"Waltz with Bashir" REVIEW

   There are a lot of films about war in history of world cinema, however this is not the case with animated movies. "When the wind blows", "Persepolis", "Tale of Tales" etc. only confirm that it is not easy to convey the cruelty and reality of war in animated films.

In 2008 Israeli documentary artist Ari Folman presented a film in which he combined 2D and 3D animation, documentary and live-action genres and the main topic of it was the first Lebanon War in which Folman himself took part.

   The first documentary part of "Waltz with Bashir"  is a journalistic investigation, during which Ari Folman himself, talks with his brother-soldiers and eyewitnesses of events that happened during Lebanon War, tries to collect lost pieces of his memory, since he can hardly recall what actually happened. Here the director talks a lot about this effect of human memory, which is able to selectively remember, selectively forget or even construct non-existent memories from remainings of various incidents. Folman investigates this phenomenon by speaking with different experts who explain this as a special aspect of a human brain in a situation of extreme stress, like war, for example for a young and inexperienced guy. Director compares this effect on just a single mind to the same effect but already on a whole mankind. That sometimes mankind’s historical memory fails so much, that it starts to rewrite some events or even worse, it starts to invent events that never actually happened. Hussein Ibish (2009) says that  "Waltz with Bashir"   focuses "especially on the distortions caused by constructed and retrospective memories based on events that took place long ago–even those that never happened at all and are only imagined[...]"

Figure 1. Ari Folman trying to recollect his memories (2015)

   Israel still cannot come to a conclusion of what actually happened during the events in Lebanon, especially the massacres in the Sabra and Shatila, the camps of Palestinian refugees (which is the one of main topics of the film). The director tries to get answers about the degree of involvement of Israeli army and government in this genocide. Naira Antoun(2009) says that "it is a film charting an Israeli quest to remember — or to unforget — the Israeli role in the brutal massacre of Palestinians in Sabra and Shatila. Or at least, this is the film’s ostensible purpose. "  Ostensible purpose or not this story is about the specific events, that rise obvious and every human problem of any war.  This animated film shows the state of mind of every soldier who just appeared on a real battlefield that is what was important. Some scenes perfectly show the whole absurdity of the situation. For example, the scene in the tank when the commander is killed, and the other soldier who must replace him, is just sitting dumbfounded, not yet fully realizing what is happening. Or another moment, where people in shelters die from explosions, but a single soldier dancing a waltz under intense gunfire remains alive.(see fig.2) This film emphasize these moments very well.

Figure 2. Soldier dancing and shooting under intense gunfire (2016)

   "In his film “Waltz With Bashir” Ari Folman placed the Palestinian refugees alongside the victims of the Holocaust. " (Bashir Bashir, 2015) Indeed, it can be acceptable, after all the director seems to be horrified by the fact that the nation that survived the Holocaust, after 40 years turned out to be in a same situation but on the opposite side. Where children and grandchildren of Auschwitz victims, were illuminating the night when Christian Phalangists were killing Muslim old men and children. This indicates that there is still room for healthy self-criticism in this country and in the world.

Figure 3. Dead child of a massacre (2016)

Bibliography:
2. Ibish, H. (2009) A Waltz With the Dogs of Memory. At: https://www.thenation.com/article/waltz-dogs-memory/ (Accessed on 28 February 2018) 
1. Antoun, N. (2009) Film review: “Waltz with Bashir”. At: https://electronicintifada.net/content/film-review-waltz-bashir/3547 (Accessed on 28 February 2018) 
3. Bashir, B. (2015) The Holocaust and the Nakba. Memory, National Identity and Jewish-Arab Partnership. At: https://www.hsozkult.de/publicationreview/id/rezbuecher-25731 (Accessed on 28 February 2018) 

Illustrations:
1. Figure 1. (2015)[Film Still] https://activismolucha.wordpress.com/2015/01/09/conocer-nuestro-pasado-para-seguir-avanzando/, accessed on 28 February 2018.
3. Figure 2. (2016)[Film Still] http://mstamp176.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/film-review-waltz-with-bashir.html, accessed on 28 February 2018.
2. Figure 3. (2016)[Film Still] http://basementrejects.com/review/waltz-with-bashir-2008/, accessed on 28 February 2018.