X
- 2010
- R
- Sony Pictures Classics
- 1 h 33 m
- 2010
- R
- Sony Pictures Classics
- 1 h 33 m
Summary June, 1982 - The First Lebanon War. A lone tank and a paratroopers platoon are dispatched to search a hostile town - a simple mission that turns into a nightmare. The four members of a tank crew find themselves in a violent situation that they cannot contain. Motivated by fear and the basic instinct of survival, they desperately try not ...
Directed By: Samuel Maoz
Written By: Samuel Maoz
- 2010
- R
- Sony Pictures Classics
- 1 h 33 m
- 2010
- R
- Sony Pictures Classics
- 1 h 33 m
Lebanon
6.4
Where to Watch
Summary June, 1982 - The First Lebanon War. A lone tank and a paratroopers platoon are dispatched to search a hostile town - a simple mission that turns into a nightmare. The four members of a tank crew find themselves in a violent situation that they cannot contain. Motivated by fear and the basic instinct of survival, they desperately try not ...
Directed By: Samuel Maoz
Written By: Samuel Maoz
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 28 Critic Reviews
85
89% Positive
25 Reviews
25 Reviews
11% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 28 Critic Reviews
85
89% Positive
25 Reviews
25 Reviews
11% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Offers a view of war that is anything but epic. Instead of sweeping battles and swooping fighter planes, in Lebanon we are brought into the impossibly claustrophobic world of a lone tank crew.
Lebanon is not just the name of an excellent new Israeli film, it signifies a continuing national obsession that shows no signs of going away.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 37 User Ratings
6.4
62% Positive
23 Ratings
23 Ratings
19% Mixed
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
19% Negative
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 37 User Ratings
6.4
62% Positive
23 Ratings
23 Ratings
19% Mixed
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
19% Negative
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
It's oddly refreshing to see a war story where the combatants are not these seasoned, fearless, war heroes who eat grenades and kill people with throwing knives 4 miles away. This movie will not so gently remind you that war is fought by kids who are often in an army they don't want to be in, following orders they don't understand (or believe in), killing people they don't know, and dying for people who will never come face to face with the enemy. The clumsiness of the movie, and the seeming lack of direction only exemplifies the confusion of men who are not given clear orders, a clear map, or a clear objective. They are lost and confused, just like any of you would be in a situation so obscure and foreign. The director's (or producer's) choice to film this ONLY through the eyes of the men in the tank is brilliant. Watch it! And think about it.
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Really an outstanding presentation of war and the sudden moment when human skin is seen as either filthy or absolutely clean (I know I'm being obscure, but see the movie). Unfortunately it lasted only one week here in Naples, FL - so grab it when it comes through town - it won't last long, unlike the conflict it portrays.
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Not just the year's most impressive first feature but also the strongest new movie of any kind I've seen in 2010.
Harrowing and grueling, Lebanon ends on a gentle, hopeful note.
There's a soap opera going on inside that tin can with a cannon.
The movie ends powerfully, with a sudden pileup of fright, death and a disconcerting glimpse of beauty. If Lebanon's goal is to keep the viewer on edge and off balance, its final minutes are exemplary.
The film's visceral assault extends to the sledgehammer script, an amassment of unsubtle ironies and war-is-hell clichés that often reduce it to an amateurish theatrical stunt.
Ganadora del Leon de Oro en Venecia 2009, la opera prima de ficción del casi cuarentón Samuel Maoz, es una intensa y claustrofóbica cinta bÃlica cuya acción ocurre, casi en toda la hora y media de duración de la pelÃcula, en el interior de un chirriante, caluroso, asfixiante, tanque de guerra. De hecho, cuando la cámara se digna ver hacia el exterior, lo hace precisamente sólo a travÃs de los ojos de los personajes que ven a travÃs de la mira del tanque. Lo que ven ellos es lo que vemos nosotros y no es nada agradable: destrucción, violencia, caos y muertos. Muchos muertos: cadáveres, cadáveres y más cadáveres.
El interior, filmado por Giora Bejach, no es más alentador: se trata de una interminable sucesión de primeros planos en la que no vemos más que rostros deformados por el miedo, el horror, la ira, el desconcierto. El tanque, además, parece tener vida propia: los sonidos del aparato no cesan, el aceite gotea continuamente, el vapor sale de todos los rincones... A ratos parece que estamos en un filme de horror y no en uno de guerra. ¿O será que la guerra es el único, autÃntico, horror?
La cinta inicia el 6 de junio de 1982, el primer dÃa de la guerra en LÃbano. En el tanque de marras van cuatro soldados con nula experiencia bÃlica: el comandante Assi, el conductor Yigal, el disparador Schmulik y el renegado Hertzel. Ninguno de los cuatro sabe bien a bien lo que tienen que hacer, las órdenes recibidas por el radio son oscuras y las milicias falangistas que, se supone, están del lado suyo, muy pronto queda evidente que no podÃa interesarle menos la suerte de esos atemorizados veinteañeros que fungen como vÃctimas pero tambiÃn -y eso Maoz lo deja muy claro- como victimarios.
Maoz, veterano de esa guerra precisamente, ha realizado un filme bÃlico impresionante. En Ãl no hay heroicidad de ningún tipo porque es claro que nadie puede reclamar el papel de hÃroe en el interior de un temible monstruo de hierro como en el que avanzan los cuatro soldados. Pero aunque estuvieran afuera: la guerra es la misma, el horror es igual y la muerte los cubre a todos.
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A very claustrophobic feel is created by centring all of the action inside the tank. The only glimpses we have of the outside world is through the viewfinder on the tank
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If those four guys in the tank are representative of the typical IDF soldier, Israel must fear for its survival. They look at dead animals and start to cry. If I were one of those paratroopers, I would opt to walk BEHIND the tank, for fear the gunner would accidentally fire a **** me ! The problem with this move is: it is way too slow. There is too much reflection, it kills the intensity.
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Comparing this movie to "Full Metal Jacket" or "Platoon" is a travesty. This is a movie about taking 4 sissies and putting them in a tank. I was glad when it ended.
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Horrible horrible tankers.. As far as a film goes I may not know but I am a Combat Veteran (As a Ranger with 3rd Bn, not in a tank) and I know those guys were horrible as soldiers. The gunner should have been dragged out and shot in the head by his commander after he refused to fire at the first truck which cost the life of his fellow soldier. The entire crew cared only about themselves and nothing else. There was no loyalty, discipline, respect.. Nothing... The gunner looks at nothing but pictures and faces, does not scan the area, does not cover his unit, does nothing to protect the guys on the ground or even attempt to do his job. There is nothing but **** and whining all around and everyone in that tank never should have been in one to begin with. They all deserved to die and I say that because you either do your job and work together to get everyone home as best you can or you fail yourself and everyone around you by caring for nothing but yourself. It has nothing to do with politics or reasoning, just each other and they failed 100% when it came down to that simple fact.
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Production Company
ARTE,
Ariel Films,
Arsam International,
Israeli Film Fund,
Metro Communications,
Paralite,
Paralite,
Torus GmbH
Release Date Aug 6, 2010
Duration 1 h 33 m
Rating R
Awards
Awards of the Israeli Film Academy
• 4 Wins & 10 Nominations
European Film Awards
• 2 Wins & 6 Nominations
Venice Film Festival
• 3 Wins & 3 Nominations
