Waltz With Bashir

Directed by Ari Folman

Last week i was exposed for the first time to an Israeli animation- Waltz With Bashir. it depicts the personal story of Ari Folman (the writer, director and producer) who is searching for part of his identity which was supressed in war. As a young soldier fighting in the 1982 Lebanon war, that whole period was missing in his memory- including the disastrous massacre in Beruit.

There is no doubt that I am a big fan of animation and what it stands for in films such as this. Together with the powerful music and aesthetically wonderful images, the audience is pulled into a fantasy world of war- colourful, evocative and almost exciting. There is a distance between you and the reality of it, not unlike what was going on in the minds of the soldiers years after the event. A short recurring scene of soldiers walking naked from the sea, guns slung over their soldiers and faces lifeless, cut, the screaming faces of women and children swarming before you. Folman is trying to place a reality around this fantasy, by talking to his friends and comrades. By the end we have very clear picture of what happened, and the animation only adds to the brutal intensity of the situation. Overall, a brilliant film made by one extremely talented guy with a rare abilty to carry out a purpose.