Lebanon (2009)

I'm surprised that the Israelis don't make more war films, they would probably have plenty of real life stories to tell. Lebanon is an example of personal experience combined with fine filmmaking. Writer/director Samuel Maoz based the film on his time as a Tank Gunner and was one of the first to fight in the First Lebanon War. The film is shot almost completely inside a small tank with four inexperienced crewmen. Rather than the usual cliché of the men failing at first and then pulling together in the end this tank is never good at anything. From the start this crew are awful, working mainly as a road-block rather than a weapon and are used to carry a dead paratrooper and then a prisoner by the paratrooper commander, who though he never says so, seems to dislike the crew and the crew don't trust each other. The film is more of an experiment in style rather than a plot based story. Roger Ebert called it "an immersive war-movie experience like "The Hurt Locker," but turned inside out. Or, perhaps more accurately, outside in." The Hurt Locker was a very fast and mobile while Lebanon is slow and confined. The acting and writing allow the audience to get inside the small casts minds and Maoz keeps the tension going until finally letting go with an ambiguous ending that may require further study. I did not particularly enjoy Lebanon as it is morbid, claustrophobic and gruelling, but war films are not supposed to be like that. They are meant to be experienced, not enjoyed.