Film

Beaufort

Cert: 15

Description: Twenty-two year-old Liraz Liberti assumes command of the titular 12th century stone fort, which became a symbol of military supremacy when members of the Israeli Defense Force overpowered the Palestine Liberation Organization in 1982. Eighteen years later, the Israelis prepare to withdraw. Liraz's inexperience proves fatal for bomb-disposal expert Ziv, fuelling tensions between the soldiers as the exit date looms on the horizon.

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Dir: Joseph Cedar.

Cast: Oshri Cohen, Alon Abutbul, Ohad Knoller

Country: Isr.

Year: 2007.

Duration: 131mins

Capturing the castle

Trapped: Beaufort castle was held by the Israelis for 18 years

Under the bombs review

27 Mar 2008

This Israeli nominee for the Academy�s Best Foreign Film Award is based on the real story of Beaufort Castle, which was captured by the Israelis in the 1982 invasion of Lebanon and held until 2000.

The order to withdraw from the castle brought intensified shelling from Hezbollah � who wanted the Israelis� long-planned evacuation to look like a retreat under fire. Many lives on both sides were lost and Joseph Cedar�s film, based on a novel by Ron Lesham, asks why Israel held the Crusade-era fort in the first place and why it took them so long to withdraw.

This is not an overtly political film. Its intimacy is its distinguishing point, and the stressful routines of the beleaguered defence force, particularly the visit by Ohad Knoller�s bomb disposal specialist are as much its highlights as the remorseless combat and shelling.