Lebanon (2009)

i must have seen a different film!!

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

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

Blistering performances.

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.

It's June 1982. Israeli forces have invaded Lebanon. The tank's crew is inexperienced and scared. The gunner gets gun shy and troops are killed by gunmen. He then shoots a seemingly innocent man. They encounter a Christian family taken hostage by gunmen and violence ensues. They are hit by a RPG and survive. The Syrian soldier is injured and taken prisoner inside the tank. The tank struggles with malfunctions as they try to survive their mission.This crew is very unprofessional. I can buy that for an army of conscripts. However, it doesn't allow the characters to change over time. They are all incompetent to varying degrees. It feels monotone like one long diatribe. This takes place almost entirely inside the tank. Scenes outside the tank is seen through the targeting sights. The problem there is that it forces the sights to look at the Israeli soldiers or just the section where the action happens. The camera works to make sure you get the point. To put a button on a point, it centers the gun-sight on a picture of the Madonna a second time. It feels fake especially since everybody looks directly at the camera. It's a way for the filmmaker to plead to the audience. This is not a subtle movie. There is a lot of eye work. There has never been more close ups to the eyes. One thing that this movie is great at is to be claustrophobic. The closed setting does limit the actor's movement. It's an interesting idea for an anti-war movie.

A low budget Israeli war movie, 'Lebanon' tells the story of a tank crew, but we hardly ever see the outside of the tank. At times, the continual world-view-by-periscope seems a bit gimmicky, although one suspects the main rationale for the narrow focus is not artistic but financial. It does help maintain the claustrophobic atmosphere, and the central section of the film fizzes with tension. But the most horrific moments derive from the presence of a cartoonish villain, and the centrepiece of the story - about ordinary men conscripted into the role of soldier for which they are ill-prepared psychologically - lacks the subtlety, context and heart of the sublime 'Waltz with Bashir', which of course bypassed the costs of recreating a war by the use of animation as a medium. That film is great - this one has some merit, but won't really tell you anything you don't already know.

ihrtfilms did a lovely job reviewing this film and I agree with every word. MY additional comments are based on the fact that I am a VERY nit-picky person when watching a film. I drive people nuts when I point out faults in this or that. With that being said, I can SEE where some might find fault with some of the particular errors in this film (i.e. the lack of helmets) but to be truthful, though I am ONE OF THEM, I was so caught up in the intensity of this film, I didn't even notice the irregularities.This film IS intense and very well acted. I literally was on the edge of the couch I usually lay back on while watching movies and it takes a fair amount to get me on that edge.Lebanon may not be perfect, but it's perfectly good. I could find no fault with it and didn't even try. It sucks you in from the minute it starts. The very fact that you NEVER LEAVE THE TANK is amazing. If you are even remotely claustrophobic, maybe you shouldn't watch this movie. You might be in your own home in a spacious room with windows and everything, but once you get into this movie, you feel like you're with the crew and they won't let you out until the end.I won't say more primarily because, as simple as the story line is, it's a complex movie and to say much, would say TOO much.