Lebanon (לבנון in Hebrew, Lebanon: The Soldier's Journey in UK) is a 2009 Israeli war film directed by Samuel Maoz, who based it on his own experience as a young conscript in the conflict it depicts.
It is set during the 1982 war in Lebanon. Warfare is depicted in a rather uncompromising way through the point of view of an Israeli tank crew. The film's main distinctive feature is that the outside world is only seen through the tank's gunsightnote .
Lebanon contains examples of the following tropes:
- Anti-Armor: The film notably shows how it feels to be inside a tank when it is ambushed and hit by a RPG.
- Binocular Shot: As mentioned above, it's used as the sole way to show the outside world.
- Chromosome Casting: There's no female character to speak of, only some civilian Lebanese women caught in the war who can be seen through the tank's gunsight.
- Dirty Kid: One of the crew members recalls how his hot female school teacher inspired him nothing but dirty thoughts when he was a kid, even when he was in the middle of a family grieving.
- New Meat: The young gunner has never fired the cannon in a combat situation and is hesitant at first, which results in Lebanese civilians and a fellow Israeli soldier being killed.
- Running Gag: Calling the white phosphorus shells "flaming smoke".
- Tank Goodness: Averted. The film goes out of its way to show that being in a tank in urban warfare situation is NOT cool. You don't get shot at with firearms, but enemy RPG ambush teams really are The Dreaded.
- Urban Warfare: The film's most tense parts happen in war-torn Lebanese cities.
