This review of ‘Monument’ examines its portrayal of Israel’s Lebanon War, blending political history with a deeply personal father-son story.
Very much in our collective memory is Israel’s invasion of Lebanon in 1982. Most of us are old enough to remember it well (myself included). The invasion was dubbed “Operation Peace for Galilee” and was intended to drive the PLO out of Lebanon after it had been shelling Israel for several years.
Through an arrangement brokered by the Reagan administration, the PLO was escorted out of Lebanon later that year and relocated its headquarters in Tunisia. But Israel remained in Lebanon until 2000, having conducted only a partial withdrawal in 1985. Largely overlooked then, and now forgotten, is the fact that Israel had as its ally the South Lebanon Army, a majority Christian militia with many Muslim fighters.
The South Lebanon Army sustained a great deal of casualties. In 1999, renowned Israeli architect Yakov Rechter was approached by a Christian Arab entity to erect a monument to the South Lebanon Army within the war-torn country. He agreed to the commission and enlisted the assistance of his son, Amnon Rechter, who was acting as his apprentice.
Monument is the current movie bringing these events to the screen. It features Jon Voight as Yakov Rechter, Joseph Mazzello as Amnon Rechter, and Aviv Pinkas as Osnat Rechter (Amnon’s wife). The movie is directed by Bryan Singer and written by Alena Alova. Monument is nothing less than an emotional triumph.
On a very personal level, Monument is a look into a classic examination of conflict between father and son. Yakov is enthusiastic about the commission. But Amnon is bitter about Israel’s lasting presence in Lebanon, which he insists is an “occupation” and goes so far as to accuse the Jewish state of hypocrisy, insisting Israel employs the same type of terror as its enemies.
What Amnon envisions is not a monument only to the South Lebanon Army, but a monument honoring the victims from both sides of the Lebanese civil war, Muslim and Christian. Yakov is reluctant but concedes Amnon’s ambition, especially since the latter is going ahead with his own idea of the project regardless of how his father feels (or how their Arab Christian clients feel).
But conflict isn’t limited between Amnon and Yakov. Osnat, Amnon’s wife, is kept in the dark as to the details of the commission. She suspects something nefarious and initially accuses Amnon of having an affair. When she learns he has been traveling up to Lebanon on an almost daily basis, she becomes even more upset and states aloud that she wishes he were having an affair.
And the excursions into Lebanon are indeed dangerous. The architectural entourage is plagued by political terror and common bandits alike. Nor is this the only threat. A brick is hurled into the home of Amnon and Osnat by violent Jewish radicals, which includes a cryptic note stating “Die Jewrab.”
Subplots include the couple’s twin babies, an imposing responsibility even under the best of circum-
stances. There is also the interruption in Osnat’s academic career, as she is forced to put on hold her doctoral thesis due to both the babies and Amnon’s mission.
The movie culminates in completion of the monument and Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000 at the direction of then Prime Minister Ehud Barak.
Monument amounts to a microcosm of the war itself. Just as a peace will not survive Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon, neither will the monument. That refugees fleeing Lebanon upon Israel’s withdrawal included Muslims as well as Christians is ironic but should be no surprise. The terror inflicted in the civil war in Lebanon, first when the PLO entered the country in 1975 and Syria’s subsequent invasion (designed to expel the PLO but which morphed into a war against Israel), hardly distinguished its victims by religion.
Monument is a classic formula of man versus state and man versus self (with the bonus conflict of father versus son). Jon Voight delivers an Oscar-worthy performance, a thankful relief from his two silly portrayals in recent years of Ronald Reagan and Pope John-Paul II. Joseph Mazzello is also impressive as Amnon Rechter. His inner conflict is most convincing.
At this writing, Monument is showing at only one area theater (AMC Great Lakes Crossing in Auburn Hills). But an effort must be made to see this movie. As stated, Israel’s ordeal in Lebanon is a fresh memory for most of us. But much is also forgotten. Monument forces us to recall those events in Lebanon conveniently overlooked by mainstream media. Such events led to the menace of Hezbollah and the perpetual fate of Lebanon as the testing ground of the region’s worst villains.
John O’Neill is an Allen Park freelance writer.
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