I've become obsessed. I have to talk about this with SOMEBODY. "Lebanon", the film.

[Aristus]

My previous post about the winner of the Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival sank like a rock. There is still so little about it on the net. I'm an ex-tanker, and this movie looks simply amazing. The entire film takes place inside the turret of an Israeli tank fighting in the invasion of Lebanon in 1982. I want to discuss it with someone...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvYCW1LVFIE

[Forkboy]

1. It looks outstanding, and I couldn't even understand a single word.

Hopefully it'll be available on DVD before too long. I'll definitely be checking it out.

[Aristus]

2. It hasn't even gone into general international release yet. I thought I deciphered enough of

the Hebrew text to glean that it will be in theaters in October. I called our local art house theater and left a message to call me if the screening committee has shown any interest in the film.

An interesting thing struck me watching the trailer: the use of "Okay" in Hebrew speech. It seems to be an international expression. I heard Germans using it a lot when I was stationed there in the Army.

[Aristus]

3. Kick.

How can such an amazing-looking film generate so little interest? Even after winning a major film award?

It just occurred to me: This Israeli-made anti-war film may help change perceptions about the Arab-Israeli conflict. That the Israelis are not just these plucky, determined people surrounded on all sides by aggressive hostile Arabs. That they can be (and have been) very reckless and irresponsible with their military power. That the Palestinians deserve a second look in their struggle to regain their homeland.

I hope it sparks a productive international debate on the subject.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

4. Have you seen "Waltz with Bashir"?..........

Animated film also taking place during the Lebanon War, 1982. Great film.

[Aristus]

5. I know it's by the same director, but I haven't seen it. I want to, though.

I know President Obama is at least nominally a supporter of AIPAC, but I'm hoping that in the current political climate, Israel's outrageous excesses in the name of national security will be examined more closely.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

9. Actually "Waltz" had a different director...........

It was directed by Ari Folman, who was an Israeli solder in Lebanon during the Sabra and Shatila massacre. The whole movie revolves around him trying to recover his memories of that time.

Seriously, I can't recommend this movie enough.

[Aristus]

11. I'll definitely take a look at it then.

I guess I confused director with subject matter. I saw both films mentioned together in many press releases. Thanks for the info. B-)

[jonnyblitz]

14. I have that one in my collection. I recommend it as well. nt

[Joe the Liberal]

6. It looks like it's going to be a great movie....

I wish they would have put translations in though.

[Aristus]

7. For U.S. theatrical and DVD release, there will undoubtedly be subtitles.

They might even dub it into English. But I doubt it. The market for dubbing has changed. The kind of viewers who will go to see a small art-house film like this usually don't mind subtitles. It beats an often comical dubbing job.

I love the music, too. I hope it's on the film soundtrack, and is not just a promotional "library track".

[Aristus]

8. Kick for the evening crowd.

:kick:

[Aristus]

10. I just realized something else that might be an error in the production design of the tank:

The interior is either unpainted, or painted a dark color. American tanks, and the captured Soviet tanks I've seen from the inside, have their interiors painted white, to maximize available light during buttoned up conditions. I can't imagine that Israeli Tank Corps policy is much different, but again, maybe the dark interior of the movie tank was a directorial decision for dramatic purposes...

[Aristus]

12. Yet one more possible technical goof: if that stuff that is constantly leaking into the turret

and the instrumentation is hydraulic fluid, then the production designers did it wrong. Until the advent of the Merkava in Israel, most Israeli tanks (and most Western tanks, as a matter of fact) used a hydraulic fluid that was bright red, and less viscous than the amber stuff you can see in the preview. We used to call it 'cherry juice.' It was highly volatile and, if the turret took a hit it the right spot, would vaporize instantly and inflict severe, possibly fatal burns on the crewmen. In the mid-eighties, most Western tanks started using hydraulic fluids that were much less dangerous, and were either amber or brown in color. Either way, that stuff in the preview just looks wrong...

[Forkboy]

13. I can't imagine what it's going to be like when you see the whole film.

:D

[Aristus]

15. I can't help it; this is my element.

There are a few films out there in which, even thought they made technical mistakes, my enjoyment of the film is not spoiled. "Gladiator" is the best example of this.

[Forkboy]

16. That's a good approach.

It's hard for any movie to be 100% accurate (for both practical and story purposes), but unless it's like the movie Pearl Harbor, where an Aegis cruiser is in the background, it's not a big deal.

[Aristus]

17. "Pearl Harbor" represents for me the greatest gap between my expectations for a film

and the fulfillment (or lack thereof) of those expectations after viewing the film. "Pearl Harbor" was absolutely awful; stupid, insipid, historically inaccurate, melodramatic, predictable and poorly acted. IMO, Josh Hartnett is one of the worst actors of all time. This film represents two and a half hours of my life that I'll never get back...

[MajorChode]

18. My son speaks Hebrew fluently

I'm sure it will be a good one to watch with him.

[Aristus]

19. Would it be too much trouble to provide an English transcript of the dialogue in the preview?

I know the basic narrative of the film, and one can glean from the scenes depicted the cause of the Israeli tankers' anguish. But I'd still like to know what they are saying.

Let me know how the viewing goes, Major. :patriot:

[MajorChode]

20. He should be coming over today or tomorrow, so I'll get him to take a look at it

[MajorChode]

21. OK, here's the basics

The main character apparently doesn't know the other guys very well and they are cobbled together as a tank crew. In the first part they are kind of getting to know each other. As he looks through the sight, he is saying to himself (as if he's writing home or in a diary) the date and that it's the first day of the war. As the hydraulic fluid drips, one soldier asks the other if he wishes it was over.

The film is based on a true story and it won 10 awards of some type. Most of the other text is names of the actors, etc.

[Aristus]

23. Thanks for taking the trouble. I appreciate it.

I'll tell you, the ad hoc nature of tank crews as depicted in the preview is certainly accurate. Ideally, crews are assigned a single tank with more or less permanent crewmates, but in actual practice, this almost never happens. Sometime you conduct a fire mission or a maneuver plan with whoever is available and jumps on board right before it kicks off. In under-strength units, I remember having to serve as a loader for as many as ten tanks doing live fire training. It can be very fatiguing. When I was in the Gulf, we kept our permanent crews pretty much intact, but that was just in training. I don't know what actual combat conditions would be like...

[MajorChode]

22. I found a review of the film which should give you a bit more information

http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117940974.html