On Yom Kippur of 1973, Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack against Israel. Israel ultimately repelled the Arab forces a few days later, though the army suffered severe losses. The war also exacted a huge psychological toll. Since the victories of the Six-Day War in 1967, there had been a sense of invulnerability among Israelis. That self-celebration was shattered when war once again demonstrated its brutality and the vulnerability of those forced to fight it.

Kippur, directed by noted Israeli filmmaker Amos Gitai, tells an intense, powerful story of three men during the first days of war. Two soldiers are trying to hook up to their unit, while a doctor is trying to get to the front. Together they join a helicopter rescue unit. The three have different personalities and attitudes about combat–enthusiasm, cynicism, ambivalence–though each will do what he must. As the magnitude of the losses become apparent, the men support their comrades and cope with a range of difficult emotions.