Lebanon

During the 1982 First Lebanon War, an Israeli tank and its five soldiers named Herzel, Yigal, Shmulik, Asi and Gamil are sent into a hostile town to search for the enemy, depicted by Oshri Cohen, Michael Moshonov, Yoav Donat, Itay Tiran and Zohar Shtrauss. The mission unfolds almost entirely inside a cramped turret, where the crew battles heat, fear, and fatigue as the line between friend and foe blurs. Tensions rise as orders come under fire, civilians appear, and the men wrestle with what they are asked to do and what they believe. The film presents events in real time, with close camera work and spare dialogue that tighten the sense of claustrophobia. It quietly exposes the moral costs of war without tipping into conventional heroics.

Released in 2009, Lebanon is directed by Samuel Maoz. The film uses an original screenplay drawn from the director's own experiences during the 1982 Lebanon War, focusing on a tank crew whose tense, claustrophobic mission unfolds under relentless pressure and uncertain loyalties.

Critical recognition followed the film at international festivals for its bold approach and stark realism. Critics praised its inside the tank perspective and its refusal to sensationalize violence, arguing that such formal choices deepen the questions at the heart of war and moral ambiguity.

The work's claustrophobic viewpoint reshaped expectations for war dramas by centering soldiers interior lives under fire. Its restrained realism and careful sound design influenced later productions and sparked conversations about memory, responsibility, and how spectators interpret front line events from a safe distance.

Reviewers noted the film's austere tone, the fragility of command, and the erosion of innocence under fire. It probes duty versus conscience and asks how civilians and combatants alike are drawn into acts they may later regret, exposing war as a collision of fear and moral choice.