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Lebanon

Levanone

Israel

2009

90 Min
Color
Hebrew
  • Currently 3.6/5 Stars.
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1 View

DIR Samuel Maoz

CAST Raymonde Amsalem, Oshri Cohen, Yoav Donat, Michael Moshonov, Zohar Strauss

Toronto (Visions), Venice (Competition): Golden Lion, London (Film on the Square), New York, São Paulo

Synopsis

The First Lebanon War – June, 1982. A lone tank is dispatched to search a hostile town that has already been bombarded by the Israel Air Force. What seems to be a simple mission gets gradually out of control and turns into a death trap, a shivering nightmare. Shmuel the gunner, Assi the commander, Herzl the loader and Yigal the driver are the tank’s crew. Four boys aged 20 plus who are operating a killing machine. They are not fighters, eager for battle, conquest or self-sacrifice. Entangled in the absurd and unfair war nets they are terrified to death by its horrors. They’re brave kids losing their innocence in the most brutal way and being mentally destroyed. A sharp basic instinct will push them to the limits as they struggle hard to survive in a situation they cannot contain anymore, desperately trying not to lose their humanity amid the chaos of war. Lebanon is a personal film, a film about four boys who had never been involved in anything violent before and found themselves killing people, A film about survival against a
palpable threat of death, a situation in which the conflict between their basic instincts and human conscious claims its victims.

Read the review from The Hollywood Reporter here .
Read the review from Variety here .
Read the review from Screen Daily here .

Wall

Displaying 4 of 5 wall posts.
Picture of Ryan Borja

Ryan Borja

7Feb10

Based on the video trailer I watched earlier, this looks like an interesting and strong film. The images are riveting and powerful enough to stir one to be critical about futility of war. Obviously, war has been tackled very commonly in films, so the bigger question is whether we need another war film to teach us about the atrocities of gun battle.  

myasz

4Feb10

My dick against her belly  
Picture of john L

john L

4Nov09

I will take back every negative thing I wrote about this if the filmmakers agree to my one clause: rename it THE CRYING DONKEY.  

Daniel Caron

21Oct09

All the ironic flourishes sabotage the film's intended experiential effect and give it an overwrought feel. Nevertheless, the first half hour, which illustrates the horror and confusion of war, packs a real emotional wallop.  

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Articles

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Veniceleblion184

The Auteurs Daily: Venice. Lions

By David Hudson on September 12, 2009
Updated through 9/13. The Venezia 66 Jury, headed up by Ang Lee, has awarded the Golden Lion to Samuel Maoz's Lebanon; here's the roundup of reviews so far.
read article
Venicelebanon184

The Auteurs Daily: Venice, Toronto and NYFF. Lebanon

By David Hudson on September 9, 2009
Updated through 10/13. "Visceral, torn-from-the-memory filmmaking that packs every punch except one to the heart, Lebanon is the boldest and best of the recent mini-wave of Israeli pics (Beaufort
read article
310809lourdes184

The Auteurs Daily: Anticipation

By David Hudson on August 31, 2009
Last day of August, and not a moment too soon. While others sort out the implications of Disney's acquisition of Marvel (have at it, folks), we're anxiously awaiting the more or less official beginning
read article

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Reviews

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Untitled

By CJ Roy on October 14, 2009

Excellent idea but a very uneven execution.

In the beginning the director seems to want to startle you with the horrors of war, all of which are cliched and do not effect you like they are meant…  read review

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