Search - The Boy from Lebanon on DVD

Can we educate children to hate and kill? Absolutely.

Gerard D. Launay | Berkeley, California | 03/20/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A must see film about the horror of child terrorists and soldiers...not just for society at large but for these young adults as well. The film opens with a boy being sold by his Lebanese parents to become a child solider who is indoctrinated (as Number 3) to hate Jews and Gentiles. He becomes an excellent soldier for the cause of hate and is then flown to France to fulfill a mission to assassinate the President of France. A true story.

Filmed as a thriller - documentary style - the master terrorists have everything planned to the last detail but this...they failed to consider the impact of a friendship this young boy develops for a Parisian boy his own age. The most touching scene is the gentleness in which the French boy comforts the young soldier who is deeply troubled by nightmares in losing his parents and his innocence. And the most haunting line of the film, spoken by the child soldier - "what's it like being a boy."

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Children and War

Amos Lassen | Little Rock, Arkansas | 02/27/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

""The Boy from Lebanon"

Children and War

Amos Lassen and Cinema Pride

Picture This Entertainment has developed an entire genre of film with its coming of age movies. This month they have released the striking film "The Boy from Lebanon", a beautiful French film that deals with the problem of children being recruited to fight adult wars.
Djilali lost his father to Israeli killers and he himself was sold to terrorists and is being trained to be an assassin. He learns to shoot, to hate, to fight, and most important of all, to be a soldier. He is brainwashed to the point that he is anxious to kill unmercifully. The terrorists attempt to smuggle him to Paris to commit an extremely high level assassination and it is there that he meets Karim, a young Arab who lives in the very poor Arab sector of the City of Lights. It is Karim's job to help Djilali blend into the population until he receives the order to kill. Karim knows nothing of the planned assassination and like all boys his age is only interested in eating hamburgers, listening to rap music and playing on his skateboard. The two boys become very close friends and take an oath to remain so. Things begin to change when the execution is about to take place when Djilali must deal with his own introspection and his own moment of truth.
This is a beautiful film if you can take the nature of the subject matter. Some of it is quite shocking especially the scenes in which the youth is brainwashed into believing that his deed will be considered martyrdom and that Allah will be good to him. I had some of the same feelings of disgust that I had when I watched "Jesus Camp". The idea that a child could be trained to take a life is sickening but the reality is that this is being done as I type this review and almost every other day. Because I found this film offensive personally does not detract from its worth however. The cinematography is fantastic and the acting is beautifully taken care of by the two kinds, Teufik Jaliab and Younesse Boudache. The credit for the film goes unquestionably to director Gilles De Maistre who has managed to give us an incredible look at something most of us have never considered. That I found it offensive should not take any credit away from the beauty of the film. The offense that I felt is due to the fact that I have been personally involved in the Middle East War and seeing children being used to do a job that even grown men should not do offended me greatly even though I know it is happening.
This is a film that must be seen if you want to understand the nature of the conflict and the nature of terrorism. We should all want to know what goes on in the mind of hired assassins as we live in a world where they are not caught and continue to commit crimes against humanity on an almost daily basis.
Here is a real eye opener which regardless of the subject matter should be on everyone's "To See" list.
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Great movie, great child actors

M. Kline | San Diego CA | 02/09/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I loved the actors, especially the two children. The story is good, worth watching. I don't understand the tags, there's not so much as a shirtless scene anywhere in the movie, everyone is fully dressed for winter in Europe, no gay or romantic scenes, and I wouldn't call it coming-of-age they are really young. But overall well filmed & worth watching."

The Tags for this item are ridiculous and it is not a true s

M. A. Toler | Wellesley, MA United States | 12/14/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This is an intriguing and powerful film that never quite reaches it potential. Just when you start to really get wrapped up, the story stretches credulity to the breaking point. The films young stars are remarkable and that is consistent. There's a lot to be said, but I don't want to "review" the film. I want to comment on the tags.

My first reaction: Huh?!?!?! This is a film about a boy who whose family has been torn apart by war and Israeli aggression and because of that he is so desperate for revenge. Exploiting this, unscrupulous radicals take his name, give him a number and turn him into a child killer. He's sent to France to befriend another boy, learn his ways and get into an event in which the French President will be meeting with children in order to assassinate him. This is a film in which children are exploited and nearly murdered in cold blood. It's a political thriller. Not the greatest, but a political thriller nonetheless. So what is up with these tags? This is not a "gay" film. The kids pre-adolescent! I don't remember any nudity. Did the tags get mixed up with those from some kind of soft porn film perhaps?

Killer KidAlso, as far as I know, this is NOT a true story. It is adapted from a French novel by Claude Klotz and Marie Lescure. You can find it it you search on their names."