Lebanon (2009)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Absolutely brilliant

it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

IAM AN ANTI-WAR MOVIE IAM AN ANTI-WAR MOVIE IAM AN ANTI-WAR MOVIE Well, the idea, the plot and setting had potential but failed - an anti-war-movie with (of course) good intentions but doing too many things wrong - some examples: the tank crew is able to hear the talking outside, the gunner is most of the time just looking in the close surroundings, (his aiming device is used as the camera- perspective for the outside) and he looks a lot into faces and dead bodies in close- ups (looong shots), which a real tank gunner who wants to stay alive would never do - in combination with ground troops he would look out for enemies in the mid- to the far range and not in close range (many times - even with zoom - the gunner just looks some yards ahead, which is really annoying because totally unrealistic: e.g. he watches the BACK of his comrades outside and how they proceed instead of watching the surroundings - therefore the idea of getting the outside world only through the perspectives of the gunner, driver devices etc. backfires heavily). Many pictures just scream (esp. the close-up into all those pain-torn faces - the woman, at least the director took the chance to show us some boobs ;)) - I am an anti-war movie, war is bad, war is cruel, lalala, to an extent that it is just getting ridiculous. Ofc a movie can or should have some message but maybe it shouldn't scream it out so loud one gets deaf by it (to the message). On top we get bored by watching the tank-crew endless debating and arguing over and over (soap-opera like). Verdict: at most an one-timer but imo far too artificial and unbelievable to be a good (anti-)war movie and a waste of a potentially good story/idea. Some directors should maybe watch a lot of the stuff on YouTube troopers in real combat publish from their helm-cams etc., before doing such an endeavor, or at least analyze the best movies of the genre. A movie the p.c.-crowd ofc tends to celebrate and decorate with awards. Myself had to use the last 20 minutes the skip button generously just to get the movie finished.

The story told is set during Israel's 1982 war in Lebanon. It is filmed entirely inside an Israeli tank placing us amongst the claustrophobic restrictions and imprisonment that would be experienced by the crew.Young, inexperienced Israeli conscripts operate the tank and find it hard to deal with the horror of war. They witness the carnage wreaked upon many Lebanese civilians and the immoral, brutality of aspects of the Lebanese militia. The soldiers experience the fear of war as their tank becomes stranded in hostile territory. The director took part in the war and the film is therefore semi-autobiographical.

Some things are a bit artificial and take away from the experience in a bid to make it more "fine art" sort of film - overly long shots of sunflower fields, close-ups on actors' eyes, etc.The story and characters are a bit typical like the weak commander, mistakes and poor judgement in battle or death of a character in a specially tragic or sensitive moment. There is essentially no story or character development. The little there is, was already done in "Beaufort" two years prior.One should abstract oneself from any political context when viewing this film and judge it for what it is. However, the sensitivity of the topic has obviously contributed to the film's acclaim.Great work by virtually all of the actors should be noted though. This could have been a much better film if the actors were given more space (in terms of plot and characters) to really shine.

a speech about war. and nothing else. different is only manner. few young men in a tank, in middle of war. a film about fragility and need of sense. about fear, errors and darkness. about errors. the experience of director is basis for this film who can be a poem or only a form of warning.exposure of humanity - this is its virtue. the place can be Lebanon, Irak, maybe Coreea. it is a different picture about war. and about its values. almost sentimental, in womb of vehicle,about an unknown world. not politic, not demonstration. only young actors and theirs good performance. so, must see it ! not for prizes or for action. only for a state of soul after its end.