps the weapons loaded, and Yigal (Michael Moshonov) drives the machine. After being given their orders by Jamil (Zohar Strauss), the men set out toward the Lebanese border, recognizing little of what goes on outside beyond what can be seen through Yigal's tiny window; they occasionally stop to help fellow Israelis hurt in battle, but for the most part, they roll relentlessly onward, occasionally arguing amongst themselves, until they arrive at their destination, a town already bombed into rubble by the Israeli Air Force. Few of their allies remain in the city, putting the soldiers in a perilous situation when a band of Syrian resistance fighters lays siege to the tank. Levanone (aka Lebanon) was an official selection at the 2009 Venice International Film Festival.

Product Details

Release Date:	01/18/2011
UPC:	0043396368989
Original Release:	2009
Rating:	R
Source:	SONY PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMT
Language:	English
Time:	1:33:00
Sales rank:	34,412

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Yoav Donat	Shmulik
Itay Tiran	Assi
Oshri Cohen	Hertzel
Zohar Strauss	Jamil
Ashraf Barhom	Phalangist Member,Actor
Reymonde Amsellem	Lebanese Mother
Dudu Tassa	Syrian Captive
Benoit Delbecq	Performer
Michael Moshonov	Yigal
Zohar Shtrauss	Actor
Reymond Reymond Amsalem	Actor
Nicolas Becker	Composer

Technical Credits

Samuel Maoz

Samuel Maoz	Director,Screenwriter
Ilan Girard	Producer,Producer
Leon Edery	Producer,Producer
Sonja Ewers	Producer
Benjamina Mirnik	Producer
David Silber	Producer
Uri Sabag	Producer
Einat Bikel	Producer
Gill Sassover	Executive Producer
Pini Klavir	Special Effects
Hila Yuval	Casting
Dima Osmolovski	Stunts
Rol Mano	Key Grip
David Liss	Sound Mixer
Alex Claude	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

Taking its most obvious inspiration from Wolfgang Petersen's Das Boot, Samuel Maoz' Lebanon also fits in thematically with a number of contemporary films featuring men confined to small spaces, such as 127 Hours and Buried. Lebanon may not rely on claustrophobia as a source of tension to the extent those films do, but it compensates with the tension of the battlefield, as four Israeli soldiers witness/participate in the June 1982 invasion of Lebanon from the deceptive safety of their tank. What makes the tank interesting as the space of their confinement, similar to the submarine in Das Boot, is that it's simultaneously secure and vulnerable; secure in the sense that thick armor encases the men, but vulnerable in the sense that it's slow and has nowhere to hide other than its own protective shell. Maoz' decision to keep all the action inside the tank is a smart one, as it emphasizes the men's sense of removal -- both physical and emotional -- from the violence and chaos of the rubble-strewn streets a few short feet away. It's clear that the confusion and their separation from the events outside has the tendency to cloud their judgment, but Maoz doesn't intend to fault the men for this disconnect -- in fact, he spends down moments in the action on stories they tell each other, which reinforce their temporarily blunted humanity. As important as their interactions with potential targets are their interactions with each other, the bread and butter of movies where characters must share the same set of extreme circumstances. Lebanon may not constitute the most profound examination of those dynamics, and its messages about war are nothing new. However, the whole thing is a tight, watchable package, with just enough delight and just enough absurdity to remind us that everyone involved is merely human.