| Lebanon | |
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| Directed by | Samuel Maoz |
| Produced by | Uri Sabag Einat Bikel |
| Written by | Samuel Maoz |
| Starring | Oshri Cohen Itay Tiran |
| Music by | Alex Claude, David Liss |
| Cinematography | Giora Bejach |
| Editing by | Arik Leibovitch |
| Release date(s) | September, 2009 |
| Running time | 90 minutes |
| Country | Israel |
| Language | Hebrew |
Lebanon is an Israeli war film directed by Samuel Maoz. It won the Leone d'Oro at the 66th Venice International Film Festival,[1] becoming the first Israeli-produced film to have won that honour. The film has not yet had a wide release.[2] In Israel itself the film has invited controversy.[2] The film was nominated for 10 Ophir Awards, including Best Film.
Maoz based the film on his adventures as a young Israeli conscript during the war with Lebanon in 1982.[3] It has been described as an anti-war movie by British newspaper The Guardian.[2]
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The film depicts the inside of a tank, and the view from inside through the gunsight (every change in the viewing direction is accompanied by the noise of turning the gun). There are four Israeli soldiers inside, and part of the time also the body of a dead Israeli soldier (kept there until it is taken away by helicopter), a Syrian POW, a visiting higher officer, and a visiting Phalangist (Christian Arab fighting on the Israeli side) who threatens the POW.
The duty of the soldiers is to attempt to rescue a group of paratroopers under siege in an urban setting from Syrian troops.[4] They are instructed to use phosphorous grenades that are forbidden by international treaty, but to use a code word for them, to conceal their use.
The gunman has never fired a grenade in a war situation, and is hesitant at first. The soldiers have to cope with the deteriorating state of the tank, the heat, bad atmosphere and small space inside, occasional failure of the communication equipment, navigational problems, and mutual quarrels.
After winning the Golden Lion at the 66th Venice International Film Festival, Maoz said: "I dedicate this award to the thousands of people all over the world who, like me, come back from war safe and sound. Apparently they are fine, they work, get married, have children. But inside the memory will remain stabbed in their soul."[4]
Maoz, when speaking to the The Observer stated that he opposes the Israel-related protest call at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival: "The point of a film like mine is to open a dialogue, to get people talking to each other about important issues. This is something you can't do if films are boycotted. It makes no sense to boycott art. Maybe I wouldn't have won if Jane Fonda was on the jury, but she wasn't."[2] (Note that the open letter at the center of the protest against the spotlighting of Tel Aviv did not call for a boycott of the festival or any of its films.[5][6])
The Guardian described it as a "controversial choice", noting that some commentators in Israel have "raised concerns that the film will deter young men from volunteering for the army."[2] The Golden Lion is the highest award given to an Israeli film to date.[2] Maoz says many Israeli figures were against Lebanon even being featured at the Venice International Film Festival.[2] The Venice jury was chaired by Ang Lee, who had won the Golden Lion award in Venice in 2005 with Brokeback Mountain and in 2007 with Lust, Caution.[7] Lebanon competed against 24 other entries.[8] The win in Venice caused a boost in the film's popularity at the Toronto International Film Festival.[9]
The New York Times described Lebanon as "an astonishing piece of cinema".[3] That newspaper also describes it as "graphically violent".[4] Variety magazine said Lebanon is "the boldest and best" of recent Israeli films based upon the Lebanon wars.[4][7]
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