Beaufort (film)

Beaufort (film)

Beaufort (Hebrew: בופור) is a 2007 Israeli war film. The film was directed by Joseph Cedar and was co-written by Cedar and Ron Leshem, based on Leshem's novel of the same name. 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. Useful historical information for understanding the movie can be found in the article on the original capture of Beaufort in 1982 by the Israeli army.

Filming was completed in June, just a month before the second war in Lebanon broke out.