BEAUFORT tells the story of LIRAZ LIBERTI, the 22 year-old outpost commander, and his troops in the months before Israel pulled out of Lebanon. This is not a story of war, but of retreat. This is a story with no enemy, only an amorphous entity that drops bombs from the skies while terrified young soldiers must find a way to carry out their mission until their very last minutes on that mountaintop. As LIRAZ lays the explosives which would destroy that very same structure that his friends had died defending, he witnesses the collapse of all he's been taught as an officer, and his soldier's mental and physical disintegration. The story of a group of Israeli soldiers stationed in an outpost prior to the withdrawal of forces of 2000. A Silver Bear winner for Best Director at Berlin, Beaufort is a war film that does not conform to the rules set by its genre. It is not visceral, has no in-your-face violence and gore, has no leading heroic character whom we can root for, and is certainly lacking in action in its purest sense. Yet it impresses because it manages to be compelling in its own unique way.<br/><br/>Screened in Singapore for the first time at the 18th Israel Film Festival, Beaufort tells the story of a group of Israeli soldiers on enemy territory, defending a Lebanese mountain fort that they have conquered, which has become sort of like a base to them for the past few months. As they wait patiently for orders from their government to withdraw, they have to protect themselves against exploding shells, and the occasional missile that threatens to wreck their base.<br/><br/>For most parts, Beaufort is a slow-moving and meditative drama that focuses on the brotherhood and camaraderie of the soldiers marooned on an enemy site that is steeped in a long history of bloodshed. Director Joseph Cedar takes his time to develop the characters, of which there are quite a few. Some of them die, and there is enough reason to feel aggrieved about their unfortunate fates.<br/><br/>Cedar underlines his strength as a skillful director by milking every ounce of tension in many of the film's highly suspenseful scenes. Two sequences immediately come to mind. The first is a sequence that Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker, 2009) would have been proud of. It shows a soldier who is trained in bomb disposal trying to locate an unexploded device. He holds a metal rod, prodding the ground as he takes one step after another. The unease and unpredictability in this sequence is taken to the extreme, with no avenue of assurance offered at all to the viewer.<br/><br/>The second sequence comes much later. A soldier makes a last trip to his bunker to see if anything important is left behind before his comrades blow the whole place up with hundreds of mines already wired together. The overwhelming sense of dread caused by the fear that the soldier may be blown to pieces anytime, accidentally or otherwise, may be too much to bear for some viewers.<br/><br/>The sense of location captured in Beaufort is quite excellent. Wide shots of the surrounding wilderness highlight the isolation as faced by the soldiers. This is balanced by claustrophobic shots of man-made maze-like tunnels in the fort that threaten to disturb the spatial orientation of any soldier trekking through it. Even though we see the film from a restrictive perspective, that of the Israeli soldiers, Cedar still makes sure that we are well aware of "larger presences" i.e. the enemy and the Israeli government that are controlling the fates of these soldiers.<br/><br/>While clearly an anti-war film detailing the emotional and psychological impact that war has on soldiers, Beaufort also succeeds in portraying these brave fighters as a cohesive unit, bonded by a common goal (in this case, them withdrawing from an enemy zone). The sad thing, and this is prevalent in the world we live in, is that these soldiers are ultimately used as faceless pawns in an elaborate game of hard core politics that intelligent and mature grownups play. A game that certainly has no consideration for human empathy.<br/><br/>SCORE: 8.5/10 (www.filmnomenon.blogspot.com) All rights reserved! I think that rating films out of 10 is a little futile, as what may stir one person may leave another cold. With that disclaimer set then let me say this about Beaufort: Yes this is a war film, in the sense that the characters are soldiers. It is however, in my opinion far more of a character study than most films in the genre. Full Metal Jacket has been mentioned as a comparable work, and I can understand the comparisons. The internal turmoil of the characters is portrayed with similar verve, and the swings at provoking the big questions have similar merit. Where Kubrick's film veers into the slightly surreal to deliver it's message, Beaufort stairs straight ahead into the stark reality of it's particular war time situation, and this is perhaps the fork in the road where the two films part company. This very tangible starkness is what enables the film to deliver such a telling experience, life and death laid bare for all to see and attempt to comprehend. It is one of the quintessential artistic topics, and Beaufort approaches it admirably. The viewing experience may not be as exhilarating as Saving Private Ryan or Platoon, and it certainly lacks the surrealistic glee of Full Metal Jacket, but Beaufort had me contemplating it's content long after I watched it. It had me writing this review, something that I have not done for any of the films I mention in reference to Beaufort, despite their qualities. In conclusion I would thoroughly recommend Beaufort to anyone that enjoys cerebral films, and if you particularly enjoy war films then I would also recommend Clint Eastwood's "Letters from Iwo Jima" as another excellent war film that is similarly thought provoking.
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372 weeks ago