Waltz with Bashir – Review

An article by Drew    2 Comments

Even when a movie scores rave reviews and a truck load of awards there’s still no guarantee you’re going to enjoy it… and you probably won’t enjoy Waltz with Bashir. It’s a grueling watch, not for the faint hearted.

Waltz with Bashir is a 90 minute animated documentary, recorded in modern Hebrew and subtitled, made in Israel last year by Ari Folman. Folman was a 19 year old conscripted soldier in 1982 when Israel invaded Lebanon. He was a witness to massacres in the Beirut Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila. This experience was so traumatic that Folman blocked the memory from his mind until in 2006 when he met with another former soldier, still suffering nightmares from this nasty war. As Folman researched events and spoke with other Israelis who had fought in Beirut his memories gradually returned and he made the film based on these painful revelations.

The film was recorded as a standard documentary then turned into an animated feature with the exceptional artistic talents of David Polonsky and Yoni Goodman. Don’t think Shrek or Finding Nemo. This is gritty, edgy, adult art, influenced by dark graphic novels and war comics. Goodman uses a combination of unique flash cutout and classic animation, severely muted colour and dynamic angles, darting from the beautiful to the macabre, from the powerfully realistic to the psychotic.

The brilliant sound track by Max Richter adds depth and dimensions to the film providing a subtle sub-commentary of its own.

Be warned. This film is rated R16 and contains violence, bad language and sex scenes but none of it is gratuitous as Folman explores important territory. He does not portray war on a grand heroic scale but rather enters the minds of ordinary soldiers – terrified, confused and dazed, stumbling through the horror, boredom and chaos of real, bloody conflict.

When they were called up for their compulsory military service these young men never anticipated that they would end up under deadly fire or supporting a massacre of civilians. Few emerged unscarred, physically or mentally and it would seem that Israel underwent collective amnesia over these unbearable events.

One of the most tragic elements of the massacres is that all three participants – the Israelis (with a strong Judaic history), the Lebanese and the “Christian” Phalangists who committed the slaughter in the camps, all in theory followed the same God, a God of peace, justice and compassion.

With the Israeli government swinging further to the right and attitudes hardening on all sides, lasting peace seems less likely than ever in the Middle East, so a powerful, anti war film from an Israeli perspective is especially relevant and important.

But Waltz with Bashir is more than just an anti war film, it also offers insight into the human mind under intolerable stress.

Waltz with Bashir is well worth watching, leaving the viewer with much to think on and numerous grim images. The dying horses, the little girl buried in rubble, the military officer watching porn in a confiscated luxury home as he gives orders, the insane sergeant, dancing with his machine gun in a hail of bullets and grenades – these images will stay with me for a long time as will the film’s ending, which I won’t describe, but which is guaranteed to leave no one unmoved.

At TEAR Fund, no matter what the political situation is, our concern is for the victims impacted by such conflict whether they be soldiers traumatised by the events or the families who experience loss of loved ones and the ability to live. If you would like to support our partners in the area working with those whose lives have been affected in Gaza by the recent conflict, call us on 0800 800 777.