Released to general acclaim, if some controversy, Lebanon: The Soldier’s Journey sees Israeli writer-director Samuel Maoz adapt his real life experiences during the First Lebanon War into a visceral drama. On June of 1982, the Israeli Defence Force roll their tanks into Lebanon. Maoz wastes no time and opens the film with gunner Schmulik (Yoav Donat) climbing inside his tank and swiftly introduced to his fellow crewmen: Assi (Itay Tiran) the ostensible commander, Herzl (Oshri Cohen) the loader, and Yigal (Michael Moshkonov) the driver. Their ensuing claustrophobic terror is rendered in grimly authentic detail, making this somewhat akin to Das Boot (1981) on wheels with much of the action shown through the gun-sight from Schmulik’s point of view. He sees the fear in his first target’s eyes and can’t bring himself to shoot. Their second victim is merely an innocent farmer, blown apart and left screaming “Salaam, salaam!” (“Peace, peace!”) on the road, surrounded by clucking chickens till troops end his misery.
Maoz has a great eye for arresting, profoundly unsettling visuals: a bullet ridden donkey lies weeping, feebly half-alive on the roadside. The tank crew ride past shell-shocked civilians sitting beside dead friends they were conversing with only minutes before. The enemy use Lebanese families as human shields. A grief-stricken woman has her dress catch fire and then wanders sobbing, humiliatingly naked past the Israeli soldiers. The kicker arrives midway when the Israelis realise they have veered way off course into Syria, whereupon they have to rely on two frankly suspicious “phalangist” allies to guide them through the dark, dangerous streets while carrying a captive Syrian soldier.
Winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, where its portrayal of frightened, conflicted Israeli soldiers drew criticism from the likes of Ken Loach, Lebanon admittedly dodges the ethical quandaries underlining the Lebanese war. What Moaz presents is merely the immediate situation - four brave, but decent guys caught in an horrific situation who just want to make it home - rendered in a powerful you-are-there style that rubs our noses in horror till we’re almost as nauseas as the combatants are. In that sense, regardless of politics and though one could never label this one-dimensional, the film is not all that dissimilar from an old-fashioned war drama like Memphis Belle (1990). However, Maoz experience means the tone is far from gung-ho or sentimental and the Lebanese citizens are clearly painted to be the victims here. Recognising the complexity of this conflict about the only moment of compassion is when a shell-shocked Assi helps the captive Syrian urinate. Lebanon is not a detailed examination but a harrowing snapshot of a nightmarish war.
