Directed by: Joseph Cedar

Cast: Alon Abutbul, Daniel Brook, Oshri Cohen, Eli Eltonyo, Gal Friedman, Nevo Kimchi, Ohad Knoller, Itay Tiran

Runtime: 125mins

Beaufort

The Beaufort is a hilltop fortress used by the Israeli Defense Forces, was built by the Crusaders in the 12th Century and because of its history, the site is respected and sacred to both Israel and the Arabs. So both sides try to ensure the ruins of the original fortress are not damaged, and it becomes more or less the main character in the film.

The fort is left defended by a small group of soldiers who is led by an officer who is not liked by his fellow soldiers. They get constantly bombarded by the Hezbollah even though the war is over and Israel is moving out of Lebanon. The Hezbollah wants to make it look as if they drove the Israeli forces away to gain the people’s trust. Little bit of political influence is also shown as the troops when ready to leave Beaufort are forced to stay back for few more days as their superiors haven’t given them the clearance to leave. All this sudden change in plans causes a bit of fear among the soldiers and being among the mountain all alone creates a very eerie atmosphere. To add to their misery they got the Hezbollah firing missiles at the outposts, and whats saddening about that is the fact that they have no idea as to where they are being fired from. You can hear screams or warnings of ‘Incoming! Incoming’ and some part gets blown away.

The Director has done a commendable job. He did well to mix a bit of humour and seriousness to the story. Very little character development was done, but we come to know what the main characters are like. I would have liked to see a different ending and not a simple normal one and i think that maybe the reason as to why it didn’t get an Oscar nod this year.

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