Beaufort (film)
Encyclopedia
Beaufort is a 2007 Israel
i war film
. The film was directed by Joseph Cedar
and was co-written by Cedar and Ron Leshem
, based on Leshem's If there's a Heaven
. The film is about an IDF
unit stationed at the Beaufort
post in Southern Lebanon
during the South Lebanon conflict, and their commander, Liraz Librati, who was the last commander of the Beaufort castle before the Israeli withdrawal in 2000.
The film takes place in the year 2000, the year of the IDF withdrawal from the Israeli Security Zone
in southern Lebanon
. It chronicles the daily routine of a group of soldiers positioned at the 12th century Crusader stronghold of Beaufort Castle
, their feelings and their fears, and explores their moral dilemmas in the days preceding the withdrawal and end of the 18-year South Lebanon conflict.
The film's director, himself an IDF veteran who was stationed in Lebanon during the first Lebanon war
, uses the stone walls of Beaufort castle as a symbol of the futility and endlessness of war. The film was shot during the spring of 2006 at Nimrod Fortress
, a similar mountaintop fort in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights. Cedar said he was influenced by the film Das Boot
, and the World War I
"bunker
films", when creating the underground tunnels and mazes of the Beaufort.
He also said that Paths of Glory
was a heavy influence, specifically on the bomb-disarming mission scene.
Filming was completed in June, just a month before the second war in Lebanon broke out.
reported that 88% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 40 reviews.
Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly
gave it an A, calling it "a movie of tremendous power - nerve-racking, astute, and neutral enough to apply to all soldiers, in all wars, everywhere".
A. O. Scott
of The New York Times
wrote: "Even if it does not entirely rise above cliché, 'Beaufort' has an earnest, sober intelligence that makes it hard to shake. It suggests that, for those who fight, the futility of war is inseparable from its nobility." The film's concept and look were compared to those of Letters from Iwo Jima
.
The film gained mostly very positive reviews in Israel; several reviewers called it one of the best Israeli films ever.
Hannah Brown of The Jerusalem Post
called it the first great Israeli war film.
The less positive reviews claimed that the film lacks a direct confrontation with its issues or criticism.
Effi Eitam
, an Israeli war hero who was an Israel Defense Forces high commander
in Lebanon (he was replaced by Moshe Kaplinsky
several months before the withdrawal), said that the film "successfully depicts, in great detail, the military experience".
Eitam also criticized the creators for showing only the last days of the fighting and not telling the full story of the 18 years of Israeli fighting in Lebanon ("Whoever watches this movie is likely to think that this entire war was just a matter of inane duck shooting... That’s not how we operated").
for directing Beaufort, which is his third film. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
, the first such nomination for an Israeli film since Beyond the Walls
(1984) and the seventh overall. In Israel it won 4 Ophir Awards - Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Artistic Design and Best Soundtrack. It was also nominated for Best Picture, although the award went to The Band's Visit
, making Beaufort the first film directed by Cedar to not win this award. The Band's Visits status as a foreign language film in the Academy Awards was rejected because it contains over 50% dialogue in English, which caused the runner-up Beaufort to become Israel's submission instead.
It was rumored that it was the filmmakers of Beaufort who brought to the Academy
's attention the ineligibility, on language grounds, of The Band's Visit
. Beauforts makers denied this rumor.
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i war film
War film
War films are a film genre concerned with warfare, usually about naval, air or land battles, sometimes focusing instead on prisoners of war, covert operations, military training or other related subjects. At times war films focus on daily military or civilian life in wartime without depicting battles...
. The film was directed by Joseph Cedar
Joseph Cedar
Yossef Cedar is an Israeli film director and screenwriter. He has won a Silver Bear and an Ophir Award for Best Director, and an Ophir Award for writing a Best Screenplay. He also won the best screenplay award at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. for his film Footnote .-Biography:Cedar was born in...
and was co-written by Cedar and Ron Leshem
Ron Leshem
Ron Leshem , is an Israeli writer and media professional, and author of the novel Beaufort for which he won the 2006 Sapir Prize for Literature and the Yitzhak Sadeh Prize for Military Literature...
, based on Leshem's If there's a Heaven
Beaufort (novel)
Beaufort ; is the first novel by Israeli author and media professional Ron Leshem. The work was initially published in 2005 and in English translation under this title in 2007...
. The film is about an IDF
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
unit stationed at the Beaufort
Beaufort Castle, Lebanon
Beaufort or Belfort The castle was named "bel fort" or "beau fort" by the Crusaders who occupied the castle in the twelfth century. Its Arabic name Qala'at ash-Shqif means Castle of the High Rock...
post in Southern Lebanon
Southern Lebanon
Southern Lebanon is the geographical area of Lebanon comprising the South Governorate and the Nabatiye Governorate. These two entities were divided from the same province in the early 1990s...
during the South Lebanon conflict, and their commander, Liraz Librati, who was the last commander of the Beaufort castle before the Israeli withdrawal in 2000.
The film takes place in the year 2000, the year of the IDF withdrawal from the Israeli Security Zone
Israeli Security Zone
The Israeli Security Zone in southern Lebanon was a strip of territory of varying width, , from the Israeli border and the Golan Heights, occupied by Israeli forces from 1985 to 2000. Additional regions controlled by the South Lebanon Army are sometimes included under the term...
in southern Lebanon
Southern Lebanon
Southern Lebanon is the geographical area of Lebanon comprising the South Governorate and the Nabatiye Governorate. These two entities were divided from the same province in the early 1990s...
. It chronicles the daily routine of a group of soldiers positioned at the 12th century Crusader stronghold of Beaufort Castle
Beaufort Castle, Lebanon
Beaufort or Belfort The castle was named "bel fort" or "beau fort" by the Crusaders who occupied the castle in the twelfth century. Its Arabic name Qala'at ash-Shqif means Castle of the High Rock...
, their feelings and their fears, and explores their moral dilemmas in the days preceding the withdrawal and end of the 18-year South Lebanon conflict.
The film's director, himself an IDF veteran who was stationed in Lebanon during the first Lebanon war
1982 Lebanon War
The 1982 Lebanon War , , called Operation Peace for Galilee by Israel, and later known in Israel as the Lebanon War and First Lebanon War, began on 6 June 1982, when the Israel Defense Forces invaded southern Lebanon...
, uses the stone walls of Beaufort castle as a symbol of the futility and endlessness of war. The film was shot during the spring of 2006 at Nimrod Fortress
Nimrod Fortress
The Nimrod Fortress or Nimrod's Fortress, is a medieval fortress situated in the northern Golan Heights, on a ridge rising about 800 m above sea level.-History:...
, a similar mountaintop fort in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights. Cedar said he was influenced by the film Das Boot
Das Boot
Das Boot is a 1981 German epic war film written and directed by Wolfgang Petersen, produced by Günter Rohrbach, and starring Jürgen Prochnow, Herbert Grönemeyer, and Klaus Wennemann...
, and the World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
"bunker
Bunker
A military bunker is a hardened shelter, often buried partly or fully underground, designed to protect the inhabitants from falling bombs or other attacks...
films", when creating the underground tunnels and mazes of the Beaufort.
He also said that Paths of Glory
Paths of Glory
Paths of Glory is a 1957 American anti-war film by Stanley Kubrick based on the novel of the same name by Humphrey Cobb. Set during World War I, the film stars Kirk Douglas as Colonel Dax, the commanding officer of French soldiers who refused to continue a suicidal attack...
was a heavy influence, specifically on the bomb-disarming mission scene.
Filming was completed in June, just a month before the second war in Lebanon broke out.
Critical
Beaufort was generally well received by critics. As of July 29, 2008, the review aggregator Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reported that 88% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 40 reviews.
Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
gave it an A, calling it "a movie of tremendous power - nerve-racking, astute, and neutral enough to apply to all soldiers, in all wars, everywhere".
A. O. Scott
A. O. Scott
Anthony Oliver Scott, known as A. O. Scott , is an American journalist and critic. He is a chief film critic for The New York Times, along with Manohla Dargis.-Background and education:...
of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
wrote: "Even if it does not entirely rise above cliché, 'Beaufort' has an earnest, sober intelligence that makes it hard to shake. It suggests that, for those who fight, the futility of war is inseparable from its nobility." The film's concept and look were compared to those of Letters from Iwo Jima
Letters from Iwo Jima
is a 2006 war film directed and co-produced by Clint Eastwood, and starring Ken Watanabe and Kazunari Ninomiya. The film portrays the Battle of Iwo Jima from the perspective of the Japanese soldiers and is a companion piece to Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers, which depicts the same battle from the...
.
The film gained mostly very positive reviews in Israel; several reviewers called it one of the best Israeli films ever.
Hannah Brown of The Jerusalem Post
The Jerusalem Post
The Jerusalem Post is an Israeli daily English-language broadsheet newspaper, founded on December 1, 1932 by Gershon Agron as The Palestine Post. The daily readership numbers do not approach those of the major Hebrew newspapers....
called it the first great Israeli war film.
The less positive reviews claimed that the film lacks a direct confrontation with its issues or criticism.
Effi Eitam
Effi Eitam
Efraim "Effi" Eitam is an Israeli politician. A former leader of the National Religious Party, he later led a breakaway faction, Ahi, which merged into Likud in 2009. He served as a member of the Knesset between 2003 and 2009.-Biography:...
, an Israeli war hero who was an Israel Defense Forces high commander
Aluf
Aluf is the term used for General and Admiral in the Israel Defense Forces . In addition to the Aluf rank itself, there are four other ranks which are derivatives of the word...
in Lebanon (he was replaced by Moshe Kaplinsky
Moshe Kaplinsky
Maj. Gen. Moshe Kaplinsky , is the CEO of Better Place Israel. Most recently, he was Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces. He was previously head of the Israel Defense Force's Central Command, whose area of responsibility includes the West Bank...
several months before the withdrawal), said that the film "successfully depicts, in great detail, the military experience".
Eitam also criticized the creators for showing only the last days of the fighting and not telling the full story of the 18 years of Israeli fighting in Lebanon ("Whoever watches this movie is likely to think that this entire war was just a matter of inane duck shooting... That’s not how we operated").
Commercial
Beaufort is one of the most successful Israeli films of the 2000s. It made more than US$500,000 in the first 3 weeks of its release in the Israeli market, a substantial amount for a domestic Israeli film. Since its release, it was viewed by over 300,000 viewers in Israel.Awards and nominations
Cedar has won the Silver Bear in the Berlin International Film FestivalBerlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...
for directing Beaufort, which is his third film. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the Academy Awards of Merit, popularly known as the Oscars, handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
, the first such nomination for an Israeli film since Beyond the Walls
Beyond the Walls
Beyond the Walls is a 1984 Israeli film directed by Uri Barbash co-wrote with Eran Preis. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.-Plot:...
(1984) and the seventh overall. In Israel it won 4 Ophir Awards - Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Artistic Design and Best Soundtrack. It was also nominated for Best Picture, although the award went to The Band's Visit
The Band's Visit
The Band's Visit is an acclaimed 2007 Israeli film directed by Eran Kolirin.The Band's Visit was Israel's original Foreign Language Film submission for the 80th Academy Awards, but was rejected by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences because it contained over 50% English dialogue...
, making Beaufort the first film directed by Cedar to not win this award. The Band's Visits status as a foreign language film in the Academy Awards was rejected because it contains over 50% dialogue in English, which caused the runner-up Beaufort to become Israel's submission instead.
Controversies
The casting has raised serious public criticism in Israel, especially from families of slain soldiers and war veterans, given the fact that some of the actors did not serve in the Israeli army (Army service is compulsory in Israel, although some people are exempt). Cedar commented that the actors had to spend a month at an actual outpost preparing for their roles, and that "Israel may be the only place where actors are expected to have actual combat experience when playing soldiers in a movie".It was rumored that it was the filmmakers of Beaufort who brought to the Academy
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures...
's attention the ineligibility, on language grounds, of The Band's Visit
The Band's Visit
The Band's Visit is an acclaimed 2007 Israeli film directed by Eran Kolirin.The Band's Visit was Israel's original Foreign Language Film submission for the 80th Academy Awards, but was rejected by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences because it contained over 50% English dialogue...
. Beauforts makers denied this rumor.
Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Oshri Cohen Oshri Cohen Oshri Cohen is an Israeli actor.He started his way as a kid at the Beit Lessin Theater in Tel Aviv.In 2006 Cohen won the Israeli Theater's award for "Promise of the Year."... |
Lieutenant Liraz "Erez" Librati, bunker commander |
| Eli Eltonyo | Oshri, company first sergeant |
| Itay Turgeman | Sergeant Tomer Zitlaui |
| Ohad Knoller Ohad Knoller Ohad Knoller is an Israeli actor.Ohad Knoller is the son of journalist Judith Knoller. He is married to actress Noa Raba-Knoller with whom he has a son.... |
Lieutenant Ziv Faran, bomb disposal officer |
| Daniel Bruk | Pavel |
| Ygal Reznik | Robbie |
| Itay Szor | Emilio |
| Itay Tiran Itay Tiran Itay Tiran is an Israeli stage and screen actor, known for his position against Israeli settlements and for his roles in Forgiveness , Beaufort , The Debt , Homeland , Lebanon , and The Promise .Tiran is one of the most acclaimed Israeli actors of his day... |
Idan Koris, emergency medical technician |
| Arthur Faradjev | Yonatan Shpitzer |
| Gal Friedman | Belis |
| Zohar Shtrauss | Rossman |
| Alon Aboutboul | Brigadier-General Kimchi, division commander |
| Danni Zahavi | Captain Meir, engineer officer |
| Nevo Kimchi | Avishai |
| Hannan Yishai | Nadav |
| Gideon Levy Gideon Levy Gideon Levy is an Israeli journalist.Levy writes opinion pieces and a weekly column for the newspaper Haaretz that often focus on the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories... |
Himself |
See also
- Cup Final (film)Cup Final (film)Cup Final is a 1991 Israeli film set during the 1982 invasion of Lebanon by Israel.-Plot:A young Israeli soldier, Cohen, is kidnapped by a group of Palestinian fighters who hold him as an hostage during the conflict...
- Lebanon (2009 film)
- Waltz with Bashir (Animated film)Waltz with BashirWaltz with Bashir is a 2008 Israeli animated documentary film written and directed by Ari Folman. It depicts Folman in search of his lost memories from the 1982 Lebanon War....
External links
- Official website
- Beaufort original soundtrack at MySpaceMySpaceMyspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
- indieWIRE review