Lebanon: Blu-ray (2009)

While there have been hundreds of first hand accounts of war mad into films over the years, very few feel as personal as Lebanon. Writer/director Samuel Maoz has been carrying around memories of his experiences in the 1982 Lebanon War and finally found the perfect outlet to release them.

Lebanon is a very small scale film that takes place entirely in the confines of a tank. There are four young Lebanese Solders inside, all with varying degrees of combat experience and differing personalities. The physical and emotional toll that their war experience takes on them is both harrowing and profound.

While the ground the Lebanon covers is nothing new, the skill and heart it covers it with more than makes for any shared experiences with past films. The four main actors and the few others who play supporting roles all nail their performances. There's a wide range of emotions that each character goes through and the actors all ring true. It's easy to tell that Moaz has a personal relationship with his film. The characters are fully developed people and there's obviously a lot of care that went into them. While the characters are the main draw of Lebanon, the technical skill that comes with filming entirely inside a tank is impressive as well. The sense of claustrophobia is ever present and only adds to the unusual circumstances and the character reactions.

The blu ray features a fantastic transfer. While there's not all that much going on visually since every scene is either a shot of inside the tank or through the gunsight, what is shown comes across very well in high def. The color scheme is basically just greens and blacks but there is no crushing going on and detail is excellent. The audio track is about as good as it gets. There are numerous battle scened depicted in Lebanon and since you can't visually see what is going on it's very important for the audio to give you the idea of what it's like in the tank. Surround usage, directionality and low end are all fantastic and dialogue is never lost in the shuffle. The quieter scenes use are just as good, the creaks and moans of the tank add a lot of atmosphere to the experience. This is the kind of small scale movie a good audio track can really make or break and thankfully it only adds to the experience in Lebanon.

I haven't seen too many war films that have this level of personal touch. Living with memories of things that happened while serving your country (no matter what country it is) can be a painful experience. Lebanon not only works as a release for Moez, it's a fantastic character study of men placed in an unusual circumstance and their reactions to those events. Anyone who is a fan of war films that work on a human level more than just as a bombastic visual experience are highly encouraged to rent Lebanon.

Ratings:

Movie: 4.5
Blu-ray: 4.5