Lebanon

Writer/director Samuel Maoz brings his own personal experiences of the First Lebanon War to this film.

I think by sheer co-incidence film makers at the moment are using the idea of small cramped locations to make their films cheaper. 'Buried' takes that idea to the extreme and 'Lebanon' get a bit more room. But just focusing on four guys in a tank is amazingly utilised by Samuel. It is most effective when giving perspective to what is happening outside the tank. We only see what is happening through the view finder of the gun site for the tank's cannon. It makes things very limiting and can confuse you. We are very disoriented by the way the camera moves and uses zooms to focus in on certain things. You never know how far you really are from things. This is an excellent way of creating tension for the audience as it means things can come into frame unexpectedly. There is one scene which is incredibly heartbreaking because of this perspective. The close quarters of the tank means the we focus our attention on these characters and get to feel their fear. These are young men who have been thrust into war, supposedly against their wishes and so you feel their fear.

All the cast are excellent and very effective in their roles. Yoav Donat sort of leads the action as the gunner because he controls the view we see outside the tank. He also controls the gun so we feel his emotions the most. Itay Tiran is effective as the reluctant leader who must keep the boys together despite the horrible situation they are in.

An excellent film that is highly recommended. It gives you a unique and very different perspective of war.