Review of Beaufort

Beaufort (2007)
7/10
Well Fort
29 November 2009
Beaufort is that rarity among war films – one with the subject matter of retreat and a (at least implied) defeat of sorts. As such it falls in with such earlier and illustrious company as Ford's They Were Expendable (1945) - a generation and continent away perhaps, but which also showed the camaraderie that can develop at the anti-climactic close of a military campaign. Unlike Ford's work, with its unspoken certainty of eventual victory, director Joseph Cedar's Beaufort is a portrait of military inertia and inevitable pointlessness, at least as experienced by its small band of combatants. Conversely it's a million miles away from such films as Black Hawk Down where it's suggested gung ho bravery can some way appease for operational ineptitude and loss. If it's true that most history is written by the victors, then Cedar's film and its ilk ought to be treasured as offering a truer and more convincing alternative - even if, as in Beaufort's case, the results are criticised by local critics for being 'left wing' and 'defeatist'.

Co-adapted for the screen by its author Ron Lesham, the film concerns a group of soldiers guarding a mountaintop in Lebanon shortly before the Israeli withdrawal in 2000. Beaufort Mountain is a place with particular historical significance, both as twelfth century crusader castle and a more recent, hard-won Israeli military capture - although it's quickly apparent that the value is more symbolic than strategic. Frequently shelled by the Hezbollah, guessing perhaps that the IDF is about to pull out, the outpost is isolated, the garrison depressed, with an unclear purpose.

As the film starts, Beaufort's soldiers are joined by Ziv (Ohad Knoller), sent to investigate a new-style explosive device found on the road. During the opening scenes of the film there's some anticipation in subject matter of the recent Hurt Locker, but matters shortly take a different course after the first traumatic event. It turns out that the central character of Cedar's film is not the bomb expert but the introspective and honourable Commander Liraz (Oshri Cohen). A man who "can't believe someone gave him the job", whose increasing guilt and disillusionment at his responsibilities make up the core of the narrative.

It has to be said that Beaufort is rather a glum film, shot in claustrophobic interiors, often at night. This may be an accurate representation of warfare under such circumstances but although Cedar, like Ford, admirably avoids sentimentality he fails to fill the space left with any real pathos and poetry, although showing successful empathy with his characters. Neither is there much, if any, black humour to provide contrast. When not on guard duty, or dodging incoming rockets, the soldiers are normally in their bunker-like environment – the corridors of which at times remind one of a spaceship without an alien - gloomily interacting with each other. The military installation on Mount Beaufort, largely empty and of questionable purpose, becomes a symbol of their whole mission, perhaps even more so than the plaque hanging there celebrating recent war dead. The camp stands in contrast to the remains of the original castle, visited at one point by several of the soldiers while in contemplative mood: the earlier construction had a far more distinguished point and still seems to be a source of strength.

Where Beaufort scores is through its representation of a soldier's life when trapped between duty and political inertia, even though it's implied withdrawal from political engagement can be seen both as a strength and weakness. Instead of confrontation, it relies upon the unspoken rage of the morally dispossessed. In one telling scene, we see Ziv watching on TV an interview with the parent of one of his fallen comrades. The commander's slow tapping with a lighter on the table, an insistent accompaniment to the points being made on the small screen (that a parent's duty is to ensure his offspring are better aware of the value of life), is like a military tattoo for a friend's funeral cortege and though him, honour itself. Ziv, the loyal soldier, cannot overtly question his predicament, but the ironic beat over coverage of events inevitably offers commentary.

Writer-director Cedar's previous two films Ha-Hesador (aka: Time of Favor, 2000) and Madurat Hashevet (aka: Campfire, 2004) both engaged with social and political aspects of the modern Jewish state, sometimes with controversial elements. In this latest one he provides another well-wrought and thoughtful piece, worth seeking out, even if it does not pretend to offer any answers. But perhaps that is the point: answers are always hard to find, let alone agree on, in such circumstances.
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