stephen  d. leece

In the post The Thin Red Line or ‘Saving Ryan’s Privates’ age of the war film, Cup Final may seem a little old fashioned to the younger, modern viewer. All Mr. Magoo of the Middle East can ask is to show patience and kindness to this film.

The story is about an IDF soldier captured by a PLO squad shortly after OperationPeace for Galilee in1982 who develops a kind of Stockholm syndrome for his Palestinian captors- largely fuelled by both the IDF squaddie’s and the PLO Officer’s mutual love for football and specifically the Italian national team. Remember 1982 was a World Cup year, and Italy was certain to win the tournament.

So essentially once the PLO Officer and the IDF trooper have gained each other’s trust, or as much trust as each other can gain from one another under the circumstances, they embark on a quest of South Lebanon in search of a TV that works so they can watch the World Cup Final.

There is much black humour on display, and for a film made less than a decade after the events it uses as a dramatic backdrop the attention to detail is admirable where the scriptwriter and director have prisoner and charge treated with equal amounts of disdain and fear or love and hope depending on whereabouts in the South they are.

All of this leaves the climax all the more poignant.

As an old film, Cup Final lacks the polish of more modern sophisticated dramas, but it is still a worthy piece of cinema.