This is a graphic novel in film form. This is an animated film that doesn't know it's not live-action. Waltz with Bashir may very well be the most important film of 2008. Waltz with Bashir is a very personal memoir of the Lebanon War of 1982, with the accounts of writer/director/producer Ari Folman and various real life individuals who fought on Israel's side during their odyssey into the hellish nightmare that would await them in Lebanon. The film plays out documentary-style, featuring the likenesses and words of Ari Folman himself, and many others who have the most amazing stories to tell about their experiences in this war. The film begins as a friend of Ari Folman is describing a recurring nightmare he has had for the past 20 years that is connected to a traumatic experience he had in the Lebanon War. This telling jump-starts Ari's own memories, and prompts him to seek out others who he fought with in the war to try and put the pieces of a seemingly unsolvable puzzle together. The quest he undergoes will reveal startling truths, harrowing and gritty accounts by Israeli soldiers, and profound revelations.
One story in particular involving a man whose fellow soldiers were wiped out on a beach in Lebanon, and the man subsequently had to swim far out to sea and stay there until it was clear to swim back, particularly moved me. Waltz with Bashir pulls no punches at any time; the war action is just as bloody and graphic as anything you will see in live-action war films, and the film intelligently explores the atrocities committed on both sides, by both Israeli troops and Lebanese Phalangists. The film's soundtrack has the most brilliant combination of Classical, Israeli Rock, and Euro Dance, and the animation style is designed to look like a graphic novel. The film has very profound messages, as Ari begins to question whether finding out the truth and solving the puzzle is something that he truly wants to do. Wouldn't it be better to forget about the horrors of war and pretend it never happened? Luckily for us, Ari does not follow that route, instead confronting his past head-on by creating this brilliant film about his journey to uncover the truth.
The film culminates in Ari's profound revelation that he may have inadvertently contributed to a massacre committed by Christian Phalangists in Lebanon, and symbolizes this revelation with a single use of live-action at the film's climax. This use of live-action is absolutely devastating, and one of the most powerful scenes in film this year. This is an astounding film about war, traumatic memories, and regret that stands as one of the most important films about genocide since Hotel Rwanda and Schindler's List. If you have any means of seeing this film, do it now.
10/10
One story in particular involving a man whose fellow soldiers were wiped out on a beach in Lebanon, and the man subsequently had to swim far out to sea and stay there until it was clear to swim back, particularly moved me. Waltz with Bashir pulls no punches at any time; the war action is just as bloody and graphic as anything you will see in live-action war films, and the film intelligently explores the atrocities committed on both sides, by both Israeli troops and Lebanese Phalangists. The film's soundtrack has the most brilliant combination of Classical, Israeli Rock, and Euro Dance, and the animation style is designed to look like a graphic novel. The film has very profound messages, as Ari begins to question whether finding out the truth and solving the puzzle is something that he truly wants to do. Wouldn't it be better to forget about the horrors of war and pretend it never happened? Luckily for us, Ari does not follow that route, instead confronting his past head-on by creating this brilliant film about his journey to uncover the truth.
The film culminates in Ari's profound revelation that he may have inadvertently contributed to a massacre committed by Christian Phalangists in Lebanon, and symbolizes this revelation with a single use of live-action at the film's climax. This use of live-action is absolutely devastating, and one of the most powerful scenes in film this year. This is an astounding film about war, traumatic memories, and regret that stands as one of the most important films about genocide since Hotel Rwanda and Schindler's List. If you have any means of seeing this film, do it now.
10/10