A poignantly effective look at the Israeli invasion of Lebanon on July 12 2006, Under The Bombs is a beautiful example of how powerful conflict films can be. Phillippe Aractingi views the work as his own angry response to the invasion, and it is this emotion that drives the film as it tracks the destruction wrought by the conflict through the eyes of Zeina (Farhat), a Lebanese emigre who resides in Dubai. In the middle of a divorce she had sent her son to stay with her sister in Southern Lebanon, but after the invasion begins she promptly returns to begin a desperate search for her loved ones. Getting into Southern Lebanon at this point is not easy, but fortunately she finds Tony (Khabbaz), a Christian taxi driver who seems willing to do anything for a price.

The emotional journey of Zeina, and her relationship with Tony (who provides a cleverly, if somewhat obviously, layered illustration of the divisions and contradictions of Lebanese society) performs an astounding balancing act to at once represent the emotional carnage caused by war and fade into an inconsequential and almost ephemeral supplement to the physical destruction that laid to waste the housing and infrastructure of Lebanese settlements unfortunate enough to be blocking the path of the advancing Israeli forces. It is impossible not to see the gut reaction of the enraged filmmaker in these visceral depictions of the ravages of war, and it would be wrong to come into this film expecting an unbiased or nuanced discussion of the conflict itself. Aractingi does not debate, discuss or dismantle the many facets of conflict, but rather draw on his own passion and experience to convey the shock waves felt by everyday Lebanese citizens in the immediate aftermath of the invasion, an immediacy which is heightened further by the knowledge that shooting began on Under The Bombs a mere 10 days after the initial Iraeli incursion.

Another interesting titbit worth mentioning is that Aractingi cast just two trained actors for Under The Bombs. The rest of the characters populating the film (a wide diverse array of refugees, journalists, soldiers, pious citizens and plain ordinary folk living out their lives) were all played by themselves. This lends the already emotionally engaging film a priceless aura of truth that overshadows any of the grievances the director is at pains to air through his plot twists and documentary-esque cinematography. Quasi-analytical rambling aside, the fact is that the passion and pace of this film make it an enthralling experience. You'll sweat your way through a moving, painful and intriguing piece of film that forces you to feel every moment of indignation that inspired this filmmaker to action. A superb war film.

Lebanon's 2009 Academy Awards official submission to Foreign-Language Film category