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Ari Folman's visionary animated precautions of war
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Writer, director and producer Ari Folman’s main objective in “Waltz with Bashir” is to portray war as being useless and to disprove the notions of war films which are commonly romanticized for its greatness by portraying soldiers bonding together while patriotically serving their country.
Mr. Folman, the protagonist of the film, has a recurring dream of his involvement in the 1982 Lebanon war. He arises from a body of water to witness the destruction that he along with the Israeli army has done to the city of Beirut. Unable to recall any other events that took place except for his dream, he seeks out former comrades who were there with him and get their observations and invovlement in the war.
The title of the film is in reference to Lebanon’s former president, Bashir Gemayel, who was recently assassinated before the assualt. The waltz is used by an Israeli soldier on a suicidal mission to advance across the enemy's frontline. The waltz that he performs to cross the enemy's fire is used to represent the false bravados of the soldier, their nativity, lack of preparation and training they receive and how natrual instinct and throughts of survival takes precedence on the battlefields.
His journey begins as a 19-year-old soldier who is on the hunt for Palestinian terrorists. On the hunt, he dodges bullets and rocket-propelled grenade launchers before the film's climatic ending with the massacre at Sabra and Shatila in which the Palestinian terrorist were presumed to be hiding in the settlements. The Christian Phalangists are sent in to be on the lookout for any terrorist once the area has been cleared and evacuated of civillians.
This is shown when the viewers are invited to participate and see firsthand the casualties of war when the film switches from its animation format to reality with footages making it more personal as the viewers emphasizes with the losses. A bit of discretionary is advised in seeing the end of the film. The end helps puts into context the reason for the current Israeli and Palestinian tensions and how time and the next generation must avoid if they are ever to make amends for each group’s actions.
The film is more effective in its animated format, which could have easily just been shot as a documentary. Mr. Folman is able to take the two different genres and mesh them with his visionary animation and realism, which was nominated last year in the Oscar’s in the best foreign film category and has the distinguishment of being the first animated film to be featured in the category. The research done before hand provides the background story and a nice blend of action and dialogue that goes on in the film.
With its brief runtime of 90 minutes, the film doesn’t provide knowledge of the events leading up to Israel’s assault on Lebanon which would have been helpful to audience being introduced to the subject for the first time. But it does perform its duties of getting the massacre discussed again and never forgotten. It also allows the public to think not only about the atrocities of that war but other wars and whether or not war is ever justified.
The information that he takes in by interviewing former commardes and players involved in the 1982 Lebannon war help him piece together his memory of the event, his involvement and his dream. This allows him to interpret his subconscious and the message the repetitive dream communicates to him, its significance and what memories he has been trying to suppress and forget about until now.
DVD Features:
• Surreal Soldiers: “Making Waltz with Bashir” featuring writer and director Ari Folman. Segments broken down by the drawing process, creating the body movement and gestures of the face, color design, music and the animated risk in making the film.
• Film Commentary with Ari Folman
• Q & A session with Ari Folman at the Cannes Festival answering questions in regards to the getting funding for the film, defining the film to the finished product.
• Building the Scenes – Animatics featuring edit footage, story board and final product:
o Beirut Street Battle w Ron Ben- Yishai
o The Fighting Arts with Shmuel Frenkel
o Tank Patrol with Dror Harazi
o Attacked in the Orange Grove
• Theatrical Trailers and Previews
| Classification: DVD Review Grade: Four out of Five stars | |
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