Lebanon

While this is not a great film in terms of film-making (it is a bit rough and cheesy at times), it is an excellent concept film. Four Israeli soldiers are a tank group and are assigned to support an incursion into Lebanon during the Lebanese war. The entire film is shot inside the tank, with the only external information coming through the tank gun sight and communications system. The film is advertised as a "claustrophobic look at war". However, I did not find it claustrophobic at all. I found the intensity of human behavior and emotion during stress illuminating, particularly since three of the four tank team were not professional soldiers, but draft recruits filling out their civic Israeli duty. I found that it provided more of a commentary on war in general than on the Israeli-Lebanese war. Coupled with the recent Waltz with Bashir, these films are not interested in taking positions of right or wrong on specific military actions, but make their point imminently clear about the devilish nature of war.
4 stars (out of 5)