Bufor (Beaufort)

"On June 5, 1982, at 6:15 A.M., when I was just 20 years old, I killed a person for the first time in my life and since then I've continued to kill," he says. "All the parents are anxious that their child fighting in the war not be killed, but they aren't worried that perhaps he will kill others. Twenty-four years and we haven't learned a thing. It hurts me terribly for everyone. Everyone is guilty and everyone is a victim. On television, people in suits shake hands and make decisions, and 20-year old kids are dying."

This is a quote from one of the producers of the Israeli film Bufor. I saw this movie, which is based on a very famous Israeli novel (translated):If Heaven Exsits, which is based on the not to distant history of the first Lebanon War.

It was an amazing movie on so many levels. My first interest to know what it was about came when I first spotted the poster. It is an image very farmiliar to me. And I knew that it was a story that takes place in the Lebanese boarder. Although my base doesn't look like the one in the movie, most of the bases I have seen up north look like this. They are just a million underground tunnels. Just heeps of concrete.

In this movie the soldiers are doing the male version of my job. The female version is purely to sit in front of the screens all shift. Guys sit watching screens, stand in the field or in hiding places with banoculars, and also are the first to enter a situation, of any kind. So yeah I understands so much of the life.

The cinematography was wonderful very artisting, so was the music. The acting was great and the story heartbreaking. This is the story of the first war in Lebanon and the occupation of a very ancient fort for 18 years.

In the end Israel leaves the fort and Lebanon. The base is blown up without harming the fort and now it is a touristic place to go.

There is a website for the movie www.bufor.co.il and there is an English section. You can see a trailer, but it really does the movie no justice. It was an amazing commentary on the strength of the people here in this country. If you have the chance I really recommend seeing it. And I look forward to the day that I can read the book (its in Hebrew)