Thursday 1 February 2018

Review: Waltz With Bashir (2008) by Ari Folman (Israel)

Figure 1 - Waltz With Bashir (2008)
Waltz With Bashir is a 2008 documentary style animated film by Israeli filmmaker Ari Folman. The film is a suggestion that the Israelis have erased the 1982 Lebanese war ''in a kind of huge, willed amnesia'' - (Bradshaw, 2008). The film is an animated depiction of the directors own search of his lost memories from which he experienced when he was a soldier within the war in 1982, when he was only 19. The film follows him as he reconnects from old friends, where they discuss what happened and that the nightmares he is having are in fact related to his forgotten experiences within the war. Shocked to find out exactly how much he has forgotten, he continues his search, later experiencing another vision of the Sabra and Shatila massacre. Conclusively, he discovers that his loss of memory is stemming from the feeling of guilt and that he contributed to the massacre, leading onto actual imagery from the aftermath of this massacre.  

The core theme of Waltz With Bashir is the suggestion that the war has been intentionally forgotten, and that the Israelis have guilt towards the Palestinian refugee massacre, relating to Folman's own experience within the film. In the film, Folman partly suggests that this massacre has been repressed over the last quarter-century. ''The very concept of Israel's partial or indirect guilt, established by the government's own Kahan commission, and therefore a guilt which Israel can concede without admitting to direct culpability, makes it a uniquely painful and potent subject.'' (Bradshaw, 2008). 

Figure 2 - Waltz With Bashir (2008)
 Waltz With Bashir is one of the first Israeli animated feature length films, along with the film $9.99 which was also released in 2008, but Waltz With Bashir is not Folman's only film. He is also well known for directing the film The Congress in 2013. Folman was born in Haifa in 1962 to his Holocaust survivor parents. This perhaps influencing his subject of war and massacre. He also witnessed this massacre. Furthermore, he has been the head writer of the drama series Parashat Hashavua on Hot 3. 

The film was made using a variety of animation techniques. Parts of it were made in flash/animate, others were hand drawn and then finally some where in 3D and these were all blended together to create the final product. It also combines 1980's music along with classical, along with realistic scenes juxtaposed with surreal sequences. The films aesthetic is similar to comics, deriving from Folman's love for graphic novels. The animation itself is a new and unique style that was made by Yoni Goodman within the Bridgit Folman Film Gang studio based in Israel. Furthermore, the film is comprised of around 2,300 different illustrations that were based on its original storyboard. The soundtrack was composed by musician, Max Richter, whilst others are featured songs. Some argue that the music is a very active commentator for the narrative of the film, and it would not be the same if it was any different. 

Figure 3 - Waltz With Bashir (2008)
The reception of the film was mixed, especially as it was banned in Lebanon and some other Arab countries due to its anti-war message and its depiction of a violent time in their history. Due to this, groups of bloggers, have tried to rebel against the ban of the film, and in some ways they have been successful. For example, they managed to get local critics to actually watching the film. Despite this, the film has a 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and Roger Ebert said ''is a devastating animated film that tries to reconstruct how and why thousands of innocent civilians were massacred because those with the power to stop them took no action'', (Ebert, 2009)  and Dan Jolin at Empire said ''Defense Forces (IDF) might lead you to wonder if the film has anything new to say. But Waltz With Bashir is nothing if not innovative. (Jolin, 2008).

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Bradshaw, P. (2018). Film review: Waltz With Bashir. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/nov/21/waltz-with-bashir-folman [Accessed 1 Feb. 2018].
Ebert, R. (2018). Waltz with Bashir Movie Review (2009) | Roger Ebert. [online] Rogerebert.com. Available at: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/waltz-with-bashir-2009 [Accessed 1 Feb. 2018].
Freedland, J. (2018). Waltz with Bashir film maker Ari Folman on war and art. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/oct/25/waltz-with-bashir-ari-folman [Accessed 1 Feb. 2018].
Jolin, D. (2018). Waltz With Bashir. [online] Empire. Available at: https://www.empireonline.com/movies/waltz-bashir/review/ [Accessed 1 Feb. 2018].

ILLUSTRATIONS:

Filmwalrus.com. (2018). Film Atlas (Israel): Waltz with Bashir. [online] Available at: http://www.filmwalrus.com/2014/03/film-atlas-israel-waltz-with-bashir.html [Accessed 1 Feb. 2018].
Jolin, D. (2018). Waltz With Bashir. [online] Empire. Available at: https://www.empireonline.com/movies/waltz-bashir/review/ [Accessed 1 Feb. 2018].
Thecia.com.au. (2018). Waltz with Bashir - Ari Folman, Ron Ben-Yishai, Ronny Dayag, Ari Folman - CIA. [online] Available at: http://thecia.com.au/reviews/w/waltz-with-bashir/ [Accessed 1 Feb. 2018].

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