Waltz with Bashir
Rated: R
Runtime: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Directed by: Ari Folman
Starring:
Ron Ben-Yishai - Himself
Ronny Dayag - Himself
Ari Folman - Himself
Dror Harazi - Himself
Yehezkel Lazarov - Carmi Cna'an
Mickey Leon - Boaz Rein-Buskila
Ori Sivan - Himself
Zahava Solomon - Herself
Waltz with Bashir is a unique and surprising film in several ways. First, it's a war movie but it's animated. Second, rather than going the conventional war-reconciliation route of PTSD, big emotional moments, or a political approach, Waltz with Bashir examines how soldiers detach from the horrors of war and how a soul can survive battles that never end.
Both a documentary and an animated feature, Bashir follows writer-director Ari Folman as he interviews his fellow soldiers who fought alongside him in the First Lebanon War. Folman has been troubled by a dream where he wakes up naked in the sea along with two other soldiers and then walks to the battlefield where civilians are running in terror. Folman doesn't know if this is a vision or a memory and the film explores how all the interview subjects remember the horrors of war.
What's most striking about Waltz with Bashir is the detachment. All of these men speak of their experiences in a very matter-of-fact tone. They talk about men living or dying with the same urgency you or I would talk about a trip to the grocery store. That's where the animation comes in. This isn't a neat trick to draw your eye or to help recreate events but rather serves as an ingenious metaphor for the smooth veneer memory provides over the horrors of war. It's a brilliant use of animation both by having the present-day documentary-style scenes filmed in a static tone while the images of the war glide as if from a dream.
Watching Waltz with Bashir today, you can't help but think of what just happened in Gaza. Bashir is a far more universal film and is more than just "What Israeli soldiers do" even though the film is rooted in the Israeli culture of constant militarism, where almost every citizen will be a soldier. The film isn't judging Israel's past or present conduct but it hints that if its citizens didn't detach from their war experiences, then maybe the cycle of militarism would stop. And yet, the film sadly recognizes that to detach is to re-invite pain and cease the defense mechanisms that allow people to cope with the horrors of war. No one in this film is a villain or some perpetrator of a war crime. But just by being on the periphery of the war's Sabra and Shatila Massacre, these characters must redefine their memories so as not to be tortured by the horrors on a daily basis. Folman's quest to pull back the veil feels necessary yet tragically futile.
The observations of Waltz with Bashir are precious and vital and the film is a valuable contribution to the documentary, animation, and war genres. Those who are drawn in by its haunting music and animation will not soon forget this film.
Words by
Matt Goldberg
1.22.09